Rent reduction or exemption should take into account the interests of both sides of the lease. Tenants face rent pressure after the outbreak.

□ Our reporter Han Dandong

□ Our intern Yin Yushuang

This spring may be the most "hard" months for many tenants. Affected by the epidemic, foreigners are restricted from entering and leaving in many places, and many foreign tenants cannot resume work, but the rented house still needs to pay rent on time; most shopping malls and shops have been postponed to open. Even after opening, they face a decline in traffic and a significant decline in income. Dilemma. Whether for foreign tenants or shop tenants, rent reduction or exemption has become one of their biggest demands.

Under the epidemic, can rents be reduced? How to take into account the interests of both parties in rent reduction and exemption? "Legal Daily" reporter interviewed this.

Delay in resumption of work income decline

Great pressure to pay rent

Last October, Zhang Lei (pseudonym) in Xi'an, Shaanxi opened a hotel. Since the second half of the year is the off-season of tourism, Xiao Zhang wanted to make more money during the Spring Festival holiday and return to the book as soon as possible. However, the arrival of the epidemic has drastically reduced the number of tourists, and some customers have opted to cancel their orders before they placed their orders.

"I saw that many hotel landlords decided to reduce rents, so I asked my landlord, but the landlord did not agree to rent reduction. The landlord replied that if there is a national policy, he will respond to the national policy; if not, the rent is normal but can be postponed Yes, "Zhang Lei said.

Zhang Lei's experience is not alone. Under the epidemic, hotels, restaurants, small and micro enterprises are under pressure to pay rent without income.

Attorney Han Yingwei, a senior partner of Beijing Yingke Law Firm, told the reporter of Legal Daily: "The rented houses, stores and stalls all involve rent. According to Article 180 of the General Principles of Civil Law, if you cannot perform civil obligations due to force majeure, Does not bear civil liability. If the law provides otherwise, according to its provisions. Force majeure refers to an objective situation that cannot be foreseen, unavoidable, and insurmountable. Article 107 of the General Principles of Civil Law stipulates that a contract cannot be performed due to force majeure or causes damage to others. , Does not bear civil liability, except as otherwise provided by law. Article 117 of the Contract Law stipulates that if the contract cannot be performed due to force majeure, the liability shall be partially or wholly exempted according to the effects of force majeure, except as otherwise provided by law. In the event of force majeure occurring after the party's delay in performance, the liability cannot be waived. The “force majeure” referred to in this law refers to an objective situation that cannot be foreseen, unavoidable and insurmountable. The epidemic situation of new crown pneumonia is force majeure, so renters, stores and booth personnel can Claim exemption Who rent relief. "

During the interview, Wang Li, who is currently renting two shops, said that the outbreak has had a greater impact on the store, and he will consider reducing rents and delaying rent payments. "The epidemic is nationwide, and many people cannot return to work and have no income. We should understand each other that if tenants open in advance without fear of losing money, they will not only be punished, but also irresponsible to society." Wang Li said.

"The new crown pneumonia epidemic has brought a lot of impact to many industries in China. Enterprises in these industries need to rent real estate when they are operating. During the epidemic, they are basically unable to operate, but they still need to spend a lot of rent as tenants, which makes Enterprises are making matters worse, and even some small and medium-sized enterprises are even having problems with their survival. "Han Yingwei said that rent reduction and exemption during the epidemic was a disaster for tenants, which could alleviate the economic pressure of the operator in a timely manner, and also reflected that the lessor and the tenant shared the difficulties The spirit of righteousness in overcoming difficult times calls for more people to participate.

Encourage rent reduction and exemption everywhere

The interests of both parties need to be balanced

On January 30, the Guangzhou Municipal Housing Leasing Industry Association released the "Rent Reduction Initiative to City Owners". The proposal stated that the Association, on behalf of all the housing rental industry operators and business owners in the city, called on landlords to take the initiative to reduce rent. Charged in half.

On February 5, the General Office of the Sichuan Provincial People's Government issued policies and measures to cope with the new crown pneumonia epidemic and alleviate the difficulties in production and operation of small and medium-sized enterprises. It proposed to reduce the rent of state-owned assets for SMEs for 1 to 3 months and encourage large-scale Commercial buildings, shopping malls, and comprehensive market operation entities will reduce or exempt rents for SMEs during the epidemic.

Since then, Liaoning, Beijing and other places have successively issued relevant measures to reduce rents for enterprises and merchants.

What principles should be used for rent reduction or exemption? Han Yingwei said that according to Article 5 of the Contract Law, parties should follow the principle of fairness to determine the rights and obligations of each party, and landlords and tenants can apply the principle of fairness to balance the interests of both parties. Except for the government's rent reduction and exemption policy for the epidemic, it can be negotiated. If the house is blocked, the tenant is isolated from other places, etc., the living function can be reduced or exempted through negotiation; if the house is less affected by the epidemic situation, it can live normally, only the convenience of the house or the corresponding income of the operating house If it is affected, a small amount of reduction or exemption can be negotiated between the two parties.

Cheng Ke, a lecturer in the Faculty of Law of the Cultural Industry Management School of Communication University of China, believes that for the issue of rent reduction or exemption, it should be distinguished between civil leases and commercial leases, and whether the leased property cannot be used practically due to the epidemic situation, and then dealt with accordingly.

Cheng Ke said, taking commercial leasing as an example, whether the rent can be reduced or exempted depends on the impact of the epidemic on the performance of the lease contract. If the leased property cannot be actually used due to the epidemic situation, the lessor can no longer perform its obligation to provide the leased property to the lessee. However, if the epidemic situation is determined to be force majeure, according to Article 117 of the Contract Law, the lessor is not liable for damages for breach of the lease contract. At this time, the lessee may also claim that the purpose of the contract cannot be achieved due to force majeure in accordance with the provisions of Article 94 (1) of the Contract Law, so that the contract can be cancelled to reduce the rent. Such a claim is generally supported by the judiciary.

If the leased property is not impossible to use, since the lessor has already fulfilled the obligation to provide the leased property to the lessee at this time, the renter's rent payment obligation cannot generally be reduced or exempted according to the lease contract. However, if the passenger flow is reduced due to the epidemic situation, and the lessee ’s operating income is significantly degraded, the lessee may pay the rent in accordance with the original lease contract, which may cause major unfairness. At this time, if the lessee requests rent reduction or exemption, the judicial authority should change the situation according to circumstances Adjust rents as appropriate.

Government subsidies

Rent reduction or balance

After the call for rent reduction and exemption, the interests of landlords have also been concerned. Many people have said on social platforms that "landlords have to live and eat," "rental damages to landlords," and "landlords have to repay loans."

In this regard, Han Yingwei believes: "For rent-type tenants, renting is self-occupied. The outbreak has caused the tenants to be unable to use the house and caused losses, but the losses have not caused the tenants' income to decrease and increase excessive economic pressure. If Exempting the rent entirely is equivalent to letting the lessor bear all the risks, which is inconsistent with the principle of fairness in contract law. In this case, it can be determined through negotiation between the two parties whether to exempt some rent. "

Earlier, the Sichuan Provincial People's Government's General Office issued a policy measure on responding to the new crown pneumonia epidemic to alleviate the difficulties in production and operation of small and medium-sized enterprises. For provincial small and micro enterprise entrepreneurship and innovation demonstration bases that are reduced or exempted from renting small and medium-sized micro-enterprises during the epidemic period, the provincial finance will grant subsidies at a rate not exceeding 50% of the total rent reduction or exemption, and the total subsidy for each base will not exceed 2 million yuan.

Cheng Ke suggested that after the rent is reduced or exempted, in order to balance the interests of the landlord, appropriate subsidies to the lessor can be considered by the relevant government departments. The subsidy can be in various forms such as tax incentives.