292 / 522
Parties of the Sublease Agreement
In a sublease transaction, the usage of a leased property is trans-
ferred to a third person by the main lessee. Pursuant thereto, in sub-
lease transactions, such lessee of the main lease agreement is called the
sublessor, and such third person is called the sublessee. A sublease
relationship is formed and established between the sublessor and the
sublessee; thus, it does not affect the relationship between the lessor
and the lessee of the main lease agreement. Consequently, in principle,
it can be stated that no contractual relation is formed between the main
lessor and the sublessee.
Sublease of Residential Premises and Covered Workplaces
TCO Art. 322/I endows the lessee with the authority to sublet the
property in all types of lease agreements. Within this context, the
lessee is vested with the freedom to lease out the leased property to
third persons. However, such freedom to lease out is interpreted quite
narrowly with regard to certain lease types, such as the leasing of res-
idential premises and covered workplaces, as well as usufruct leases.
Article 12 of the Law Pertaining to Real Estate Leases numbered
6570 (“LPREL”) embodies the provision of “
Lessee shall not partial-
ly or fully lease out the leased property or transfer the right of usage
or agreement to use, unless otherwise is envisaged in the lease agree-
ment…
”. Within this context, during the validity period of the ACO, a
sublease was prohibited for residential premises and covered work-
places, unless otherwise was agreed to in the lease agreement.
As opposed to this provision under the LPREL, the TCO current-
ly requires permission of the main lessor in order to execute a sublease
agreement for residential premises and covered workplaces. As per
Art. 322/II of the TCO, “
the lessee shall not sublet the leased proper-
ty and shall not transfer the right of usage to third persons in residen-
tial premises and covered workplaces, unless the written permission of
the lessor is obtained
”. On the other hand, the parties may eliminate
this sublease provision, subject to the permission rule via the lease
agreement, given that such elimination is not to the detriment of the
lessee. Consequently, while it is necessary to explicitly allow subleas-
ing in the lease agreement, during the validity period of the LPREL,
276
NEWSLETTER 2015