Termination of nine-year and short-term leases
If a short-term lease (less than three years) is automatically converted to a standard nine-year contract, all the rules of the nine-year lease apply. For a nine-year lease, if a tenant terminates during the first year, he or she pays three months' rent as compensation. In the second year, this drops to two months' rent, and in the third year to one month. After the third year, no termination fee is required. This means that when a standard contract is terminated early, the financial obligations vary depending on the length of the lease.
For short-term contracts, the termination fee is one-and-a-half months' rent during the first year, one month during the second year and half a month during the third year. These rules provide clarity for tenants and landlords and help them anticipate the financial consequences of a termination.
Obligation to register and specific exceptions
Landlords must register leases within two months of signing them when they concern buildings intended exclusively for residential use, such as houses or flats. If this registration is not done in time, the tenant can terminate the lease at any time and without cost, even during the first three years. The termination will then take effect on the first day of the month following the month in which the contract was terminated, giving tenants additional flexibility in case of an unregistered contract.
