Landlords often want to ensure that the tenant vacates the apartment at the end of the lease. Therefore, it is common practice in the Czech Republic to sign an enforcement agreement at a Notary Public when concluding lease agreement: if the tenant does not vacate the apartment after the end of the lease, the landlord can have it vacated by way of execution.
Advantages of Notarial Deeds
Landlords often want to ensure that the tenant vacates the apartment at the end of the lease. It is a common practice to sign an agreement with permission to be executed at a notary when concluding a rental agreement.
What does this mean? At the request of the parties, the notary will draw up a notarial record of the agreement by which the tenant undertakes to fulfill the landlord's claim arising from the lease agreement. He undertakes to vacate the apartment on a certain date (at the end of the lease). The tenant allows execution to be ordered and carried out according to this notary record, if he does not fulfill his obligation properly and on time. In other words: The tenant agrees that if he does not vacate the apartment after the end of the lease, the landlord can have him vacate the apartment by execution.
The advantage of such an agreement (compared to a simple lease without a clause) is its direct enforceability. The landlord does not have to file a lawsuit to vacate the property and wait for a court decision. The agreement itself is an enforcement title, which significantly shortens and simplifies the whole process.
Of course, ideally the tenant vacates the apartment voluntarily at the end of the lease. The notarial deed is thus only an insurance instrument that the landlord can rely on if problems arise.
Change in 2020
In 2020, the Supreme Court struck down this practice. He decided that a notarial deed with enforcement clause cannot be an enforcement title for the execution of the obligation to vacate the property. This verdict caused complications for landlords. If the tenant did not want to move out of the apartment after the end of the lease, they had to sue for eviction. The landlord may not just come into the apartment and clean out the tenant's belongings - it could be violation of domestic freedom.
Reassessment in 2024
Now, in April 2024, the Supreme Court re-evaluated this opinion and decided that the notary can be used to secure the former tenant's obligation to vacate the apartment at the end of the lease. This is a step in the right direction and brings greater certainty and efficiency for landlords.
Brief justification of the decision of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court, in the resolution of the Grand Senate (NS 31 Cdo 225/2024), adopted the following new conclusion. A notarial record with permission to enforce, which is to enforce the obligation to vacate the property, is a notarial deed according to § 71b Notarial Act. It can therefore be a enforcement title. The court was based on the fact that leaving a thing to be used by another person (begging, borrowing, renting, leasing, etc.) is one of the types of obligations regulated in the Civil Code. There is no doubt in judicial practice or in legal theory that mutual rights and obligations include the obligation of the person who used the thing to return it to the one who left the thing to him after the end of the agreed obligation.
Practical Implications
This new interpretation means that landlords can effectively secure the eviction of their property without the need for lengthy court proceedings. This brings not only greater legal certainty, but also a faster and less expensive resolution of potential disputes with tenants. In short – notarization of rental contracts saves time and costs for landlords.
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