Ending a tenancy for unpaid rent, by country
Only Germany and Sweden put a measure on the arrears: Germany counts two consecutive due dates or a sum of two months' rent, and for a home the unpaid part must exceed one month; Sweden gives a home tenant one week past the due date. Ontario's text states no minimum amount, only a notice effective after seven days. The chance to pay differs more than the trigger: a German or Ontario tenant can cancel the termination by paying, a Swedish tenant has three weeks after being served, an Austrian tenant can pay up to the end of the first court hearing, and Spain and Norway leave the amount open.
Scope of this guide
Canada: the Canada Labour Code (federal sector) and the Ontario statutes that LawAsked has loaded. Other provinces are not compared.
| Country | Arrears that allow it | Tenant's chance to pay | How the lease is ended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | Rent still unpaid at the due date after the landlord's reminder | Notice is set aside if the tenant pays what is owed before the end of the last first-instance hearing, unless grossly at fault | Landlord can end a lease covered by the Mietrechtsgesetz only through the court |
| Canada | Any rent lawfully owing; notice effective no earlier than the 7th day after it is given | Notice is void if the tenant pays the arrears and any rent since due before the landlord applies to the Board | Notice of termination, then an application to the Landlord and Tenant Board |
| Germany | Two consecutive due dates unpaid (all or a not insignificant part), or arrears of two months' rent over more than two dates; for a home the unpaid part must exceed one month's rent | Termination is excluded if the landlord is paid first, and void if paid within 2 months after the eviction suit starts (once per 2 years) | Extraordinary termination without notice period; the reason must be stated in the notice |
| Spain | Non-payment of rent or of any other sum the tenant owes under the lease; no amount stated | Registered lease with a clause on non-payment: the tenant has 10 working days to reply to a judicial or notarial demand | Landlord may terminate the contract by right (resolución de pleno derecho) |
| Netherlands | Dissolution of a building lease for the tenant's breach can be done only by the court | ||
| Norway | A substantial breach of the duty to pay rent; no amount stated | No termination over disputed rent if the tenant deposits the disputed part | Written declaration of termination (heving) giving the reason; it can require the tenant to leave at once |
| Sweden | Home: rent more than one week late. Business premises: more than two working days late | Home tenant keeps the flat if rent is paid within 3 weeks of being served the notice about the right to recover the tenancy | Landlord ends the contract early (förverkande) |
Country by country
Austria
- Rule
- ABGB § 1118; Mietrechtsgesetz § 33
- No amount or number of months is stated in the quoted text. The tenant must have been reminded first (Einmahnung).
- The tenant must pay the landlord's court costs that the tenant would have borne without paying.
- The stored text of § 30(2), which lists the grounds for notice, is missing its list items, so the exact ground for arrears (Z 1) is known only from the cross-reference in § 33(2).
wenn er nach geschehener Einmahnung mit der Bezahlung des Zinses dergestalt säumig ist, daß er mit Ablauf des Termins den rückständigen Bestandzins nicht vollständig entrichtet hat Mietverträge können vom Mieter gerichtlich oder schriftlich, vom Vermieter jedoch nur gerichtlich gekündigt werden.den an dem Zahlungsrückstand kein grobes Verschulden trifft, vor Schluß der der Entscheidung des Gerichtes erster Instanz unmittelbar vorangehenden Verhandlung den geschuldeten Betrag entrichtet, so ist die Kündigung aufzuheben Canada
- Rule
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (Ontario) s. 59
- No minimum amount of arrears is stated.
- The notice must set out the amount due and tell the tenant that paying by the termination date avoids termination.
- Ontario statute only. The Canada Labour Code does not deal with tenancies.
If a tenant fails to pay rent lawfully owing under a tenancy agreement, the landlord may give the tenant notice of termination of the tenancy effective not earlier than the 7th day after the notice is given.The notice of termination is void if, before the day the landlord applies to the Board for an order terminating the tenancy and evicting the tenant based on the notice, the tenant pays Germany
- Rule
- BGB §§ 543(2) and 569(3)
- The one-month rule does not apply to a home let only for temporary use.
- No warning or deadline to remedy is needed for arrears of this kind (§ 543(3)).
- A public body committing to pay counts as satisfying the landlord under § 569(3) no. 2.
- Agreements worse for the tenant than § 543 or § 569(1) to (3) are void.
für zwei aufeinander folgende Termine mit der Entrichtung der Miete oder eines nicht unerheblichen Teils der Miete in Verzug istin einem Zeitraum, der sich über mehr als zwei Termine erstreckt, mit der Entrichtung der Miete in Höhe eines Betrages in Verzug ist, der die Miete für zwei Monate erreichtIm Falle des Satzes 1 Nr. 3 ist die Kündigung ausgeschlossen, wenn der Vermieter vorher befriedigt wird. ist der rückständige Teil der Miete nur dann als nicht unerheblich anzusehen, wenn er die Miete für einen Monat übersteigt.Die Kündigung wird auch dann unwirksam, wenn der Vermieter spätestens bis zum Ablauf von zwei Monaten nach Eintritt der Rechtshängigkeit des Räumungsanspruchs hinsichtlich der fälligen Miete und der fälligen Entschädigung nach § 546a Abs. 1 befriedigt wird oder sich eine öffentliche Stelle zur Befriedigung verpflichtet.Dies gilt nicht, wenn der Kündigung vor nicht länger als zwei Jahren bereits eine nach Satz 1 unwirksam gewordene Kündigung vorausgegangen ist. Spain
- Rule
- Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos, art. 27(2) and (4)
- The ten-working-day reply applies only to leases registered in the Property Registry that contain the clause ending the lease for non-payment.
- The quoted text does not say how the tenant can stop the termination outside that registered-lease case.
La falta de pago de la renta o, en su caso, de cualquiera de las cantidades cuyo pago haya asumido o corresponda al arrendatario.y éste no haya contestado al requerimiento en los diez días hábiles siguientes Netherlands
- Rule
- Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 7, art. 231(1)
- The ingested Boek 7 states no threshold for unpaid rent; the general rule on dissolving contracts is in Boek 6, which is not ingested.
- Art. 231(2) lets the landlord dissolve without a court only in cases of serious disturbance of public order or a closure order, not for unpaid rent.
- A tenant cannot be put in a worse position than art. 231(1) (art. 231(3)).
kan slechts geschieden door de rechter Norway
- Rule
- Husleieloven §§ 9-9 and 3-8
- The deposit rule in § 3-8 covers rent the parties disagree about, not rent that is simply unpaid.
- The tenant who is evicted is liable for expenses and lost rent under § 5-8.
leieren vesentlig misligholder sin plikt til å betale leie eller oppfylle andre krav som reiser seg av leieavtalenEn erklæring om at utleieren hever leieavtalen, skal være skriftlig. Den kan pålegge leieren straks å flytte og levere husrommet tilbake. I erklæringen skal grunnen til å heve leieavtalen oppgis. kan avtalen ikke sies opp eller heves på grunn av manglende leiebetaling hvis leieren deponerer den omtvistede delen av leien Sweden
- Rule
- Jordabalken 12 kap. 42 § and 44 §
- The three weeks also depend on the landlord notifying the social committee (socialnämnden) of the termination. The tenant also keeps the home if the committee guarantees the rent, or if illness or a similar unforeseen event prevented payment and the rent was paid as soon as possible.
- For business premises the period is two weeks.
- The rules do not apply if the tenant must move out within a month anyway.
om hyresgästen, när det gäller en bostadslägenhet, dröjer med att betala hyran mer än en vecka efter förfallodagenom hyresgästen, när det gäller en lokal, dröjer med att betala hyran mer än två vardagar efter förfallodagen får hyresgästen inte på grund av dröjsmålet skiljas från lägenheten, om hyran betalas på det sätt som anges i 20 § andra eller tredje stycket eller deponeras hos länsstyrelsen enligt 21 § 1. inom tre veckor från det att en hyresgäst, när det är fråga om en bostadslägenhet, har delgetts underrättelse om att han eller hon genom att betala hyran på angivet sätt får tillbaka hyresrätten Countries not in this table yet
Japan (the Act on Land and Building Leases does not state an arrears rule; the civil code is not ingested), the United Kingdom (only the Housing Act 2004 is ingested, not the possession grounds of the Housing Act 1988) and the United States (federal law does not govern eviction for arrears) are left out. Australia and France have no tenancy statute ingested.
How this table was built
Every row is taken from the official, consolidated text of the statute, which LawAsked loads from each government’s legislation service.
Each figure is tied to a passage quoted word for word from that text. When the page is served, it checks that every quoted passage is still in the current text of a law that is in force; if a law is amended and its wording changes, that row is hidden until a person reviews it again.
The table shows the statutory minimum only. Collective agreements, awards and individual contracts often give more than the statute, and some countries let a collective agreement set different terms.
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LawAsked, “Ending a tenancy for unpaid rent, by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/eviction-for-rent-arrears (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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