Legal advice on tenancy law - your rights and obligations

Questioner

Dear, Today the owner of the house I have been renting since 2013 called. I rented this for 12 months at the time (private sector, via an estate agent) and then it continued indefinitely. The house was apparently for sale for a while and today I suddenly got a call that there was a serious buyer for the house. The owner wanted to know if I had a fixed-term rental contract and what the notice period was for him. The owner should sort this out with the estate agent, but I don't have much confidence in this, because I don't think highly of the estate agent. I also do not know if the house is rented under the vacancy law. I have asked the municipality about this, but have not received an answer yet. What are my rights/obligations concerning this case? Both as free sector rental and in combination with temporary rental based on vacancy law. I thought I read somewhere that the notice period for the landlord was at least 1 or 3 months and every year that I rented the house, an extra month of notice was added, so that would be an extra 4/5 months. And am I entitled to compensation for any moving costs? I can't quite figure out my situation via my rental contract and via Google.

Lawyer

Please contact me directly and without obligation, so that you can send me the rental agreement for inspection. I have a strong suspicion that you have a 'normal' rental agreement for an indefinite period, so that you enjoy rental protection and it cannot be terminated at all

Lawyer

I understand that you 'just' have a tenancy agreement for an indefinite period. You do not state that the tenancy agreement was drawn up in the context of the vacancy law. This means that you enjoy full rental protection and that you can continue to live there if the home is sold.

Questioner

There is no mention of renting on the basis of the vacancy law. The only thing I see about sales in the contract is 'In case of sale/rental/inspection and maintenance of the property, the tenant is obliged to have the property inspected. However, this will take place from Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 18:00.' But okay, that seems to me a general rule and is purchase indeed no reason to terminate the contract on this basis. Perhaps it would be useful to have this recorded in a conversation that the owner intends to sell the house and therefore wants to terminate the lease.

Lawyer

It is indeed a general rule and that does not mean that the lease agreement can be terminated. A viewing from Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm is quite a long time. You don't need to have anything recorded, because that is already in the civil code. You have nothing to fear. I advise you to wait for a message from the current owner because that is your contractual party.

Lawyer

And finally, it is important that if you do indeed enjoy rental protection and the owner still wants to get out of the lease, your negotiating position is extremely good in obtaining compensation. You are not obliged to leave.

Questioner

I just heard that the purchase contract has already been signed, but I doubt that. There hasn't even been a viewing... I have it in writing so it will cause less problems. So the buyer will have to take me with him and has no right to evict me based on the sale, if I understand correctly? What a hassle, but thanks. I saw that I can claim almost 6000 euros in moving compensation anyway and so my negotiating position is good :)

Lawyer

Certainly the negotiating position is good, but you cannot be forced to terminate the lease. if necessary I will be happy to help you