What is § 11 and what can be stated in it? This article will inform you about the legal and illegal stipulations that often can be found in section 11 in the lease.
Your lease
Your lease is divided into sections 1 to 11. It has been decided in advance what should be stated in section 1 to 10. Section 11 is therefore the place where your landlord can write special terms for the tenancy. In Denmark, there is freedom of contract which means that you and your landlord can make an agreement of whatever you want in the lease. However, there is an exception. The rent act contains a number of mandatory rules that have to protect you as a tenant. Therefore, your landlord can’t write openly unreasonable condition in section 11.
Examples of writings in section 11
Section 11 of the lease contains all the rules for the use of the lease and all the conditions that give the tenant fewer rights or impose obligations on the tenant. You can find rules such as smoking, ventilation, whether you are allowed to paint the walls in other colors, rules for pets or whether the you are allowed to drill holes in window sills or the like.
A shorter notice period
A shorter notice period than the normal notice period of three months for tenants can also appear in section 11. However, it is illegal to give tenants conditions that are worse than set in the rent act. Those conditions can’t be deviated from by agreement.
Time limitation
If the tenancy is time-limited, this will be stated in section 11 of the contract. However, this requires that the landlord has a special reason why the rent is time-limited.
Tenant has to leave the tenancy 14 days before the lease expires
It is often seen that the landlord demands that you leave the tenancy 14 days before the lease expires, so that it can be repaired. This is legal. However, this must be stated in section 11 in order for your landlord to demand it.
Increasing rent
If the rent is adjusted according to the net price index, it will appear in § 11. If it isn’t in section 11, it is not valid. For contracts from before 1/7-2015, graduated rent may appear. However, it is not legal to enter into an agreement on graduated rent anymore. Graduated rent is illegal in leases from after 1/7-2015 even though it is stated in § 11.
Why should you get help from DIGURA?
Every month, we help thousands of tenants both via our membership solution and our case processing. When we process the cases, we achieve a positive result for the tenants in 98% of the cases. We are here to help you who are potentially being deceived by your landlord, and you who actually want to keep the money you are entitled to.
- Free assessment of case
- Risk free and no hassle
- No Cure No Pay
Free rent determination
One of the very complicated stipulations that can appear in section 11 of the lease is free rent determination. As a starting point, your rent is determined according to the rules of cost determined rent or the value of the tenancy. However, there is an exception in the rent act, which in some situations allows the landlord to determine the rent himself.
Free rent determination can be allowed in the following situations:
- Newly built leases which have been taken into use after 31/12-1991
- Properties that only have been used for commercial leases until 31/12-1991
- Leases on floors that have not been used for habitation until 1 /10-2002, or newly built floors to which the planning permission has been given to after 1/7-2004.
This is typically stated in § 11 of the lease. For the last two situations, there are some very specific formal requirements for what must be stated in the lease in order for free rent determination to be legal. If you are in doubt about whether your rent has been determined legally, contact DIGURA and have your case assessed for free here.
Additional services in section 11
Besides unreasonable conditions, we often see additional services that are not legal in leases. Some of the most common are the:
- Administration
- Insurance
- Fixed amount for laundry
- Hedge trimming
- Renovation
- Snow removal
- Stair washing
- Caretaker service
- Window cleaning
- PBS fee or similar for payment of rent
If you have paid for these illegal surcharges, you have the option of claiming them back from your landlord. However, your claim for repayment becomes obsolete after 3 years. If you claim a refund and your landlord does not do so, your case must go to the rent assessment committee.
You may also like: How does a case at the rent assessment committee work?
Get legal advice and avoid being deceived
This topic can be very complicated as a tenant. The above is to be seen as a general guidance and not as downright legal advice. We always recommend that you contact us to ensure that you get the proper necessary legal advice that is relevant for your specific case.
You can get help with this topic but also any other matters you may have. Unfortunately, we see many tenants that are being deceived. Often, they miss out on a lot of money – anything from a couple thousands to 30-40,000 kroner. Imagine what else you could spend the money on.
Let us help you
At DIGURA we are always available and easy to reach, you have your own legal advisor, and best of all you only pay if we win your case. Therefore, it is risk free for you to get help from us.
We have achieved a positive result for tenants in 98% of all the cases that we have processed. We have a 4.7 score on Trustpilot, 5 star rating on Facebook, and we have helped more than 1000 tenants. We really want to help you too.
If you are unsure about anything in the article, our team is ready to help in the chat. You can find the chat in the bottom right corner.
If you need legal advice, you can get your case assessed below. It is free and our competent legal team will make a non-committal assessment of your case.
