Act X of 2009 : to what extent is the lessor better off?

Abstract

The aim of this thesis was to look at the position of the lessor after the enactment of Act X of 2009 and to what extent, if any, is the lessor better off. The situation vis-à-vis lease contracts constituted prior to 1st June 1995 was clearly to the prejudice of the lessor. The lessor was the party which suffered grave injustices and ever increasing burdens, while the lessee was always protected by the law. Act X of 2009 made a change in our old rent laws which had been fossilised in our legislation for many years and which eventually led to the death of the lease market. This Act gives new hope to the lessor. The legislator introduced new concepts and laws aimed at the gradual elimination of the protection that the leases constituted prior to 1st June 1995 had by law. The responsibility to provide social housing rests on the State and should not be borne by the lessor. The first attempt to tackle this pre-1995 conundrum was through Act XXXI of 1995 where the legislator established that those leases constituted after the 1st June 1995 will be regulated by the Civil Code. However, it is only with the enactment of Act X of 2009 that this issue was finally addressed. It was found that the lessor is in fact better off in many aspects though there is certainly room for improvement in certain areas.