Paying off rent arrears to stop an eviction, by country
What a tenant who owes rent can still do once the landlord has moved to end the tenancy. Germany, Austria and Sweden all let payment cancel the termination, but at three different moments: two months after the eviction suit is filed, the last hearing in the first-instance court, or three weeks after a formal notice. Ontario lets payment void the notice until the landlord applies and, later, the eviction order itself, and the Dutch court may give one more month. Spain and Norway state the ground for ending the lease in the text available here but no right to cure it.
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 | When arrears allow termination | Does paying stop it? | Last moment to pay | Time or terms set by a court |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | Yes: the notice is set aside if the tenant pays the sum owed and was not grossly at fault; the tenant bears the costs | Before the close of the last hearing in the court of first instance | ||
| Canada | Any unpaid rent: notice effective no earlier than the 7th day after it is given | Yes: notice is void if arrears and rent since then are paid; the eviction order is void if the amounts are paid before it can be enforced | Before the landlord applies to the Board; the application is dropped if paid before the order is issued | The Board may order an agreed schedule of payment of arrears without a hearing |
| Germany | Two consecutive rent dates unpaid, or a sum of two months’ rent over a longer period; for a home, arrears must exceed one month’s rent | Yes: the termination is excluded if the landlord is paid first, and it becomes void if the landlord is paid after the eviction suit is filed | Two months after the eviction claim becomes pending in court | |
| Spain | Any non-payment of the rent or of other sums the tenant has to pay | Registered lease with a termination clause: ten working days to answer the formal demand | ||
| Netherlands | Any failure by the tenant to meet obligations, which only a court can declare ground for ending the lease | Up to one month to still comply, before the court ends the lease | ||
| Norway | Material failure to pay the rent | |||
| Sweden | Home: rent more than one week late | Yes: the tenant cannot be removed if the rent is paid or deposited within the period, or the social committee takes over payment | Three weeks after the tenant is served the notice that paying gets the tenancy back |
Country by country
Austria
- Rule
- Mietrechtsgesetz § 33
- The text covers a landlord’s court notice based on unpaid rent (the ground in § 30 Abs. 2 Z 1), and the same rule applies to an action to end the lease and evict after a reminder.
- The tenant must not be grossly at fault for the arrears. The amount owed can be disputed, in which case the court decides it before the hearing closes.
den an dem Zahlungsrückstand kein grobes Verschulden trifftvor Schluß der der Entscheidung des Gerichtes erster Instanz unmittelbar vorangehenden Verhandlung den geschuldeten Betrag entrichtet, so ist die Kündigung aufzuhebender Mieter hat jedoch dem Vermieter die Kosten zu ersetzen Canada
- Rule
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (Ontario) ss 59, 74, 206
- Ontario residential tenancies only. After the order is issued the tenant must also pay further listed amounts, such as NSF charges and administration charges, and a tenant who has used the later motion once cannot use it again during the same tenancy agreement.
- The payment schedule needs a written agreement in the Board-approved form, signed by all parties and filed before the hearing begins.
the landlord may give the tenant notice of termination of the tenancy effective not earlier than the 7th day after the notice is givenThe 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 shall be discontinued if, before the Board issues the eviction order, the Board is satisfied that the tenant has paid to the landlord or to the BoardAn eviction order referred to in subsection (3) is void if the tenant pays to the landlord or to the Board, before the order becomes enforceable the Board may make an order including terms of payment without holding a hearing ifthe agreement has been signed by all parties Germany
- Rule
- BGB §§ 543, 569
- Payment by a public body (for example a social office) that commits to pay also saves the tenancy.
- The late cure does not work if an earlier termination was made void in the same way less than two years before. Payment must cover the rent due and the compensation for continued use.
für zwei aufeinander folgende Termine mit der Entrichtung der Miete oder eines nicht unerheblichen Teils der Miete in Verzug istIm 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 übersteigtDie 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 verpflichtetDies 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
- The text available here gives the landlord the right to end the contract for non-payment but does not say whether the tenant can stop it by paying; no right to cure is claimed.
- The ten-working-day window applies only to leases entered in the Property Registry that contain a clause ending the lease for non-payment, and the demand must come through a judge or notary.
La falta de pago de la renta o, en su caso, de cualquiera de las cantidades cuyo pago haya asumido o corresponda al arrendatario.no haya contestado al requerimiento en los diez días hábiles siguientes Netherlands
- Rule
- Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 7 art. 231 and 280
- The text does not name arrears as such: it speaks of a tenant who has failed to perform his obligations, which includes paying rent.
- The month is a power of the court, not a right of the tenant, and it applies before the court pronounces the termination.
op de grond dat de huurder tekortgeschoten is in de nakoming van zijn verplichtingen, kan slechts geschieden door de rechter kan de rechter de huurder een termijn van ten hoogste een maand toestaan om alsnog aan zijn verplichtingen te voldoen Norway
- Rule
- Husleieloven § 9-9
- The section says the landlord may end the lease for material breach, including material failure to pay rent, and the declaration must be in writing and give the reason. No right to cure by paying is stated in this section, so none is claimed.
Utleieren kan heve leieavtalen på grunn av vesentlig mislighold fra leierens side.leieren vesentlig misligholder sin plikt til å betale leie eller oppfylle andre krav som reiser seg av leieavtalen Sweden
- Rule
- Jordabalk 12 kap. 42 and 44 §§
- For commercial premises the lateness is more than two working days and the period to pay is two weeks, so the figures shown are for homes.
- A tenant who was prevented by illness or a similar unforeseen event can still pay as soon as possible, at the latest when the first-instance eviction dispute is decided.
om hyresgästen, när det gäller en bostadslägenhet, dröjer med att betala hyran mer än en vecka 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 stycketinom 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 hyresrättensocialnämnden inom den tid som anges i första stycket 1 skriftligen har meddelat hyresvärden att nämnden åtar sig betalningsansvaret för hyran Countries not in this table yet
Japan is not shown: the Land and Building Lease Act as ingested does not state the arrears rule. The United Kingdom, Australia, France and the United States are not shown because the arrears provisions sit in statutes that are not ingested (the Housing Act 2004 does not deal with rent arrears).
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, “Paying off rent arrears to stop an eviction, by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/rent-arrears-payment-plan (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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