Abstract
This article analyzes a case to illustrate the legal risk of a sublease contract. If the lessee breaches the leasing contract, the lessor shall dissolve the contract because of the lessee’s overdue rent. The sub-lessee can’t continue leasing until he pays off the overdue rents in full and liquidated damages the lessee should pay. Otherwise, the lessor shall terminate the contract, take back the shop (or house), and shall not compensate for the sub-lessee's decoration and other expenses. The sub-lessee may bear the burden of inauguration somewhere else and seek recovery from the lessee simultaneously.
The lessor A (hereinafter referred to as A) rented a shop to the lessee B (hereinafter referred to as B) with a low rent price of 10,000 yuan per month (the market price was 30,000 yuan per month). Their agreement was: If B failed to pay rent over 30 days, liquidated damages shall be paid and A would terminate the leasing contract without compensating the expenses of the ornamentation and decoration. Three days later, A subleased the shop to a third party, namely sub-lessee (hereinafter refers to C) with the consent of A of 20,000 yuan per month. Afterwards, C spent 130,000 yuan to decorate the shop for his restaurant inauguration and paid B rent every month on time.
Unexpectedly, a month later, B delayed to pay A with the rent over 30 days.So, A issued a lawyer’s letter to B calling for the overdue rent of 10,000 yuan and liquidated damages 1,000 yuan, totally 11,000 yuan. Then A asked C whether he would like to pay 11,000 yuan on behalf of B and re-sign a leasing contract with the market price of 30,000 yuan per month. But C was not willing to pay the bill on behalf of B absolutely, so he rejected. A immediately terminated the contract, removed the decoration of the shop and leased it to someone else.
C then filed a lawsuit to the court, requiring A to compensate for the decoration cost of 130,000 yuan, and continuing to perform the original contract.
Soon, the court made a verdict: C’s claim is rejected.
C felt sad and consulted a lawyer called Mr. Flag.
Mr. Flag read the verdict and explained:
1
A could not continue to perform the original leasing contract with the rent of 20,000 yuan per month.
According to Contract Law of the People's Republic of China Article 227“Where the lessee, without a legitimate reason, does not pay rent or is late in making a rent payment, the lessor may demand that the lessee make the relevant payment within a reasonable period of time. If at the conclusion of the said time period the lessee has not made the payment, the lessor may dissolve the contract”.
A terminated the contract because B delayed in making the payment of rent. The contract between A and B is the basis of the contract between B and C. When the basis is gone, the contract between B and C is terminated automatically. Actually, A re-rented to a third party, which means C’s request of continuing leasing could not be fulfilled.
2
C should pay off the payment of breaching of contract on behalf of B, which can defense against A’s right to terminate the contract.
According to Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Cases on Disputes over Contracts for Lease of Urban Houses Article 17 “Where the lessor requests terminating the contract because the lessee delays in making the payment of rent, if the sub-lessee requests paying the rent overdue and liquidated damages on behalf of the lessee in defense against the right of the lessor to terminate the contract, the people's court shall uphold such request, except in case of invalid sublease contract.”
Therefore, C should pay off 11,000 yuan on behalf of B, and re-negotiate rent with A. Of course, C will recover from B the same amount of money he paid for him at last.
3
A does not need to compensate the value of the decoration worthy 130,000 yuan.
According to Article 11 of Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases about Disputes Over Lease Contracts on Urban Buildings, if the contract is rescinded due to the lessee’s default, the lessee’s request against the lessor for compensation for the residue value loss of the decorations or furnishings for the rest of the lease term shall be rejected.
In this case, if the contract is rescinded due to B’ s default, A shall not compensate for the costs of decorations or furnishings. C shall recover his claims from B (if the contract between B and C involved this).
The risk is: in case of lessee’s breach of contract, you would pay the rents of him and liquidated damages. Besides, the lessor may ask you to sign a new contract in a higher price, if not, the lessor tend to resume the store or apartment. In this case, you would search for a new spot and run risks of losing upfront costs (such as decorations and advertisements) and lodging a claim for loss.
Mr.Flag said: if you consult me at first, you will not get into trouble like this. In fact, you can pay off debts on behalf of B after the assessment of the current investment and the expected benefits. If the pay-off is equivalent to the costs of finding a new spot, decorations and advertisement, you can make the pay-off and negotiate with A to reach a more reasonable price in a new contract. Besides, you should ask a lawyer to recover the pay-off from B.
Mr.Flag’s suggestions:
Chinese law is inclined to protect the lessor.When it comes to renting shops or apartments, some advices followed:
1
sign the leasing contract with the owner.
2
when you are negotiating a contract with a lessee, you need to look for the contract between the lessee and the owner, in order to make a clause to protect your rights in case of the breach of lessee (such as the default clause, and the reasonability of the clause).
3
sign a contract with a wealthy lessee. If you get involved in the disputes between the lessee and the owner, the lessee can compensate for your damages.
In fact,
asking a lawyer for advice first
is your best choice.
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租“二房东”的铺（房），有风险？
摘要：
本文通过案例说明一个转租商铺合同的法律风险。若承租人违反与出租人的租赁合同约定，逾期支付租金导致出租人解除合同的，次承租人应代承租人全额支付所有的拖欠租金和违约金等费用后，才能继续租赁。否则，出租人可解除合同、收回商铺，且不赔偿次承租人的装修等费用。次承租人将面临另行租铺开张，同时向承租人追偿损失的麻烦后果。
A将商铺低于市场价出租给好朋友B开餐厅，租金1万元/月，（市场价为3万元/月）。约定：若B拖欠租金30日的，B需支付违约金。A同时可以收回商铺且不赔偿B的装修费用。3天后，B将该商铺转租给C，租金2万元/月。A同意转租，C也知晓A。C花了13万元装修开张，并每月按时向B交租。
不料一个月后，B拖欠租金。
A向B发出律师函催缴租金及违约金，同时向C发函询问，C是否愿意代B清偿拖欠的租金1万元及违约金1000元（共1.1万元），与A以市场价3万元/月重新签合同。C当然不愿代B支付违约费用啦！C拒绝了A的请求。3日后，A收回商铺并拆除装修，另行出租了。
C立马向法院提起诉讼，要求A赔偿装修费13万，并以原租金2万元/月的标准继续履行合同。
法院很快有了判决结果，居然是：驳回C的诉讼请求。
C败诉了！
C觉得冤枉啊，找到Flag（福来阁）律师请教。
Flag（福来阁）律师看完判决书，耐心的给C作了解答：
1、A不可能与C继续履行租金为2万元/月的租赁合同。
依据《中华人民共和国合同法》第二百二十七条“承租人无正当理由未支付或者迟延支付租金的，出租人可以要求承租人在合理期限内支付。承租人逾期不支付的，出租人可以解除合同”的规定，因B拖欠租金，使得A合法解除了与B的合同。AB合同是BC合同的基础，当基础丧失，意味着BC合同自行终止。因此法院不可能让A去履行一份失去法律基础的BC原合同。同时，A已经将商铺收回并重新出租，事实上A与C也履行不能了。
2、C需代B清偿违约费用，才能抗辩A的解除权。
C如果想继续租下去，阻止A去解除与B的合同，依据《最高人民法院关于审理城镇房屋租赁合同纠纷案件具体应用法律若干问题的解释》第十七条“因承租人拖欠租金，出租人请求解除合同时，次承租人请求代承租人支付欠付的租金和违约金以抗辩出租人合同解除权的，人民法院应予支持”的规定，须先代B清偿其拖欠的费用共1.1万元，然后与A重新协商租金的。当然，C代B支付1.1万元后是可以向B再行追偿的。
3、A无需赔偿C的装修费用损失。
根据《最高人民法院关于审理城镇房屋租赁合同纠纷案件具体应用法律若干问题的解释》第十一条的规定，因承租人违约导致合同解除，承租人请求出租人赔偿剩余租赁期内装饰装修残值损失的，不予支持”的规定，A与B合同明确约定，若B违约导致合同解除，A收回商铺时是不赔装修费用的。当然，C的装修损失同样也可向B追偿（如果BC合同中有这样的约定）。
风险在于：如果“二房东”违约，则您可能需先替“二房东”支付拖欠租金和违约费用，重新按照“大房东”要求的高租金签协议，否则会面临“大房东”收回商铺（或房），!您需重新找地经营，同时损失前期投入（装修费、广告费等），还要再去向“二房东”追回损失等等麻烦事。
Flag（福来阁）律师笑着说：您要是早来咨询律师，就没有那么被动了。其实您可以根据店铺目前的投入和日后发展的收益预期，综合考虑是否代B清偿债务。如果自己重新找铺、装修、打广告的成本与清偿费用持平，是可以与先代为清偿，同时与A协商一个稍微合理的租金标准，重新签订合同。另外，马上聘请律师将您代付的所有费用向B追偿回来呢！
Flag福来阁律师建议：中国目前的立法倾向于保护出租方。
如果您租铺（或房）的，需注意：
1、 尽量与“大房东”（即：房屋所有权人）签订租赁合同；
2、 如果必须要与“二房东”（即：转租人）承租的，需提前详细了解“二房东”与“大房东”的协议内容（例如：二房东的违约情形有哪些？违约责任是否公平？），来设计自己与“二房东”权利义务的制衡条款，以确保“二房东”违约时，自己不会被连累。
3、 尽量与有经济实力的“二房东”签约，避免自己不幸被连累时，有能力的“二房东”还能赔付。
当然，最好是先咨询律师意见啦！