Rescission by the tenant. Deposit. Lease for definite period. Unlawful rescission.

The parties entered into a lease for a definite period, from 8 May 2020 to 30 April 2021. On 10 January 2021 the landlord informed the tenant that he would not renew the lease and requested to be allowed to vacate the premises early. The landlord requested two months’ notice of termination. On 11 January the tenant informed the landlord that he would try to have left the apartment on 28 February. The next communication that the landlord had from the tenant was on 28 February, when the tenant informed him that he had moved out. A dispute arose regarding the refund of the deposit, which the landlord refused to repay because the [tenant] had moved out of the property without adhering to their agreement on a two-month notice period.

The complaints committee considered that the landlord could not be expected to have understood, from the communications between the parties, that the tenant would return the apartment on 28 February, since the wording of the tenant’s communication merely stated that he would “try” to have left the apartment on that date.  The committee took the view that the tenant should bear the negative consequences of his unclear wording and that the rescission had been unlawful.

Conclusion: The landlord was within his rights in disposing of the deposit as rent for the month of March 2021, as he did not manage to let the apartment out in March.