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Thus, said Article becomes applicable after five years as of the
effective date of the TCO (01.07.2012) for lease contracts whose ten-
year extension period has not expired and which had a remaining term
of less than five years on this date (01.07.2012). On the other hand, it
will become applicable after two years as of the effective date of the
TCO (01.07.2012) for lease contracts whose ten-year extension period
had expired on or before the same date.
For instance, a lease contract which completed the ten-year exten-
sion period on or before 01.07.2012 may be terminated by the landlord
as of 01.07.2014 without showing any reasonable ground; while a
lease contract whose ten-year extension period had not expired on or
before 01.07.2012, but which had less than five years of remaining
term as of this date, may only be terminated as of 01.07.2017. At this
point, it should be stressed that a termination notice served in accor-
dance with the latter should be served at least three months before the
end of the extension period.
Nature and Function of the Notice
Pursuant to Art. 348, a termination notice for lease contracts on
residential premises and roofed workplaces must be in written form,
otherwise, they shall be invalid. This rule is mandatory; no contract
that is not compliant with this rule may be concluded.
Unlike filing a lawsuit for the termination of lease contracts of res-
idential premises and roofed workplaces, the method of termination
through notice does not require a court judgment in order to terminate
a lease contract. In this respect, this unilateral notice stipulated under
the Art. 347 TCO has a destructive/innovative effect and will be effec-
tive once the other party receives notice.
The contractual relationship shall end with the arrival of the termi-
nation notice sent by the landlord to the tenant, and upon notice the
tenant shall be deemed as an unfair occupant. If the tenant does not
evacuate the real property subsequent to the termination notice, two
possibilities may occur:
• The first possibility is that the landlord may request adequate
pay for usage of the real property after the tenant’s receipt of the
termination notice before the Civil Court of First Instance by
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NEWSLETTER 2014