Amendment of the so-called COVID Act. So how will the new regulations affect the current situation of shopping mall tenants?
The so-called regulations the Covid Act significantly interferes with civil law relations. For tenants of shopping malls, Art. 15 of the Act, which referred to the termination of relations arising from contracts, through which commercial space is put into use in commercial facilities with a sales area of more than 2,000 m22, in a situation where such an obligatory relationship lasted during the period of lockdowns. Tenants/lessees could obtain rent amnesty by submitting an unconditional and binding offer of will to extend the validity of the contract. Many tenants took advantage of such a mechanism, effectively ensuring the lack of liability for failure to fulfill obligations arising from the lease agreements they concluded. The solution proposed by the legislator was intended to be a kind of compensation for landlords, because in exchange for the possibility of extinguishing the tenant's obligation to pay rent and service charges, the landlord obtained an extension of the contract by six months plus the duration of the ban on running a business in . Moreover, the terms of the contracts were to remain unchanged during this additional period.
What dates are important for tenants of shopping malls from the point of view of the amendment to Article 15ze?
Pursuant to the amendment to the Act, tenants who have submitted offers to extend lease contracts may now submit a declaration within 14 days from the date of entry into force of the Act in which they waive the legal consequences of the declaration of will.. This period runs from July 23 to August 6, 2021. Therefore, tenants who have used the mechanism enabling them to be released from rent may withdraw from it within the period specified by the legislator. But what about tenants who did not submit such offers for the last period? For the last lockdown period, which ended on May 2, 2021. We suggest that tenants submit such a declaration and retain confirmation of delivery of such a declaration. In our opinion, it is best to submit them before the amending Act enters into force, i.e. by July 22, 2021 at the latest. Then we suggest submitting a declaration of avoidance of legal consequences in accordance with Art. 7(1) of the new act, i.e. between July 23, 2021. and August 6, 2021 Just as such a declaration must be submitted if you, as a tenant, submitted declarations regarding the two previous lockdowns (November and December-March).
What will be the effect of submitting all these declarations by the appropriate deadlines?
Such action should, on the one hand, allow 100% to maintain reductions in all fees for lockdown periods, and on the other hand, result in the withdrawal of these declarations regarding the extension of the lease period - for the tenant of the shopping mall it is 100% benefits and no losses.
What if the tenant does not submit a declaration based on the previous wording of Art. 15z?
According to our interpretation of the provisions of the amended Act - failure to submit such a declaration for the period of the last lockdown will not mean that the amended Art. will apply to the last lockdown. 15 ze1, because in our opinion this provision applies only for the future, as there are no statutory grounds to prove its retroactivity. However, it should be borne in mind that we will not see consolidated jurisprudence in this area for a long time.
What if the tenant submitted not only an offer to extend the contract, but also concluded an annex with the landlord extending the contract?
As for those tenants who not only submitted offers, but also concluded annexes to the contracts: in our opinion, if these annexes are not much more extensive and do not contain many other (much broader) provisions - it is due to changes in legal regulations , these annexes extending contracts for the periods indicated in Article 15 may also be challenged as a result of this change in regulations, after the tenants have submitted appropriate declarations (on avoidance of legal consequences) within the deadlines described above. Although court practice in this area is still developing, it seems that the systemic approach to the interpretation of law leaves no doubt in any conscious interpreter that extending the contract with an annex was an action analogous to the implementation of Art. 15ze under the old act. If these periods coincide with those obtained by the tenant under Art. 15ze or are very close, no rational person should have any doubts that Art. 7(1) of the amending Act should also apply to such situations.
Piotr Kłodziński with appl. Agata Michalska
Legal Advisor Warsaw Law Firm Warsaw
*we reserve that all opinions expressed in this article, despite observing the principles of professional diligence, are only reliably prepared opinions for the time being and will remain such until confirmed by established lines of court jurisprudence or subsequent changes in the law, and their authors cannot be held responsible for the consequences of their application , much less any possible incorrect application in specific individual cases. If you want to receive a detailed assessment of the legal situation you find yourself in, we invite you to use the services of our law firm.
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