When signing a rental contract for a property, both parties do so with the intention of not breaking it prematurely, but the reality is that there are times when the tenant or the landlord decides to end the agreement. For this reason, in this article we provide you with the legal reasons that can lead the parties involved to break this agreement, according to the online complaints platform Reclamador.es.
In order to clarify this issue, there is the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos (Law on Urban Leases, or LAU). In this regulation, which has undergone several modifications over time, the cases in which a rental contract can be terminated prematurely are clearly set out.
What does the Law on Urban Leases say?
The Law on Urban Leases (LAU) states that "the breach by any of the parties of the obligations resulting from the contract will entitle the party that has fulfilled its obligations to demand the fulfilment of the obligation or to promote the termination of the contract in accordance with the provisions of article 1.124 of the Civil Code".
But what does this mean? In reality, this means that if the lessor or the lessee breaches any of the points signed in the rental contract, the other party who is fulfilling their obligations can demand that the signed contract be fulfilled or that the rental contract be terminated before the fixed period due to the breach of the contract by the other party.
What are the cases in which the tenant can break the lease early?
Now that we've laid out the basic 'rules of the game' so to speak, we are going to specify the cases in which the tenant can break the contract. In this regard, Article 11 of the LAU specifies that "the tenant may withdraw from the rental contract, once at least six months have elapsed, provided that they notify the landlord at least thirty days in advance. The parties may agree in the contract that, in the event of cancellation, the lessee must compensate the lessor with an amount equivalent to one month's rent in force for each year of the contract that remains to be completed. Periods of time of less than one year will result in partial compensation proportional to the length of the period".
This means that the tenant who intends to terminate the contract early must be aware that at least six months must have elapsed since the signing of the agreement in order to be able to do so. In addition to this circumstance, the interested party must give the landlord 30 days' notice of this situation. In any case, in this type of case it must be taken into account that this article is only valid for rentals signed after June 2019, the date on which the changes in Article 11 of the LAU came into effect.
An article that also states that the tenant may break the contract if the landlord does not carry out the necessary repairs and works in the dwelling that they are obliged to do according to this law.
What are the cases in which the landlord can break the lease early?
In contrast to the situation of the tenant, the landlord, as the owner of the property, has more possibilities to terminate the rental contract, and for a much broader range of reasons. Among the most common of these reasons are the following:
- For non-payment of rent by the tenant.
- If the tenant fails to pay the rent deposit.
- Subletting or unlawful transfer of the rented property.
- If the tenant intentionally damages the dwelling or carries out unauthorised building work.
- If annoying, unhealthy, harmful, noxious, dangerous or illegal activities take place in the dwelling.
- When the dwelling ceases to be primarily intended to satisfy the permanent housing needs of the tenant or of the person who has been occupying it.
- If the owner needs to recover the dwelling in order to be able to live in it themselves, or for a first degree relative to live in. In this circumstance, the landlord must notify the tenant of this need to repossess the property at least two months in advance and justify this need.