Letter of notice: rights and obligations

A tenancy agreement, as the name suggests, is the legal document that binds two parties to an agreement to use a property. It sets out the rights and duties of the tenant and landlord, as well as the terms of the lease.

But did you know that when you sign a contract, you don´t necessarily have to stick to it until the end? Or that you are not obliged to renew it? Don´t worry, we´re not talking about a sudden termination of the contract by calling the landlord to say that you´re leaving and not paying any more. There are rules that have to be followed and of course, duties you should have towards your landlord. And the same applies if you are the landlord.
Any tenancy agreement can be terminated. And by either party, but of course following some legal rules. To terminate a lease before the established end date you have to pay attention to some deadlines, especially the ones for communicating your intention.

There are two basic rules for terminating the contract:

Written notice by registered letter;
Sending notice of termination of the contract in accordance with the legal deadline.
As for the reasons for terminating the lease, on the tenant´s side there is not necessarily a list of reasons that need to be listed in order to justify a letter of termination. It is enough that the tenant complies with the deadline established by law to terminate the contract.
As for the landlord, on the other hand, there are rules for justifying the termination letter. At this moment there are three valid reasons for a termination of contract by the landlord:

Need of the property for own residence or for a descendant in first degree (children);
Need for structural restoration works which require the property to be unoccupied, or which are equivalent to at least 25% of the value of the property, or which serve to avoid future demolition of the property;
Overdue rent payments exceeding three months (letter to initiate eviction proceedings).
The deadlines for sending the termination of the contract vary according to the type of contract established, namely the stipulated duration. Thus, the dates you should take into account, are those indicated in articles 1097 and 1098 of Law Nº31/2012 of 14 August:

For tenants:
1/3 of the initial duration prescribed in the contract - contracts with a duration of less than six months;
60 days (2 months) - contracts with duration equal or greater than six months and less than one year;
90 days (3 months) - contracts with a duration of one year or more and less than six years;
120 days (4 months) - contracts with duration equal or superior to 6 years
If you are a landlord, take note of the time limits for communicating the termination of the contract, which increase considerably in comparison with the tenant. For landlords the deadlines are

1/3 of the initial duration period prescribed in the contract - contracts with a duration of less than six months;
60 days (2 months) - contracts with duration equal or superior to six months and inferior to one year;
120 days (4 months) - contracts with a duration of one year or more and less than six years;
240 days (8 months) - contracts with a duration of more than six years.