It analyzes the minimum term of each automatic renewal within the scope of the urban rental contract for housing, if the exclusion of automatic renewal is not agreed upon.
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Article 1096(1) of the Civil Code states that "Unless otherwise stipulated, a fixed-term contract shall be automatically renewed on expiry and for successive periods of the same duration or three years if this is shorter, without prejudice to the provisions of the following paragraph."
With regard to opposition to renewal, Article 1097(1) and (2) of the Civil Code state that:
"The landlord may prevent the automatic renewal of the contract by giving the tenant at least the following notice:
a) 240 days, if the initial term of the contract or its renewal is equal to or greater than six years;
b) 120 days, if the initial term of the contract or its renewal is equal to or greater than one year and less than six years;
c) 60 days, if the initial term of the contract or its renewal is equal to or greater than six months and less than one year;
d) One third of the initial term of the contract or its renewal, in the case of a term of less than six months."
As well as paragraph 3 of the aforementioned article 1097, which states that "The landlord's opposition to the first renewal of the contract shall only take effect three years after the contract was signed, and the contract shall remain in force until that date, without prejudice to the provisions of the following paragraph".
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In this case, an urban lease was signed for residential purposes, with a duration of five years and automatically renewable for three years, starting on 01/01/2008 and ending on 31/12/2013.
Law no. 13/2019 of February 12 established measures aimed at correcting situations of imbalance between tenants and landlords, strengthening the security and stability of urban leases and protecting tenants in particularly fragile situations, and the legal changes regarding the deadline for opposing renewal also apply to contracts entered into before the law came into force.
With the wording given by Law no. 13/2019, of February 12, to Article 1096(1) of the Civil Code, it is now worded as follows it now has the wording mentioned above, instead of the previous wording, which provided that "Unless otherwise stipulated, a fixed-term contract is automatically renewed on expiry and for successive periods of equal duration, without prejudice to the provisions of the following paragraph".
In view of the wording given by the legislator to Article 1096(1) of the Civil Code, there is controversy in doctrine and case law.
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The Porto Court of Appeal held that
"(...) the amendment made to Article 1096(1) of the Civil Code is mandatory and not supplementary.
Thus, once the parties have agreed to renew the lease, renewal occurs automatically at the end of the lease and for successive periods of the same duration or three years if this is shorter.
Therefore, under the terms of article 1096 no. 1 of the Civil Code, the parties are free to agree not to renew the contract, but if they do agree to renew it, it must be for a period of 3 years, if this is shorter."
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Summary:
"I - The urban lease contract has a formal nature which implies that the statement contained therein cannot be valid with a meaning that does not have a minimum of correspondence in the text of the respective document, even if imperfectly expressed (article 238, no. 1, of the Civil Code).
II - Article 1096(1) of the Civil Code, as amended by Law 13/2019 of February 12, applies to successively renewable residential lease agreements in force on the date of its entry into force (February 13, 2019), and sets a mandatory minimum term of three years for renewal of the lease.
III - Opposition to renewal is a potestative and unilateral power, dependent only on the landlord's expression of will and its communication, under the legally defined terms and conditions, to the tenant, and the manifestation must be objective and certain as to the moment intended for the production of effects."
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