House owners: Civil Code amendment insufficient

House and flat owners see the proposed legislation of lease relations in the civil code amendment as a step in the right direction, but insufficient. They lack for example the option of terminating old lease contracts without giving a reason, they also criticise the automatic transfer of the contract to other persons in the household. “We want the option of contract termination without reason with a long notice so that the tenant gets a chance to adapt,“ says Tomislav Šimeček, chairman of the Association of Czech Real Estate Owners (OSMD). The problem concerns mainly the contracts from socialist era with regulated rent. “Today we are not able to end a lease which we never concluded ourselves,“ chairman said. He is also unhappy about the obligation where owners must automatically conclude a contract with other people in the household too, for example a new wife or the tenant´s grandchild. Flat owners see the Czech legislation of rental housing as contradictory to the constitution and the European charter of right and freedoms. They also miss the legal freedom in using the property and disposition with it. “We don´t have an option of the parties to agree freely outside the civil code provisions,“ said chairman. In addition, the owners´ obligation to secure new housing for the terminated tenants was criticised. According to attorney Hana Marvanová, this is merely a formality today which tenants often tend to misuse and thus owners lose time.