Ending the tenancy II

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• Open ended contract (if existing): under what conditions and in what form may the landlord terminate the tenancy (= eviction) (e.g. the landlord needs the house for himself or wants to renovate and use it differently in the future)?

As mentioned above, in the case of open ended contracts, any of the parties may terminate the tenancy contract until the 15th day of the month, to take effect on the last day of the following month. In case the termination does not respect this deadline, the tenancy relationship shall be regarded terminated on the last day of the second month following the termination.

• Must the landlord resort to court?

No, in the case of open ended contracts, the landlord may terminate the contract with a simple notice. However, if the tenant refuses to leave the dwelling and the parties cannot agree, the landlord needs to resort to court to confirm the legality of termination and order the emptying of the dwelling by the tenant.

• Are there any defences available for the tenant against an eviction?

In Hungarian tenancy law, as a rule, eviction may only be ordered following court procedure (with the exception of time limited tenancies where the term has expired and directly enforceable undertakings by the tenant). In the course of the eviction procedure, there is no longer a possibility for the tenant to raise objections on the substance of the matter. Execution may however be suspended one time upon the request of the tenant, for a period up to 6 months. Furthermore, each year, there is a winter moratorium in place for the eviction of natural persons, usually in the period between 1 December and 1 March (in 2013, this period was extended from 9 November 2013 to 31 April 2014).

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• Under what circumstances may the landlord terminate a tenancy before the end of the rental term?

• Are there any defences available for the tenant in that case?

Hungarian tenancy law does not provide for a right of ordinary termination of the landlord in the case of time limited tenancy agreements. It is however common for landlords to include such rights in the tenancy contract. In this case, the conditions of the contractual provisions apply.

Furthermore, tenancy law provides for the possibility of the landlord to terminate the tenancy agreement for non-compliance. Accordingly, the landlord may terminate the tenancy relationship following prior request to the tenant, with a termination period of at least 15 days, taking effect on the last day of the month following termination, if the tenant or a person living with the tenant behaves in a way flagrantly contrary to the requirements of cohabitation with the landlord or the neighbours, or if they use the dwelling or the area for common use improperly or contrary to the content of the contract.

The termination by the landlord does not need to be preceded by a request to the tenant if the behaviour in question is so grave that the landlord cannot be expected to maintain the tenancy relationship. In this case, the termination needs to be communicated within days of becoming aware of the behaviour.

The landlord may also terminate the tenancy agreement in the case of lack of rent payment. Also in this case, the landlord first needs to request the tenant in writing to pay, with a warning on the consequences. If the tenant does not comply with the request within eight days, the landlord may terminate the tenancy relationship within further eight days.

The legislation does not provide for defences of the tenant. However, if the tenant disputes the legality of termination, he/she may turn to court. As mentioned above, eviction may not be ordered without final court decision confirming the legality of termination.

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• What happens if the tenant does not leave after the regular end of the tenancy or does not hand in (all) the keys of the dwelling?

If the tenant refuses to leave the dwelling after the expiry of the term of tenancy, the landlord may initiate a judicial execution procedure to evict the tenant. In this case, eviction may be ordered in a non-litigious procedure and is carried out by a judicial executor.