UEB-lagen & 12 kap. JB
I'm renting a flat from a private owner and want to break the sublease by giving a 1 month notice because I can't come back in Sweden due to border closure. The lease ends at the 20th of June, 2020, it was a 10 month sublease.
He says I can't do that and asks me to pay the rent until the end of the contract.
Doesn't the law says that I can give a month notice even if In the contract says otherwise ?
In the contract it said 10 month fixed contract, notice must not be given by any party.
Any advice would mean a lot.
Lawline svarar
Hi and thank you for using Lawline!
This question is regulated in either the Land Code (1970:994) or the Act (2012:978) on renting of own property (UEB). The reason why I'm writing either is because I can't make out the relevant circumstances from your question. I'll list the relevant circumstances for the application of each regulation in order to give you a better understanding of your rights.
If you want to double check my answer, feel free to click the links or search online! If you are experiencing hardship with reading the Swedish language, you can always contact the Government Offices of Sweden and ask that they provide you with the documents in your native language if available (https://www.government.se/contact-information/)
Period of notice according to the Land Code
The terms and period of notice are generally regulated in Section 12 of the Land Code. The rule is that fixed-term leases must be given at least three months' notice if the lease is longer than nine months, which it is in your case (Section 12 Article 4 of the Land Code).
This is probably what leads your landlord to the conclusion that you can't end your lease with a one-month notice. However, there is another alternative where you actually can end your lease with a one-month notice under the right circumstances which I will present below.
Period of notice according to the act
In your case, if you want to be able to give a one-month notice, UEB needs to be applicable. But there are some prerequisites for the act to be applicable (1 § UEB). The ones I can't make out from your question are:
(1) Your landlord can only be renting out a maximum of two flats, if there are three or more flats being rented out simultaneously the act can't be applied.
(2) The purpose of the lease can't be to provide a flat for recreational purposes (fritidsändamål). This could be written in your contract, so my recommendation is to read the contract if you are unsure.
If those two prerequisites are met, UEB would be applicable in your situation. The act is compulsory in favor of the tenant, which means that any terms agreed upon between you and your landlord are void, if the terms are worse than those stated in the act (2 § UEB).
The general rule is that fixed-term leases expire at the end of the set date, in your case that would mean after 10 months, but can be ended beforehand by either the terms stated in UEB or terms agreed upon which are more favorable for the tenant than those stated in UEB.
This means that you can at the very least rely on the rights provided to you in the act. 3 § UEB states that the tenant may end the lease with one month's notice. The landlord on the other hand may not end the lease earlier than with a three-month notice. To avoid any misunderstandings my recommendation is to make sure your landlord is informed of your rights according to this act, should it be applicable.
Conclusion
If the prerequisites for UEB are fulfilled, you are right in thinking that you can end your lease with a month's notice.
Regards,
