How a landowner should terminate a farming lease agreement

1. Mandatory provisions

A termination notice by a landowner must, under penalty of nullity, include the following mandatory provisions:

1. The reason for the termination;
   
   
2. If one or more future operators have been designated:
   
   a) For natural persons: their first name, surname, place of residence, and identification number in the National Register or in the BIS register of the Crossroads Bank for Social Security. If this identification number is not available, their date and place of birth shall be provided.
   
   b) For legal entities:
   
   1.    The company name;
   2.    The registered office;
   3.    The enterprise number;
   4.    The identity of the individuals authorized to represent the legal entity;
   
   
3. A statement indicating that the landowner will seek validation of the termination by the court if no written consent is provided within thirty days from the dispatch of the termination notice.

2. The termination notice must be served upon whom?

The termination notice must be sent to the tenant. If multiple tenants jointly lease a property, each individual involved in the operation of the leased property must receive a termination notice.

If the landowner is unaware of who precisely is operating the leased property, the termination notice must be served to all individuals who have paid rent. If no payment has been made, the notice should be sent to individuals residing at the seat of the farm.

In the event of the tenant's death and the landowner is unaware of which of the heirs will continue the operation of the farm, the landowner may consider the individual who most recently paid rent as the operator. If no payment has been made, the notice should be sent to individuals residing at the seat of the farm.

3. Written acceptance of the termination by the tenant

As previously outlined, it is crucial that the tenant provides written acceptance of the termination within 30 days.

Failure to do so requires the tenant to seek validation of the termination from the court.

However, if the landowner fails to take this step, the termination of the farming lease becomes void.

If it becomes evident during the termination period that the reason cited by the landowner cannot be substantiated, the tenant can petition the court to invalidate the termination. In such cases, the lease continues as if no termination had been served.

For further information on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact our specialists at +32 (0)2 747 40 07 or info@seeds.law.