How long a lease lasts, and what if it expires, is sold, or someone dies

They are Articles 1331 to 1335 of the Civil Code of 2020, the opening of the lease chapter: what the contract is, how long it lasts by default, what happens if the lessor dies or the thing is sold, who may substitute a deceased lessee in a home, and what happens when the agreed period arrives.

Lessors and lessees under the Puerto Rico Civil Code, and the family members or cohabitants of a deceased lessee where the thing is housing.

• That the lessor temporarily cede the use and enjoyment of a thing in exchange for a certain price: that is Article 1331’s definition.Verified against the official source
• For the term of an immovable lease to differ from one year: to have agreed it, because absent agreement the term is one year.Verified against the official source
• To substitute a deceased lessee in a home: to have resided with them during the six months prior to their death.Verified against the official source
• For the lease to stop continuing after the period: that one party notify the other of its will to rescind the contract.Verified against the official source

• The contract, if any, with the agreed term: without it, Article 1333 understands one year for immovables.
• The notification of the will to rescind, where the period has expired and the lease has been continuing.
• For substitution on death, whatever evidences joint residence during the prior six months.

1. 1

   Step 1: What a lease is

   Article 1331: the lessor binds itself to temporarily cede to the lessee the use and enjoyment of a thing in exchange for a certain price. The word "temporarily" is what distinguishes it from a sale.

2. 2

   Step 2: It may have a term or none

   Article 1332, one line: the duration of a lease may be determinate or indeterminate. The Code admits both forms.

3. 3

   Step 3: The default year for immovables

   Article 1333: a lease of immovables is considered entered into for a term of one year, except where a different term has been agreed. If nobody wrote a period, that is the one the statute understands.

4. 4

   Step 4: If the owner dies or sells, the contract continues

   Article 1334, first rule: the death of the lessor or the alienation of the leased thing does not affect the agreed duration of the lease, save agreement to the contrary. A change of owner does not, by itself, shorten what was agreed.

5. 5

   Step 5: If the lessee of a home dies

   The second rule of the same article: where the object of the lease is an immovable dedicated to housing, the lessee’s family members who resided with them during the six (6) months prior to their death, or the person who resided with them for the same time, may substitute them.

6. 6

   Step 6: The rule requires no kinship in the second case

   It is worth reading the text slowly: besides family members, the article names "the person who resided with them for the same time". It requires no relationship, only the same six months. Nor does the Code define who "family members" are in this article, and this guide does not complete that list.

7. 7

   Step 7: The contract expired and nobody said anything

   Article 1335: once the agreed period arrives, the lease continues on the same contracted terms until either party notifies the other of its will to rescind the contract. Carrying on without signing anything does not leave the lessee contractless: it leaves them with the same one.

8. 8

   Step 8: How many days’ notice: the article does not say

   Article 1335 speaks of notifying the will to rescind, without fixing any period. This guide publishes no number of days the source does not carry.

9. 9

   Step 9: A guarantor is not trapped by the continuation

   The second line of Article 1335: in that case, the obligations granted by a third party for the security of the principal contract cease as to that party. Third-party guarantees do not automatically extend with the continuation.

A lease is agreed between the parties and notifications run between them; the Code names no agency. If an eviction is needed, that is a separate procedure with its own statute and its own guide here. Disputes over duration or substitution are decided by the Court of First Instance.

• Believing there is no term without a written contract: for immovables one year is understood absent a different agreement.
• Believing that when the period expires the lessee is left without a contract: it continues on the same terms until someone notifies.
• Assuming Article 1335’s continuation drags the guarantor along: the third party’s obligations cease as to the notifying party.
• Treating the lease as ended because the lessor died.
• Treating the lease as ended because the immovable was sold.
• As the cohabitant of a deceased lessee, not gathering proof of the six months of residence.
• Believing only relatives may substitute a deceased lessee: the article also names the person who resided with them for that same time.
• Looking for a notice period in days in these articles: they carry none.
• Looking here for deposit rules: this chapter does not regulate them.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov