Bankruptcy Law

Without harm to the application of I and II of Article L. 622-13, the termination of the lease of buildings used for the debtor's activity occurs in the event of a decision by the receiver not to continue the contract, or a request for termination or a declaration by the lessor, according to Article L. 622-14 of the Commercial Code. The provisions applicable to the current lease contract are combi …

Termination scenarios

Without harm to the application of I and II of Article L. 622-13, the termination of the lease of buildings used for the debtor's activity occurs in the event of a decision by the receiver not to continue the contract, or a request for termination or a declaration by the lessor, according to Article L. 622-14 of the Commercial Code. The provisions applicable to the current lease contract are combined with the texts of the Commercial Code relating to commercial leases. Thus, the lease may also be terminated by the implementation of a resolutory clause.

1) Decision of non-continuation of the contract

Under Article L. 622-14, 1°, the termination of the commercial lease contract occurs “[a]s of the day the lessor is informed of the receiver's decision not to continue the lease”. The decision is within the exclusive competence of the receiver, regardless of the scope of the mission conferred on him . The non-continuation may be notified to the lessor even if the receiver has the funds necessary to pay the rent. The effective date of termination is the date referred to in the text, even if the receiver has indicated a later termination date . In the absence of any dispute as to the receipt and scope of the receiver's letter terminating the lease, the interim judge, seized after the closure of the insolvency procedure, is competent to establish the termination on the date of its receipt by the lessor, even if the bankruptcy judge, whose mission ended with the procedure, was not previously seized for the same purpose .

In accordance with Article L. 145-41 of the Commercial Code, any clause inserted in the lease, which provides for termination ipso jure, only takes effect one month after an unsuccessful summons. The summons must, under penalty of nullity, mention this delay.

A lease contract is terminated ipso jure if the rents subsequent to the opening of the debtor's insolvency procedure have not been paid within a period of one month following the summons to pay sent to the legal representative . The Court of Cassation specifies that the request for termination is inadmissible in the absence of a payment order concerning the resolutory clause . In addition, the legal representative may request delays in payment and the suspension of the effects of the resolutory clause, as long as the termination of the lease has not been established by a decision that has become final .

3) Request for termination or declaration by the lessor

Article L. 622-14, 2° provides that the commercial lease is terminated when the lessor applies for termination for failure to pay the lessee's rent and charges relating to an occupation subsequent to the opening judgment. When it does not rely on a resolutory clause, the lessor of the premises allocated to the activity of the debtor company is not obliged to issue a summons to pay  . Moreover, the lessor who, after the legal representative has waived the right to continue the lease, pursues its termination, must notify his request to the creditors previously registered to enable them to assert their rights .

The lessor may also request that the termination be declared for the same reasons. When his application for a declaration is not based on a resolutory clause, he is not obliged either to issue a summons to pay to the legal representative , or to notify him of his application if he has served it on the manager of the debtor company . The bankruptcy judge notes, on the request of any interested party, the automatic termination of the contracts, as well as the date of this termination . The jurisdiction conferred on the bankruptcy judge does not exclude that of the interim judge's, who is called upon to rule on the application of the resolutory clause inserted in a lease, independently of the progress of the insolvency procedure .

Article L. 622-14, 2° adds that the lessor may only act to terminate the lease or to request a declaration that it has been terminated after a period of three months from the opening judgment . If the safeguard procedure is subsequently converted into a receivership or court-supervised liquidation, the period for bringing an action runs from the date of the opening judgment of the safeguard procedure . Similarly, liquidation proceedings initiated concurrently with the termination of a recovery plan constitute a new insolvency proceeding, which prevents the termination of the lease of the buildings for rent due after the ruling initiating the judicial recovery proceedings. However, the lessor may invoke a decision confirming or pronouncing the termination of the lease that became final before the ruling initiating the new procedure .

He may obtain the termination of the lease if his request, presented after the decision ordering the transfer of the business, is made before the sale of the business by auction . This period is not a statute of limitations period but the starting point of his action for termination: the action must be brought after the three-month period and not within it . The text specifies that if the payment of the sums due occurs before the expiry of this period, there is no reason to terminate the contract.

Finally, the failure of the receiver to respond to a formal notice to take a decision on the continuation of the lease, sent by the lessor of a building used for the company's activity, does not result in the automatic termination of the lease , since the provisions of Article L. 622-13 do not apply to commercial leases.

Cass. com., 20 September 2017, LawLex202100003324JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 24 January 2018, LawLex202100002327JBJ (S).

Cass. com., 17 October 1989, LawLex202100001115JBJ (LJ).

See, by analogy Cass. com, 19 February 2013, LawLex202100003351JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 12 June 2025, LawLex202500004887JBJ.

Cass. com., 21 February 2012, LawLex202100003353JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 15 November 2017, cited above.

Cass. com., 2 March 2010, LawLex202100002326JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 10 July 2001, LawLex202100003323JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 28 June 2011, LawLex202100003347JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 6 December 2011, LawLex202100003348JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 9 October 2019, LawLex202100003349JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 1 October 2002, LawLex202100002330JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 15 January 2020, LawLex202200000401JBJ (LJ) ; Cass. 3e civ., 24 November 2021, LawLex202200000400JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 15 November 2017, LawLex202100003352JBJ (LJ).

Bankruptcy Law

111. Termination scenarios

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111. Termination scenarios

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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