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Rent arrears and corona: practical examples

A month after the measures to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus came into force, a first series of rulings was published on dissolution claims. The agreement reached on 25 March 2020 between the Minister, Aedes, IVBN, Kences and VastgoedBelang stated:

[The common line is that evictions are postponed for the time being during the crisis period, unless there are obvious reasons, such as criminal activity or extreme nuisance. For eviction proceedings that were already in progress before 12 March, the landlord will assess the individual situation.

Partly on the basis of that agreement, the subdistrict courts agreed on 6 April that they would not issue any evictions until 1 June 2020:

Rent cases: until 1 June 2020, no eviction will be pronounced in housing cases (including cases in absentia and cases that have been deported), with the exception of cases in which there are facts that make the case super urgent, such as criminal activities and serious nuisance.

The professional association of bailiffs KBvG also issued a directive that evictions should be suspended as much as possible.

First of all, bailiffs are urgently advised not to carry out evictions and seizures of property for the time being. We must keep physical contact between people to a minimum these days. In that case, no distraints should be carried out, whereby 'social distancing' can hardly be observed. In addition, people should stay indoors as much as possible. No evictions are appropriate here.

(…)

There are exceptions. Some evictions and distraints cannot wait. For example: a house with a cannabis plantation or an urgent seizure of valuables. Already now, we see judges who take the Corona outbreak and the government measures into account in their judgements, but who order the eviction anyway. The bailiff is then obliged to act and will do so.

Meanwhile, the first judgments of subdistrict courts are a fact. The court in Overijssel published three practical examples. In one case, it was already decided that the rent arrears (of no less than 7 months) must be paid, but the decision on the eviction was postponed until after 1 June 2020.

In another case, in which the payment arrears were more than four months and the tenant had provided misleading information when entering into the lease, the eviction was unconditionally granted. The judge in that case established that the tenant would be able to move elsewhere and would not be out on the street. The judge set the eviction period at 2 weeks in view of the corona crisis.

Yet another judgment shows a middle course: the tenant who has not paid the rent for 7 months must vacate the property 'when, in the opinion of the Royal College of Bailiffs, this is again possible and responsible in connection with the Corona measures issued by the government'. Although this does not offer a short-term solution for the landlord, it does provide an opportunity to proceed with the eviction relatively quickly after the measures have been lifted or relaxed.

Before the guideline of subdistrict courts came into force on 6 April 2020, another eviction was granted due to rent arrears that had arisen before the Corona crisis. My colleague Korian Gerritsen wrote a blog about that judgment. The judgments described above show that this distinction is not always made: evictions are currently only granted in exceptional cases. Please note: these are three decisions by a single court, so other outcomes are possible.

For business premises, the agreement of subdistrict courts does not apply. Read more about the consequences of the Corona crisis for the payment of rent here. See also our blog about the support agreement reached by parties in the retail property sector.

Want to know more?

Do you have any questions as a result of the above or would you like to know more? Please feel free to contact our rental law attorneys.

Click here for more articles written about (the consequences of) the coronavirus.

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