A landlord facing unpaid rent may need to recover money and regain the premises. The documents and procedures for those aims should be examined separately.
Start with the lease
Under Article 1798 of the Romanian Civil Code, a lease registered with the tax authority can be an enforceable title for rent payable at the times and in the manner agreed. The first step is to check the registration, the rent clause, the due dates and the payment record. A clear schedule of each overdue instalment is more useful than a single unexplained balance.
Calculate the ancillary amounts
Where the enforceable title stipulates a penalty formula without stating the final amount, Article 628(2) of the Civil Procedure Code provides for calculation by the enforcement officer. The contractual rate, each due date and any partial payment must be checked. Penalties should not simply be added to the principal without showing the calculation and its contractual basis.
Plan possession separately
An enforceable claim for rent does not automatically resolve termination of the lease or removal of the occupant. Check the termination clause, the required notice and the procedure for recovering possession. Even emphatic wording in a lease does not authorise a landlord to change locks or bypass the applicable procedure. Evidence of service, the property’s occupancy and any continuing use after termination may become as important as the account statement.
A clause worth negotiating at the outset
Romanian procedure permits a tenant to waive the prior eviction notice in a written instrument that expressly recognises the landlord’s right to bring the special eviction proceedings immediately after the tenant’s right of use ends. Owners should consider including that clear waiver in the signed lease. A generic clause saying that the tenant may be evicted “without formalities” may not do the same work. The waiver removes a preliminary notification step; it does not itself terminate the lease, authorise self-help or dispense with a court order where the tenant refuses to leave.
Legal context: Civil Code art. 1798; Civil Procedure Code arts. 628(2), 1038(4) and 1041. No enforcement result is implied.