Wonen, Buren
Particulier
Landlord requests extra rental payment after one month notice period?
The landlord replied on 30th of November asking for "At what date do you expect to handover the key and end the rent?"
We replied on 4th of December that "For the key, we will be able to handover the key on the 3rd of January, as we will receive the keys of the new house between 2nd and 3rd. We can discuss what day suits you best in the upcoming days".
To which the landlord replied on 6th of December that "Aha, so you want to end the rent in 15th jan?"
This is a misunderstanding as we want to end the rent on 31st of December or 1st of January (the latter is the due date for rental payments mentioned on the contract).
What should we do? We are concerned that the landlord will ask for the payment until 15th of January with the excuse the we had not explicitly mentioned the end of rent in our first notice email, hence he doesn't accept the first email as a valid notice for terminating the contract.
In our contract, there is no clause asking specific information (such as the date for the end of rent) that should be included in the notice letter:
"3.3 Tijdens de in artikel 3.1 genoemde periode kan verhuurder deze huurovereenkomst niet tussentijds door opzegging beëindigen. Huurder kan de onderhavige Huurovereenkomst tussentijds opzeggen met een opzegtermijn gelijk aan de duur van een betalingstermijn (een betalingstermijn is
voor alle duidelijkheid één (1) maand), in afwijking van artikel 18 lid 1 en 2 van de Algemene Voorwaarden."
In the Netherlands, it's important to know that lease agreements are generally terminated on the day the keys are handed over, unless otherwise agreed. In your case, you have notified the landlord of your intention to move as of January 1. This might mean that your lease agreement ends on that date.
However, in your correspondence with the landlord, you suggested that you could hand over the keys on the 3rd of January. Depending on interpretation, this could mean that the rent ends on the 3rd.
If you want to insist on ending the lease agreement on December 31 or January 1, I would advise clearly communicating this to your landlord. In your correspondence, you could refer to your original email of November 28th, where you expressed your wish to end the lease agreement per January 1st.
If the landlord does not agree, it could be useful to seek legal advice. A lawyer or legal advisor can help you interpret your lease agreement and negotiate with the landlord.
Please note: this advice is based on the general principles of Dutch law and can vary from case to case. Therefore, it is always advisable to seek legal advice from a professional who understands your specific situation.