Notice period

Question

Dear all,I have already asked the question on the general topic list but maybe I am better here, as it is also a legal topic. So I am asking the question again over here, hoping more people can give their opinion.I have a discussion about the termination of a contract with following terms:"The rental contract will run until it is terminated by one of the parties giving the other one six months' notice with effect from the end of the calender year"I am not sure this is proper and clear English, as I had discussions with my colleagues about the start of the notice period and the effective end date of the contract.Can someone please explain this sentence, and tell me when notice needs to be given?When does the contract terminate, if notice is given on -- June 15, 2012 ?- Sept 15, 2012 ?I would greatly appreciate the help of a native speaker here!Thanks a lot!

JohnParis · Accepted Answer

Hello -
I am not an attorney, but I have rented a few apartments in my life and if I saw that clause in a rental agreement I was about to sign, I would ask a lot of questions. It is a very confusing sentence.
It's not clear what you want to say.
Are you simply requiring that either the tenant or landlord give six months notice of intention to vacate or are you stipulating that either party can only give notice on a specific date?
Most rental contracts that I have seen require that either party give a certain amount of notice before leaving or taking back possession. Generally, this is stated in plain language without reference to the end of any calendar year in a short section titled "termination".
"Either party may terminate this lease at any time provided that notice is given six months in advance" - or something similar.

Filip Meeussen · Answer

The contract was translated into English from Swedish. Clearly, this has not been clearly translated but this exact sentence is what is printed in the contract.
Now, apart from the context and the fact this was printed in a rental contract, I know this is not a common stipulation but I am stuck with it and want to know how a native English speaker would interprete it, because after all, this is what was signed.

JohnParis · Answer

I would interpret the sentence to mean that either party could terminate the contract, and that if they did they would have to do it at the end of the year (December 31). They would then be required to vacate or repossess the premises on or before July 1 of the following year (six months).
In other words, it looks as if you have only one chance to end the lease (at the end of the year) and if you don't, the lease will renew for another calendar year. If you do give notice, you will have to stay and pay (or perhaps just pay) for the next six months.
The more I think about it, the more this sort of condition seems suited for a commercial lease (a warehouse, a store, a doctor's office' etc.). However, people are so mobile these days that imposing this sort of constraint on a tenant of an apartment or home would seem unfair.

Filip Meeussen · Answer

Thanks John, it is a commercial lease indeed, and the contract is rather old.

Anyone that does not agree with this interpretation of the notice period?

KJinCali79 · Answer

I interpret this as you need to give at least six months months notice of your intent to terminate the rental/lease, and that the termination will take effect at the end of the calendar year.  In order words, the agreement can only end on December 31st.You need to give notice on or before June 30th, for the agreement to terminate December 31st.   If you give notice before that, it still cannot be terminated prior to the end of the year.  If you do not give notice until after that, the earliest you can terminate it is the following December 31st when you will need to also provide notice by June 30th of that year.Note: that "with effect from" is a defined idiom meaning "becoming valid at...." a specified point in time.  It's similar in origin to the idiom, "with immediate effect" which means "from now on."  So in this case I take it to mean, the termination of the agreement can only become valid (take effect) on December 31st.

KJinCali79 · Answer

Notice given June 15, 2012  -- contract terminates December 31, 2012.                    Notice given Sept 15, 2012  -- contract terminates December 31, 2013.            Six months from Sept 15, 2012 would be Mar 15, 2013 so the agreement would terminate at the end of that calendar year = December 31, 2013.  By the way, I worked for an equipment/machinery rental company for eight years, so I'm pretty certain of this interpretation.     This is a gimmick, by the way, to make it seem like they are only requiring you to give six months notice to terminate the contract, when in reality, unless you give notice on June 30th, you will always be stuck for longer than six months.

Filip Meeussen · Answer

Thanks KJinCali79, and this is obviously the second interpretation possible for this sentence.

I still do not know if there is one of both interpretations that we can exclude based on the English grammar.

So the first interpretation was

"The rental contract will run until it is terminated by one of the parties giving the other one six months' notice with effect from the end of the calender year"

Here, termination of the contract effective at the end of the calender year. To my feeling it seems strange to put "with effect from the end of the calender year" at the end of the sentence if it actually refers to the word "terminated".

The second interpretation was

"The rental contract will run until it is terminated by one of the parties giving the other one six months' notice with effect from the end of the calender year"

Here, notice period effective from the end of the calender year. Seems more logical to my limited sense of the English language, since "with effect from the end of the calender year" comes immediately after the word it refers to, i.e. "notice".

If both interpretations are gramatically correct, I guess both interpretations are legally valid. If not, we can exclude one.

KJinCali79 · Answer

The notice period is a requirement to begin the process of termination. This is indicated by the word "by", and would be more clear if a comma followed terminated and another comma followed notice. "With effect from" indicates the point at which that termination actually occurs. With effect from = effective upon (or at) such a date (or time) in the future. Do not think of this literally, in terms of the grammatical sense of the words "with" and "from," for that will cause confusion. This is an idiom, and it is typical of legal documents or formal announcements. Examples of this idiom are in the headings of the following governmental links: Ireland: http://www.lloyds.com/The-Market/Communications/Regulatory-Communications-Homepage/Regulatory-Communications/Regulatory-news-articles/2012/01/Revised-Consumer-Protection-Code-in-Ireland-with-effect-from-1-January-2012 Taiwan: http://www.bli.gov.tw/en/sub.aspx?a=wOY%2BZbCgUUo%3D Global Organization (UK-based): http://www.step.org/news/press_releases/2012/senior_step_appointments.aspx Interpretation:The rental contract will run until it is terminated, by one of the parties giving the other one six months' notice, effective at the end of that calendar year." Take the notice date, add six months, whichever year that date falls into, the termination will take effect at year-end (Dec 31st). Notice Given June 15, 2012 + six months = December 15, 2012 = Termination Date of December 31, 2012. Notice Given September 15, 2012 + six months = March 15, 2013 = Termination Date of December 31, 2013.

JohnParis · Answer

Dear Filip Meeussen,

Please do not think that any opinions you receive here are, in any way, remotely connected to sound legal advice unless the person replying to your questions is an attorney. Stating that both interpretations are "legally valid" based upon answers from anyone not licensed to practice law is risky business. I am a physician with a PhD. in bio-medical writing and publishing, and I have absolutely no knowledge of matters of law. You asked for an interpretation of how I perceived the passage in question, and my response was just that - my interpretation.

There is a "Legal English" forum here, but I do not participate in it because I am not qualified.

John

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