Lease agreement concluded for an indefinite period cannot be renewed in case of its termination by notice, the Supreme Court declared.

The lessor (plaintiff) claimed that the lessee (defendant) had to vacate a part of the land which was rented to him under the lease agreement (dated 1 March 2011). The lease agreement was terminated by a written notice as of 31 January 2015. However, the defendant didn’t vacate the premises declaring that there was a tacit renewal of the lease according to the provision of Sec. 2230 (1) of the Civil Code (the plaintiff didn’t call upon him to return the premises). The Court of the First Instance allowed the legal action and the Appeal Court upheld the judgement.

The Supreme Court confirmed the previous decisions and thus accepted the plaintiff’s view, i.e. that there was no renewal of the lease agreement in question.

According to the Supreme Court, it is possible that the lease is renewed in accordance with the provision of Sec. 2230 (1) of the Civil Code only if it is a lease concluded for a definite period of time and such lease terminates by expiration of the lease term. In case that the lease is terminated in a different way (by an agreement, by a termination notice after expiration of the time of notice), the provision of Sec. 2230 (1) of the Civil Code shall not apply. Even in case that the lessor doesn’t call upon the return of the property within a time limit specified in Sec. 2230 (1) of the Civil Code, the renewal of the lease would not occur.

_{(Decision of the Supreme Court from 12 December 2016, file no. 26 Cdo 4354/2016)}