AUSTRIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Christoph Urbanek, Irena Gogl-Hassanin and Mario Schiavon, Urbanek Law
6.19 Right to Terminate a Lease Typical events that give the landlord and the tenant in Austria the right to terminate the lease include, among other things: • delinquent payments (eg, if rent is repeatedly unpaid); and • breaches of contract, such as: (a) unauthorised use of the rented premises; (b) unauthorised subletting; or (c) serious violations of the house rules. In addition, the tenant can terminate the tenancy for good cause – for example: • in the event of unacceptable living or working conditions; or • significant defects in the rented property that are not remedied within a reasonable period. The statutory right of termination in the case of fixed-term tenancies or after the agreed rental period has expired is also common. In addi - tion, the Tenancy Act ( Mietrechtsgesetz – MRG) allows tenants to terminate a lease without stat- ing reasons under certain circumstances, while landlords can generally issue a timely notice of termination with legally recognised reasons such as personal use or conversion of the premises. The exact conditions and deadlines depend on the type of lease and the individual agreements. 6.20 Registration Requirements A lease agreement does not generally need to be submitted for registration in the land registry unless it is a fixed-term lease of more than three years or a lease with an acquisition right (eg, a purchase option). Such leases can be regis - tered in the land registry upon request, but in practice this rarely occurs unless there are spe - cial agreements or legal requirements. When a lease or memorandum of lease is recorded in the
land registry, a registration fee of approximately 1.1% of the lease value applies, which can be paid by the tenant or landlord, depending on the contractual agreement. This fee is charged if the lease exceeds a certain term or if it includes spe - cific rights (eg, purchase options). 6.21 Forced Eviction In Austria, a lease agreement can be terminated and the tenant evicted before the lease ends in cases of late payment or contract breaches. The process begins with a written warning and a payment deadline. If the tenant fails to pay, the landlord may issue a notice of termination. Evic - tion proceedings, including court involvement, typically take three to six months, depending on the court’s workload. 6.22 Termination by a Third Party A lease cannot be easily terminated by a third party, such as the government or a municipal authority. However, certain legal provisions do allow for expropriation or the forced termina - tion of leases under special circumstances – for example, in the case of urban development pro - jects or public infrastructure projects. In such cases, the authority can terminate the lease, although the process can take several months depending on the complexity. Compensation for the tenant is usually provided for in the form of compensation payments that the public author - ity or the responsible authority must make. The amount of compensation is based on the ten - ant’s losses and the remaining rental value of the contract. 6.23 Remedies/Damages for Breach When a tenant violates the lease and termi - nates a lease agreement, the landlord is gener - ally entitled to damages for the losses resulting from the violation, but there are legal restric - tions. The damages may not exceed the actual
79
CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook