How can a tenant terminate a lease? Termination of the lease agreement unilaterally by the tenant Termination of the real estate lease agreement.

20.06.2020

Salon

What does it mean to end a lease early?

Lease relations may arise for a certain period, which the parties stipulate in the contract, or on an indefinite basis. There are still cases when, at the legislative level, the so-called deadlines for the lease are established for the lease of a certain type of property. Then the lease relationship cannot last longer than these deadlines.

But in any case, while the term for terminating the contract has not come, either party may want to terminate the lease relationship. This is called early termination of the contract. Since the lease is a two-way transaction, the rights of both parties are protected here. And in order for the relationship to end prematurely, the consent of both parties is required.

And now, in case of protection of the party to the lease agreement from a sudden and unprofitable termination of the transaction, Part 2 of Art. 450 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides that unilateral termination occurs only through a court, and then if the initiator of the process has grounds for making such a requirement.

When does the landlord get the right to claim his property ahead of schedule?

The aforementioned Article 450 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation sets out the general grounds on which both parties to a transaction may demand through the court its early termination. These include:

material breach of contract;
other cases that are expressly prescribed by law or contract.

By significant, the legislator understands such a violation by one of the parties to the agreement, which entails the infliction of damage, which is why the other party to the agreement bears significant losses. But there is no specifics, so the court decides whether the violation was really significant.

Other cases just include the grounds enshrined in Art. 619 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, on the basis of which the lessor may demand the termination of the contract. The landlord may demand the return of the leased item to him if he establishes that the tenant:

materially violates the terms of the agreement;
uses property in violation of its purpose, specified in the contract, or arising from the nature of the thing itself;
significantly degrades the property;
does not pay rent twice in a row;
does not make major repairs, if such an obligation is assigned to him.

The parties themselves can prescribe in the lease agreement additional conditions for early termination of the lease or detail those that are enshrined in law. By the way, such detail will greatly simplify the proof in court that there are grounds for terminating the contract.

Don't know your rights?

The procedure for early termination of rental relations

It is clear that if both parties agree to terminate the lease ahead of time, then they simply take actions in this direction, such as transferring the leased item back and signing the transfer acceptance certificate. And the contract itself is closed by an additional agreement drawn up in a similar form.

But if the tenant is against it, then the landlord will have to go to court, and then not immediately. According to part 3 of Art. 619 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the landlord must first send the tenant a letter in which he requires the tenant to correct the violations. The same position is confirmed in paragraph 29 of the information letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated January 11, 2002 No. 66.

Important! In addition to the requirement to correct the violation, there should be a proposal to terminate the contract ahead of schedule.

In the event that the tenant fulfills the requirements set before him within the prescribed or reasonable time, the landlord loses the right to apply to the court. This is confirmed by paragraph 8 of the information letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 05.05.1997 No. 14. So, early termination of the contract is possible only if the tenant continues to fail to fulfill its obligations.

Consequences of terminating a lease

After the court makes a positive decision on the case, satisfying the lessor's demand, the contractual relationship is terminated. But this does not always mean that the leased item is immediately returned. In some cases, a second appeal to the court is required to satisfy a claim for the recovery of property from someone else's use.

Therefore, many lawyers advise to put these two requirements at once in the first lawsuit. Then, after the first trial, it will be possible to obtain a writ of execution, on the basis of which the bailiffs will be able to organize the forced return of the leased item.

If the tenant decides to immediately comply with the court decision, then he returns the leased item on his own initiative, while the parties sign an act of acceptance and transfer, which records the state of the transferred property.

If a significant deterioration in the condition of the leased item is found, the lessee may be subject to claims for damages. And in the case when the reason for the early termination of the lease was the delay in the payment of lease payments, the landlord has the right to seek the return of the debt.

The landlord may initiate early termination of the lease relationship only in cases where the tenant has committed significant violations in the performance of its obligations. And to resolve the dispute on the early termination of the lease is only in the competence of the court. As soon as the court decision comes into force, the lease relationship is terminated, except for the moments of fulfillment of obligations to pay rent and correct other violations.

The company enters into a new lease agreement or extends the validity of the previous agreement. What should be specified in the contract so that the tenant can cancel it ahead of schedule out of court?

If the parties enter into an agreement for an indefinite period, then the right to withdraw from the lease without going to court is granted by law. If the landlord leases the premises only for a certain period, then it is necessary to include a condition on the right of the tenant to a unilateral refusal out of court. But it is important to be very careful about its wording, so as not to get the effect that was not expected at all.

Not a single tenant is immune from such a situation when early termination of the lease agreement is necessary on his initiative. This may be due to the need to move to a better office, a decision to close a branch that was located in the rented premises, or simply a lack of funds to pay rent.

At the same time, at the stage of preparing a draft document, tenants do not always think about including the termination procedure in it, and most importantly, the right to unilaterally withdraw from the contract at the initiative of the tenant. In the absence of an agreed out-of-court procedure for terminating it at the initiative of the tenant, it will not be easy to leave the rental relationship ahead of schedule.

The right to terminate the lease agreement without a trial depends on its duration

There was a point of view that this provision should be understood as follows: it is possible to provide for the right to cancel a lease agreement out of court (based on the provisions of Article 450 of the Civil Code), but only if specific grounds for such a refusal are provided. But back in 2008, the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court confirmed that such an opinion was erroneous. True, in this case it was about the refusal of the lessor's contract, but this position applies equally to the refusal of the tenant.

An example from practice. In the lease agreement, concluded for 20 years, the parties provided for the right of the lessor to early terminate the agreement unilaterally.

The landlord decided to exercise this right and sent a notice to the tenant, but he refused to vacate the premises.

Courts of three instances also refused to evict the tenant. They considered that in order to unilaterally refuse to perform a lease concluded for a certain period, it is necessary that the law or the agreement provide for specific grounds or conditions under which such refusal is allowed. This agreement did not indicate any grounds for unilateral refusal - it simply provided for the right to refuse without any reason.

The Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court did not agree with this position. He clearly pointed out that for a unilateral refusal, the very fact that such a possibility is indicated in the law or in the contract is sufficient. The case was sent for a new trial (Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 09.09.08 No. VAS-5782/08).

Thus, the lease agreement can include the right of the tenant both to unmotivated refusal of the agreement, and to refusal on the grounds provided for in the agreement.

Erroneous wording of the condition on the right of the tenant to refuse

When including in the contract a condition on termination of the contract out of court, special attention should be paid to its wording. In case of ambiguous wording, the court, guided by a literal interpretation of the contractual clause. At the same time, the literal meaning means a comparison of the contract with other conditions and the meaning of the contract as a whole (Article 431 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), it can be understood in a completely different way than the tenant understood this condition.

It is not indicated that the lease agreement was terminated out of court

The most common mistake is when the contract contains something like this:

“The tenant has the right to demand early termination of the contract, subject to a notice to the landlord at least 3 months in advance.”

A literal interpretation means that this condition establishes the right of the tenant to demand termination of the lease agreement on his own initiative. Since this right is only to demand termination (and not to withdraw from the contract) and nothing is said about extrajudicial procedure, then we are talking about the right to apply to the court to demand termination of the contract. In addition, such a condition must be compared with the conditions on the procedure for terminating the contract, which may be located, among other things, in another section of the contract.

The situation is not hopeless if the above condition contains a reference to the clause of the contract, which refers specifically to the out-of-court procedure, and describes the actions of the parties in its application (or, conversely, in the corresponding clause, a reference is made to the clause that refers to the right of the tenant to demand termination of the contract). But when there are no such conditions, and in other conditions only the procedure for terminating the contract by agreement of the parties is prescribed, it can hardly be considered that the tenant has the right to unilateral out-of-court cancellation of the contract.

An example from practice. The parties entered into a lease agreement for the premises, which was supposed to house the tenant's branch. The lease term is eight years. Under the terms of the agreement, the tenant had the right to demand early termination, provided that the landlord was notified at least 90 days in advance, as well as that the tenant complied with the requirements of the agreement on the timely payment of rent and reimbursement of the landlord's expenses for utility and maintenance services.

There was also a condition that the contract is considered terminated from the moment of registration of the termination agreement, which is subject to signing by the parties both at the end of the contract and in case of its early termination.

In connection with the closure of the branch, the tenant decided to exercise his right to refuse rent and sent a letter to the landlord to this effect. The landlord did not agree to terminate the contract, and after some time filed a lawsuit to recover debt on rent and a penalty. The tenant filed a counterclaim to terminate the lease.

During the first consideration of the case, the court satisfied the claim for the recovery of the debt and the penalty and refused to satisfy the counterclaims (the appeal left the decision unchanged).

The cassation instance returned the case for a new trial, and this time the court of first instance decided that the tenant had exercised his right to unilateral refusal and the contract was terminated. Therefore, the court dismissed both claims: the claim for the recovery of the debt, since there were no grounds for the recovery of rent after the termination of the contract, and the counterclaim, since the contract had already been terminated. The appellate and cassation instances did not agree with this conclusion and partially recovered the debt and penalty from the tenant.

The final conclusion was made by the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court. He considered that the tenant did not have the right to cancel the contract out of court, since under the terms of the contract he could only demand early termination, but could not declare termination unilaterally (in relation to paragraph 3 of Article 450 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Consequently, under the terms of the contract, the issue of its termination could only be resolved in court, and the tenant only had the right to initiate such a dispute. At the same time, the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court took into account that in a specific disputable situation, the tenant had the right to demand termination of the contract due to a significant change in circumstances (a decision was made to liquidate the branch).

Therefore, the Presidium eventually confirmed the possibility of terminating the contract, but the decision of the court of first instance, issued during the first consideration, regarding the collection of debt on rent as of the date of this decision, was left unchanged (Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 20.10.11 No. VAC-9615 / eleven)

This is also the position of the lower courts. Thus, it is in the interests of the tenant to clearly indicate in the agreement that he has the right not only to terminate the lease agreement on his own initiative, but to refuse it precisely unilaterally out of court, which entails the termination of the agreement (clause 2 of article 450.1 of the Civil Code RF).

At the same time, as follows from paragraph 4 of Art. 450.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the party that has been granted the right to withdraw from the contract or to perform the contract must, exercising the granted right, act in good faith and reasonably within the established limits. As noted by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, a violation of the presented obligation may result in a denial of judicial protection, including the recognition of a unilateral change in the terms of the obligation or a unilateral refusal to fulfill it as null and void (Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 22, 2016 No. 54 "On some issues of application of the general provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on Obligations and Their Fulfillment).

The obligation to notify the landlord of the release of the premises is indicated, but not the right to refuse

Sometimes a lease includes a clause that the tenant is required to notify the landlord of the early release of the premises. But at the same time, nothing is said about the tenant's right to withdraw from the contract.

This is a serious mistake. A literal interpretation of such a contractual condition does not allow equating it with the condition of the tenant's right to unilateral extrajudicial withdrawal from the contract. After all, the early release of premises may also be the result of early termination of the contract by agreement of the parties, and not only at the initiative of one of the parties.

Sanctions for unilateral cancellation of the lease agreement

In the process of discussing the draft agreement, the landlord may agree to include the tenant's right to unilaterally withdraw from the agreement out of court. But at the same time, the landlord may insist on the condition of sanctions for the use of such a right. Usually this is a forfeit (fine) in a certain amount, which the landlord has the right to withhold from the amount of the security deposit made by the tenant at the conclusion of the contract.

It happens that tenants easily agree to such a condition, believing that, if necessary, it can be easily challenged in court and, as a result, get rid of the contract without loss. In reality, not everything is so clear. There are different judicial positions on this matter. Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated November 17, 2011 No. 73 “On Certain Issues of the Practice of Applying the Rules of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on a Lease Agreement” did not touch upon the issue of paying for early withdrawal from the contract (jurisprudence on the above decision: Ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated March 29, 2016 in case No. 305-ES15-16772, A41-58990/2014).

Position one: penalty for unilateral withdrawal from the contract - abuse of the right

Some courts believe that it is impossible to provide for a penalty in the lease agreement for the fact that the tenant used his right to unilateral extrajudicial withdrawal from the agreement and did not violate anything.

According to the courts, the inclusion in the contract of sanctions for early termination of the contract unilaterally contradicts the nature of the penalty as a measure of liability applied only for breach of obligations. In this case, there is no violation, since the tenant uses the right to withdraw from the contract granted to him by the contract. The tenant shall not be liable for the exercise of his right.

Thus, the application of such sanctions is an abuse of the right on the part of the landlord (Article 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, the unilateral refusal of the tenant to fulfill the contract cannot be the basis for applying to him a measure of liability in the form of a penalty (Decree of the Eleventh Arbitration Court of Appeal dated July 7, 2016 in case No. A55-16666 / 2015).

Position two: a penalty for unilateral withdrawal from the contract is possible

Other courts do not see anything illegal in the payment for early termination of the contract, referring to the principle of freedom of contract (Article 421 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Moreover, there is an opinion that the payment for early withdrawal from the contract is not a measure of liability (forfeit in the full sense), but is a kind of acquisition of the right to withdraw from the contract on a reimbursable basis. Economically, this is quite justified in business relations, given that the other party to the contract (the lessor), due to early cancellation, is deprived of what it was entitled to count on when concluding the contract. There are also examples when the courts perceive the fee for early withdrawal from the contract as a penalty, but even in this case they consider it possible.

An example from practice. A dispute was considered on the claim of the landlord for the recovery of a penalty for the early termination of the lease. This agreement was concluded in February 2012 and was to be valid until the end of 2012. It had the following condition:

“The contract can be terminated ahead of schedule if the tenant waives the right to lease the premises if the need for such a lease disappears, provided that at least 60 days written notice is sent to the landlord; in this case, the tenant is obliged to pay the rent by the end of the current year.

Already in mid-March 2012, the tenant notified the landlord that he was terminating the contract from mid-June. The parties signed an act of acceptance and transfer of the premises, after which the landlord demanded a penalty from the tenant in the amount of rent for six months (that is, until the end of the year), referring to the contractual terms. The tenant did not pay the penalty, and the landlord went to court.

Courts of three instances sided with the landlord, citing the principle of freedom of contract. And due to the fact that the tenant did not declare a reduction in the penalty on the basis of Article 333 of the Civil Code, the amount of the penalty was recovered in full (decree of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga-Vyatka District dated 03.06.13 in case No. A43−24738/2012).

A similar position can be seen in the definition of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation No. VAS-4681/11, the decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North Caucasus District of March 29, 2013 in case No. A63−10179/2012.

Natalia Belova, head of the legal department at INCHCAPE, reports.

You can terminate the relationship under the lease agreement unilaterally. It is permissible to do this at the initiative of the tenant or landlord on legal grounds only in a number of cases.

It is much easier to resolve the issue of termination of contractual relations for the lease of immovable or movable property by mutual agreement of the parties. In the absence of it, the validity of terminating the lease agreement is decided by the judicial authority. Today we will consider a situation where the initiator is the landlord.

Letter on termination of the lease agreement at the initiative of the landlord unilaterally non-residential premises: download

Notice of termination of the lease agreement sample from the landlord 2018:

The parties have the right to conclude a lease agreement specifying a specific term or indefinitely.

The Civil Code, in Article 610, stipulates a situation with an indefinite basis, when certain types of property may be subject to lease limits. With their expiration, the contract is terminated.

The same article establishes the possibility of any party to the transaction to refuse it during the period of the lease relationship. In this case, the initiator is obliged to notify the other party of his intentions in time.

Since the lease agreement is concluded with the consent of the two participants, then its early termination must occur by mutual decision. Civil law protects the tenant and landlord in this case. Unilateral termination of the lease agreement can only occur by a court decision, when the party has good reasons for that, submitted to the court.

Terms of termination

The obligation to notify the other party to the lease agreement is enshrined in law. The Civil Code establishes the following deadlines for sending a notification:

3 months before the date of termination of the contract for real estate;
1 month for other leased property.

The procedure for early termination of rental relations without a court, or through a court

At the initiative of the landlord, it is possible to terminate the lease agreement in one of the ways: extrajudicial and judicial.

1. Out-of-court termination of rental relations.

In the case when a lease agreement is concluded without specifying a period (indefinitely), it is enough for the landlord to warn the tenant in writing. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 610 of the Civil Code, this must be done no later than one month (or three months for an immovable object) before the termination of the contract.

If the lease agreement has a validity period, then the conditions for its early termination should be spelled out in a separate paragraph.

Civil law does not oblige the parties to justify their decision. However, the landlord must take into account the interests of the tenant and not abuse his right. For example, in the case of using a plot of land during the period of field work, when the early termination of the lease agreement will cause losses to the tenant as a result of the termination of his activities.

2. Judgment to terminate the lease agreement ahead of time.

The pre-trial procedure for resolving the dispute is mandatory, but in the event that the parties could not agree on their own, an appeal to the court will be required. This rule is enshrined in Article 619 of the Civil Code. However, the landlord is obliged to provide the court with evidence that is the basis for the early termination of the lease. These may be the following violations committed by the tenant:

violations of the terms of the agreement, which are significant and have occurred repeatedly (this includes cases when the subject of the lease agreement was used by the tenant for other purposes);
the use of leased property significantly reduces its quality;
major repairs of the leased property are not carried out within the time limits established by the agreement;
the tenant fails to pay rent payments in the amount and terms specified in the contract for more than two consecutive periods.

Note that the landlord must first work to notify the tenant of the violation of the terms of the contract and other reasons that may lead to the termination of the lease. That is, he must send a written message and set deadlines for eliminating violations.

The court will terminate the lease at the initiative of the landlord only when it is proved to them that the violations are material. In this case, it will be taken into account that the tenant was given a reasonable time to eliminate the violations.

Features of drawing up a notice of termination of the lease according to the model

It is not enough to verbally inform the other party of your intention to terminate the lease agreement ahead of schedule. This must be a written notice stating the objective reasons.

The notification form is not fixed by law, as are the requirements for filling it out. But it must contain the following items:

addresses and details of the initiator - the sender and the second party - the recipient of the document;
information about the lease agreement;
information about the intention to terminate the contract, indicating the reason.

The landlord may serve the notice to the tenant in person or by mail.

Sample letter to terminate a lease agreement unilaterally:

Consequences of terminating a lease

The termination of the lease agreement must entail the return of the subject of the agreement to the lessor. When applying to the court, it is advisable to indicate not only the requirement to terminate the contract, but also to return the property. This will help to avoid a repeated claim to the court and start the forced return procedure as soon as possible.

When transferring property, a deed of transfer should be drawn up, where the state in which it was received back should be indicated. Then the landlord will be able to claim compensation for damage if it deteriorates significantly.

The reason for early termination of the lease may be a delay in payments. The injured party has the right to demand repayment of the debt for the entire period of use of the property.

To summarize: the landlord can start the procedure for unilateral termination of the lease agreement, based on a clause in the agreement or by virtue of the law. At the same time, it is necessary to try to resolve the situation in a pre-trial order. Only as a last resort should one go to court, providing evidence of the reasons why the contractual relationship can no longer exist.

No one is immune from the onset of the need for early termination of the rental agreement. Therefore, it is extremely important to know how to act in such a situation in order to avoid unnecessary loss of time and money.

In this article, we will describe in detail the procedure for termination at the initiative of each of the parties and the necessary procedures that should be followed.

○ Reasons for terminating the contract.

The rental agreement is considered terminated if it has expired. At the same time, the law allows that the contract may be terminated ahead of schedule at the initiative of one of the parties.

So, if the lease transaction has not expired, it can be terminated on the following grounds:

Mutual agreement of the parties to terminate.
At the request of one of the parties in a judicial proceeding for reasons provided by the legislator (Articles 619-620 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
At the request of one of the parties for the reasons specified in the text of the agreement.

The simplest case is termination by agreement of the parties, when none of the participants makes a claim to the other and the case does not require the involvement of third parties. Things are more complicated when one party demands termination of the agreement, while the other does not agree with such a requirement. In this case, it is necessary to act according to a certain algorithm, which will significantly save time.

○ Early termination of the contract by the tenant.

In accordance with Art. 620 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the tenant may demand early termination of the agreement if the landlord:

It does not allow the full use of the property transferred to him.
Provided for use the property, which revealed shortcomings that were not noticed by the tenant during the initial inspection and about which he was not warned by the owner of the property.
Does not make the apartment habitable by carrying out the necessary repairs within the terms established by the contract or by law.
Represented property that had fallen into a state unusable through no fault of the tenant.

In all of these cases, it is legal to require the tenant to terminate the agreement early. If the owner does not agree with this, the matter is resolved in court.

If the other participant in the lease transaction does not agree with the requirement for early termination of the agreement, the case goes to court after receiving a refusal from the counterparty or, if there is no response from him, 30 calendar days after the date when he should have received the demand.

If the participants in the lease transaction are individuals, the case is considered in the district court. If at least one of the parties is a legal entity (enterprises, individual entrepreneurs), then we are talking about arbitration proceedings. In this case, the plaintiff must send a pre-trial claim to the defendant and only after receiving a refusal or no response within 30 days, file a claim.

“The demand to change or terminate the contract can be filed by a party to the court only after receiving a refusal from the other party to the proposal to change or terminate the contract or failure to receive a response within the time period specified in the proposal or established by law or the contract, and in its absence - within thirty days ( Clause 2, Article 452 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The claim must show:

Full name of the judiciary.
Parties' personal information.
Essential terms of the lease.
Request to terminate the contract.
Reasons for termination.

The claim must be accompanied by:

A copy of the lease agreement.
Check for payment of state duty.
Evidence of breach of obligations by the defendant.

After the trial, the court may decide to grant the request to terminate the agreement or dismiss the claim. If you disagree with the decision, you can file an appeal within 30 calendar days from the date it was made.

If a decision is made to terminate the contract, an act is drawn up for the return of property.

If the parties agree to terminate the lease transaction, they must:

Draw up an agreement to terminate the contract.
Draw up a deed of transfer of property.

The contract will be considered terminated from the date specified in the agreement. So, if the document is signed on 03.10, and in the text it is written that the agreement ceases to be valid from 13.10, then it is the second date that will become the moment of termination.

If the termination of the agreement is initiated for the reasons reflected in the text of the agreement, the case can be resolved between the parties to the transaction without involving the court. In this case, the procedure is as follows:

The tenant shall give the landlord written notice of its intention to terminate the agreement.
Waiting for a response 30 calendar days.
If the counterparty agrees with the requirements put forward, a termination agreement is drawn up. If the owner refuses to terminate the agreement, it is necessary to involve the court.

It is important to note that in this case, the law will be on the side of the initiator if the ground for terminating the agreement is the ground specified in the lease.

○ Early termination of the contract by the lessor.

The legislator provides for the possibility of terminating the agreement earlier than the agreed period for the most part for the tenant. But this does not exclude the possibility of the owner also prematurely interrupting the operation of the transaction, on the grounds provided for by law. So, in Art. 619 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that the owner of the housing has the right to terminate the lease agreement if the tenant:

Systematically violates the rules for the use of property specified in the text of the contract.
Cause significant damage to property.
Misses a payment due date more than 2 times in a row.
Does not carry out repair work within the time limits established by the document.

It is important to bear in mind that the landlord can initiate the termination procedure only after notifying the tenant.

“The landlord has the right to demand early termination of the contract only after sending the tenant a written warning about the need to fulfill the obligation within a reasonable time (Article 619 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).”

✔ Order of termination in court.

Here, the landlord also sends a notice to the tenant before going to court. The document can be sent to all possible addresses of the counterparty, but if among them there is no address at which housing is rented, the notification requirement will be considered not fulfilled, which will entail a refusal to accept the claim. Thus, the procedure for the landlord is as follows:

Sending a notice of intent to terminate the contract and waiting for a response.
Drafting and submission of a claim for termination of the transaction.
Participation in litigation.

The court may satisfy the claim or refuse to execute it.

✔ The procedure for termination by agreement of the parties.

Such termination of the contract is possible if the counterparty has no objections to the termination of the transaction. In this case, an agreement is also drawn up on the termination of lease relations and an act of transfer of property.

In the absence of claims of the participants to each other, the agreement is considered terminated if they signed the listed documents.

✔ The procedure for termination on the grounds in the contract.

The parties independently decide what reasons may be sufficient to terminate the legal relationship between them, provided that they do not contradict the law. So, if the landlord considers that any reason specified in the text of the document has come, he has the right to initiate its termination. For this you need:

Notify the counterparty of your intention.
Get his consent to terminate the legal relationship.
Draw up an agreement to terminate the contract.
Conclude an act of transfer of property and its valuation.

Property rental is one of the most common civil law transactions used in the daily activities of both individuals and companies. Renting apartments, renting non-residential premises, renting enterprises or businesses in general - the current legislation assumes a great variety of options for legal relations for renting property.

Legislatively, all provisions on the lease agreement are reflected in Chapter 34 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and prescribe in detail a variety of conditions and nuances for the conclusion, execution and termination of this agreement.

The greatest number of legal problems arises precisely in case of early termination of the lease agreement at the initiative of any of its parties due to a gross violation of the conditions or due to the loss of the need to rent property.

What conditions should be paid special attention to in a lease agreement

Subject to the provisions of this chapter, the unjustified unilateral refusal to execute the lease agreement by the parties is not allowed. The parties may provide for such a procedure for terminating the lease agreement and without significant violations of its conditions, provided for by Art. 619-620 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

In addition to the reasons for termination set out in the above articles, the parties may supplement the contract with any other conditions that do not contradict the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the rules of freedom to conclude a contract.

When concluding and subsequently executing a lease agreement, you need to pay attention to the following conditions:

- The procedure and possibility of terminating the contract at the initiative of any of the parties;

Penalties for early termination of the contract;

Additional grounds for terminating the lease agreement, not provided for in Art. 619-620 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.

Example. In a lease agreementcommercial premisesthe right of the tenant was included ahead of scheduleand unilaterallywithdraw from the contract without notice to the landlordlaterthan 2 months prior to the expiration date of the contract. In case of violationobligation to notifythe tenant had to pay the landlord double the monthly rent.

With this condition, the owner of the premises insures himself against the early release of the premises by the tenant and compensates for the lost profit due to the downtime of the premises.

At the same time, regardless of the content of the agreement, the parties at any time may agree to terminate the current agreement without regard to the reasons for such termination.

Methods and grounds for terminating a lease agreement

The parties may end the lease relationship in one of the following ways:

- Due to the expiration of the contract;

- By agreement of the parties before the expiration of the contract;

- By unilateral refusal in the manner prescribed by the contract;

In a judicial proceeding on the grounds provided for by Art. 619-620 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Termination of a lease due to the expiration of its term is more than simple. Usually, one of the parties is required to notify the other party in writing about the absence of intentions to prolong the contract. In other cases, the termination of the lease will require much more attention and even qualified legal assistance.

Termination by agreement

Nothing prevents the parties from agreeing at any time to terminate the contract before the end of its term.

It is better to draw up the agreement reached in writing in order to avoid possible claims, and in cases where the lease agreement has passed state registration, state registration of the agreement on its termination will also be required.

In the agreement, the parties can make a number of very different conditions regarding the procedure for vacating the premises and terms. For example:

- The amount and terms of the refundable rental deposit;

- The amount and procedure for paying compensation for downtime;

Deadlines for the release of space, the procedure for dismantling equipment and separable improvements, etc.

The agreement is drawn up in two copies, one for each of the parties. And if necessary, in its state registration - in triplicate.

Unilateral refusal

According to the provisions of Art. 310 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a unilateral refusal to fulfill obligations is not allowed, unless such a right is given to the parties to the transaction or one of them in the terms of the contract.

The parties in the lease agreement may provide for the possibility of terminating the agreement unilaterally by prescribing the conditions for it and the procedure. It can be:

- Deadlines for notifying the other party of the termination of the contractual relationship;

- Compensation for unilateral refusal;

Sanctions and penalties for violation of the unilateral termination procedure.

Judicial practice in this regard is unambiguous and confirms the right of the parties to include a unilateral refusal clause in the contract. Upon the occurrence of conditions giving the right to unilaterally refuse to fulfill the agreement, it is not required to go to court.

Termination through the court: groundsand order

The most difficult and time-consuming way to terminate a lease is a judicial procedure, applied in the absence of an agreement between the parties or in cases of gross violation of the terms of the agreement by one of the parties. The Civil Code establishes several grounds for each of the parties, but they are not exhaustive and the parties may add any other conditions to the agreement for early termination of the contract.

When can a landlord terminate a lease early?

Violation of the procedure established by the contract for the use of property, its purpose, including in case of repeated violation of this condition;
The use of the property by the tenant leads to its deterioration, and significant;
Failure to pay rent more than 2 times in a row;
Refusal to carry out repairs and other work to maintain the operability of the property, if such conditions are reflected in the contract.

Also Art. 619 establishes a limitation on the requirement for early termination of the contract by the landlord, unless a written request was sent to the tenant to fulfill all obligations and eliminate deficiencies.

When can the tenant terminate the contract ahead of schedule through the court?

The lessor has not transferred the property for use to the tenant or is obstructing its use;
The shortcomings of the property do not allow it to be used for its intended purpose and were hidden from the tenant during the transfer of property and the conclusion of the contract
The lessor does not carry out the necessary repair work, eliminate the shortcomings of the property, if the obligation to produce them is assigned to him;
Due to circumstances beyond the tenant's control, property may be lost or damaged.

At the same time, Art. 620 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation does not oblige the lessee to require the lessor to fulfill its obligations under the contract in advance.

The procedure for terminating the lease agreement through the court

Previously, any of the parties under the contract, wishing to achieve its early termination through the court, must send a written request to the other party. The document indicates the reasons why the contract can be terminated, and reflects the requirements for the fulfillment of obligations under the contract or the removal of obstacles in its execution.

This will allow you to protect yourself from the defendant's statements in court that he "did not know, did not see, did not assume."

After the claim expires, a refusal to execute it is received or no response is received at all, you can go to court.

All the circumstances listed above will have to be proved with the provision of appropriate evidence, motivating each reason for early termination of the contract with objective facts.

A claim for termination of a lease agreement between business participants will be considered in an arbitration court at the location of the property, and between legal entities or individual entrepreneurs and an individual - in a court of general jurisdiction at the location of the property.

Help of a lawyer

For judicial termination of the lease, you will definitely need the help of a qualified lawyer in contractual disputes. Our lawyers are ready to provide a full range of legal support for terminating a lease agreement both in pre-trial and in court.