Bill No. 7551 on the suspension during the state of emergency of rents for commercial and professional leases and amending the Law of 4 December 1967 on income tax, as amended, was set before the Parliament on 6 April 2020.

Key provisions:

  • Suspension of the obligation to pay rent due, or to fall due, for commercial and professional leases;
  • Suspension of a landlord’s right to terminate a lease due to the tenant’s non-performance of its payment obligation;
  • In case of de non-payment of rents suspended during the state of emergency and at the latest by 30 June 2021, landlord’s right to terminate the lease with immediate effect; and
  • Incentive fiscal mechanism allowing the assimilation of rent or a portion of rent not received into expenses during the state of emergency pursuant to a bilateral agreement between the landlord and tenant of a commercial or professional lease;

⇒ The deductible portion may exceed neither revenues in the category in question, nor EUR 10.000.

Warning: The bill is currently under review by different committees and has not yet been adopted. It thus remains subject to amendment.

As things stand now:

  • Landlords remain free to terminate leases (Article 1762-11, Civil Code);
  • Evictions may not take place before the end of the state of emergency (Grand-Ducal Regulation 25 March 2020 on the suspension of court deadlines and temporary adaptation of certain procedural modalities);
  • Landlords remain free to call a rental guarantee (pursuant to the terms of the lease agreement binding the parties); and
  • There have been numerous appeals for landlord solidarity, resulting in announcements by various municipalities of the suspension and even waiver of the commercial rent for real estate they own during the state of emergency.

Tenants and landlords may come to a mutual agreement on the waiver or suspension of rents on a case-by-case basis. The bill’s adoption will have no impact on such an agreement as things stand now.

Different arguments may be put forward in this context and our teams are actively advising clients on numerous such negotiations.

Our advice:

By:

Me Renaud Le Squeren
Partner and Avocat à la Cour
DSM Avocats à la Cour

 

Me Héloïse Cuche
Associate and Avocat
DSM Avocats à la Cour