What about the rent during the epidemic?

During the epidemic, the rent needs to be negotiated with the landlord. In some areas, if it is impossible to start business due to policy control, the lessee's rent can be exempted or reduced by invoking the change of circumstances clause. If it is not within the control of the policy, the loss should be shared according to the principle of fairness. It is suggested that the lessee negotiate with the lessor to solve the problem.

After the establishment of the contract, the objective situation has changed significantly, which is not a commercial risk and cannot be foreseen by the parties when concluding the contract. If one party continues to perform the contract or fails to achieve the purpose of the contract, and the party requests the people's court to modify or terminate the contract, the people's court shall decide whether to modify or terminate the contract according to the principle of fairness and the actual situation of the case.

Compared with advocating contract modification due to "force majeure", the application of the principle of change of circumstances needs to be brought to court, which can avoid the ternary argument of whether the current situation constitutes force majeure, but it needs to be proved that the situation does not belong to commercial risks, which leads one party to continue to perform the contract. obviously unfair.

People's Republic of China (PRC) Civil Code

Article 117 Force majeure refers to an objective situation that cannot be foreseen, avoided or overcome.

Article 180 A person who is unable to perform his civil obligations due to force majeure shall not bear civil liability. Where there are other provisions in the law, those provisions shall prevail. Force majeure refers to an objective situation that cannot be foreseen, avoided and overcome.