After the lease contract is terminated, does the lessee need to pay the house ownership fee?- Zhiheng Law Firm

Author | Hongyan Lawyers Team, Lawyer Chen Ruitan

Article 13 of the Supreme People's Court's "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Urban Housing Rental Contract Disputes" stipulates that "if the housing lease contract is invalid, the performance period expires or is cancelled, and the lessor requests the sub-lessee who has the obligation to vacate the house to pay the overdue vacating fee, the people's court shall support it."

From this, it can be seen that when the lease contract is found to be invalid, terminated or cancelled in advance, the lessee no longer has the contractual basis for legally occupying the leased house. If the lessee continues to occupy and use the house, he should pay the lessor the house ownership fee. So, under what circumstances does the lessee need to pay the house ownership fee?

Can house ownership fees and overdue removal liquidated damages be claimed at the same time?

1. If the house cannot be used due to the lessor's reasons, the lessee has the right not to pay the house ownership fee

In the lease contract, the first obligation of the lessor is to deliver the property that can be used to the lessee. When the house cannot be used normally, it is unfair to require the lessee to continue to pay the house occupation fee. But the difference is that when the house cannot be used is caused by the lessor, such as the lessor cutting off water and electricity, replacing the door lock, making the house unusable, the lessee has the right to refuse to pay the occupation fee; but if the lessee leaves the house vacant and unused after receiving it, it cannot be used as a defense for not paying the occupation fee.

case

Qian and Yangzhou City, Hanjiang District Municipal Construction Management Office, housing lease contract dispute

The court held that although Qian accepted all the keys and drawings of the house involved in the case on December 12, 2013, the two parties completed the delivery of the house, that is, Qian had actually occupied the house, but had not actually used it since then. Hanjiang District Construction Office, as the lessor, did not connect the electricity to the house involved in the case until April 10, 2015. Considering that it takes a certain amount of time for water and electricity to enter the house, as of April 2015, the rental house did not have the conditions for use.

Due to the lessor's inability to use the house, Qian, as the lessee, has the right to refuse to pay the house ownership fee before April 2015.

(2018) Su 10 Minjian No. 596

Shunyuan Holdings Group Co., Ltd. sued Shanghai Haoxi Asset Management Center (Limited Partnership) for a housing lease contract dispute

The court held that the lessor Shunyuan Company cut off water and power to the house involved in the case on February 3, 2016, which had caused the lessee Haoxi Center to be unable to use the house normally. When Haoxi Center requested to move out, Shunyuan Company refused to cooperate with Haoxi Center to move out. After the lawsuit, under the auspices of the court, Shunyuan Company still did not agree to cooperate with the handover of the house.

Therefore, the loss of the house use fee is caused by Shunyuan Company itself. The court will not support Shunyuan Company's claim for house use fee after February 3, 2016.

(2016) Shanghai 01 Minzhi No. 8092

2. After the termination of the lease contract, if the lessor does not actively reclaim the house, he has no right to claim the house ownership fee

In daily life, in order to recover the house as soon as possible, the lessor usually stipulates in the lease contract that when the lease contract expires, terminates or is cancelled in advance, the lessee shall return the leased house to the lessor within a specified period of time. If it is returned after the deadline, the lessor has the right to reclaim the house by himself. However, when the lessor neglects to exercise his rights and leaves the house vacant, and then requires the lessee to pay the occupancy fee on the grounds that the lessee has not handled the handover procedures, it shall not be supported.

case

Xiamen Haicang Biotechnology Development Co., Ltd. v. Xiamen Shifangyuan Biomedical Technology Co., Ltd. for housing lease contract disputes

The court held that, with regard to the part of the possession royalty, according to the "Lease Contract", if Shi Fangyuan Company failed to clear the leased plant as agreed, the leftover property would be regarded as abandoned property, and Haicang Biological Company could dispose of it. The agreement grants Haicang Biological Company the conditions or rights to recover the leased property by itself after the lease expires, but it fails to take corresponding measures in a timely manner, resulting in the leased property being left vacant for no reason, resulting in a waste of resources. Therefore, the corresponding possession royalty for the expanded part of the loss should be borne by Haicang Biological Company itself.

According to the specific circumstances of this case, if it is determined that the reasonable period for Haicang Biological Company to clear the market by itself is six months, Shi Fangyuan Company shall pay Haicang Biological Company a possession fee equivalent to six months' rent.

(2016) Min 0205 Minchu No. 2863

Beijing Shengda Yuan Technology Co., Ltd. and Wang Jiankun's housing lease contract dispute

The court held that Wang Jiankun claimed that he had vacated the house involved in the case and delivered it to Shengda Yuan Company on December 16, 2020, but he only submitted the text and photos of the delivery notice, making it difficult to determine that he had fulfilled his reasonable obligation to inform. However, when Shengda Yuan Company, as the lessor, notified Wang Jiankun to terminate the contract on December 4, 2020 and asked Wang Jiankun to vacate the house involved in the case on December 16, 2020, it should also exercise its duty of care to prevent the loss from continuing to expand.

However, after Sheng Dayuan Company posted the notice of vacating the house, there was no evidence that Sheng Dayuan Company communicated with Wang Jiankun again about the vacating of the house involved in the case. After that, the business license of Sheng Dayuan Company showed that Sheng Dayuan Company had changed its registered address to the house involved in the case on January 6, 2021. Therefore, during the process of changing the registered address of the business license, Sheng Dayuan Company should be aware of the status that the house involved in the case can be used by it. Sheng Dayuan Company should take measures to recover the house in a timely manner to prevent the loss of vacant house from continuing to expand, otherwise it shall not claim compensation for the expanded loss.

(2023) Jingmin Shen No. 1939

After the lease contract expires, the lessee is obliged to return the leased house to the lessor, and the lessor, as the owner of the house, is also obliged to actively collect the house. Especially for lessors specializing in leasing business, when the lessee has clearly informed the lessor to move out of the house, or within a reasonable period after the lease period expires, the lessor does not take the initiative to take back the leased house, resulting in the loss of the vacant house, the lessor shall bear it.

3. The lessor may simultaneously claim the house ownership fee and the overdue return of liquidated damages, but the actual loss shall not be too high.

When the lessee returns the leased house after the deadline, the direct loss of the lessor is the rental income. Article 4 of the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Urban Housing Rental Contract Disputes" stipulates that "if the house lease contract is invalid, and the parties request to pay the house possession fee according to the rent standard stipulated in the contract, the people's court shall generally support it."

Therefore, in judicial practice, the lessee will generally claim the house ownership fee during the overdue return of the house according to the rent standard stipulated in the lease contract. At the same time, the lease contract will also stipulate the lessee's breach of contract liability for the overdue return of the house, such as "liquidated damages twice the daily rent should be paid for every overdue day" or "liquidated damages XX yuan should be paid to the lessor". Can the above liability for breach of contract and the house ownership fee be claimed at the same time?

case

A logistics center and Shengqing Company and other lease contract disputes

Due to the lessor's inability to use the house, Qian, as the lessee, has the right to refuse to pay the house ownership fee before April 2015.

(2018) Su 10 Minjian No. 596

It can be seen from the case that the house possession fee is essentially to make up for the loss of rental income of the lessor, and if the lessee defaults to return the house within the time limit, it should also bear the liability for breach of contract to the lessor. Therefore, while claiming the house possession fee from the lessee, the lessor can still require the lessee to bear the late return of liquidated damages.

Based on the current laws and regulations, our country implements a compensation-based and punitive liquidated damages system. On the basis of supporting the use fee for housing, the court will comprehensively consider the performance of the contract, the fault of the parties, the expected interests and other factors. Starting from the principle of fairness and good faith, the overdue return of liquidated damages should be adjusted, and it should not be too high than the actual loss of the lessor.

In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of both parties to the lease contract, it can be clearly stipulated in the contract that when the contract expires, terminates or is cancelled in advance, the lessee shall move out within a time limit, and return the leased house to the leaseholder after restoring it to a leaseable state. When the lessee returns the house after the time limit, it shall pay the leaseholder the house ownership fee according to the rent standard stipulated in the contract (or slightly higher than the rent standard), and bear the liability for breach of contract for overdue removal.

In addition, the lessor should ensure the normal use of the rental housing and reclaim the vacant housing in a timely manner to prevent the unwarranted expansion of losses.

Lawyer Profile

Lawyer Chen Rui < unk >

Partner of

Guangdong

is a partner lawyer who specializes in civil and commercial legal affairs and corporate legal affairs. He is good at handling legal affairs such as equity, contracts, marriage and family affairs. He has served as a corporate legal consultant for many years and has rich theoretical research and practical experience.

Team Profile

Hongyan lawyer team

The Hongyan lawyer team is headed by lawyer Liu Hong, and is composed of lawyer Min Na, lawyer Chen Ruitan, lawyer Wang Ting, and lawyer Zhou Gaofeng as the backbone of the business. The team members are handsome and have their own advantages; their business literacy is stable and solid, and they have profound experience in the industry. They abide by professional ethics, focus on business practice, integrate knowledge and practice, and constantly achieve far-reaching goals.

The team's business areas are mainly engaged in civil and commercial legal affairs and financial legal affairs, focusing on corporate governance and compliance management, professional handling of real estate development, operation and property management, intellectual property disputes, labor disputes and arbitration, contract disputes, tort liability disputes, marriage and family disputes and other civil and commercial legal affairs, employed as a perennial legal consultant or special project legal consultant for many domestic and foreign enterprises and institutions, engaged in equity mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, fund fundraising and withdrawal affairs and company IPO and other professional legal affairs, successfully handled a number of difficult equity, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions and financial guarantee disputes, good at handling major and complex civil and commercial litigation and arbitration cases, The business covers both domestic and overseas, and is deeply praised by customers.

This article and its content are shared by Zhiheng lawyers, for communication purposes only, and do not represent the legal opinions, suggestions or decision-making basis issued by the law firm or lawyers. If you need legal advice or legal professional analysis, please contact the professional lawyers of

, or leave your contact information in a private message WeChat official account. If you need to reprint this article, please contact the official account editor in the background.