- 1 of 47 - BELGIUM Catherine DELFORGE and Ludivine ...

or in an international instrument having direct effect in Belgian law. The "tribunal de
première instance" is qualified to sanction any behaviour which contravenes these principles
and to award damages to the victim on the basis of article 1382 and 1383 of the Civil code
(extra-contractual liability).
Question 2: Sharing with Third Persons
L rents an apartment to T. After some months, T wants to take into the apartment:
a) her husband and children.
b) her boyfriend.
c) her homosexual partner.
d) her parents.
Is this possible against the will of L? If not, what are L’s remedies?
In principle, and unless the contract concluded between the parties states otherwise, the
tenant is free to share the rented premises with the person(s) of his choice. The lessor would
not be able to object to this except where the objective conditions so justify (e.g. the size of
the rented premises prevent sharing, the accommodation is reserved for people of the same
sex, etc.).
In addition, it is possible for two or several people to rent the same apartment together.
In this case, each one is held responsible "for the whole" and the performance of the contract
by only one of them releases the others ("undivided" right) 54 . The request to leave must thus
be given by all the tenants and the lessor must also send his request to each one separately.
Variant 1:
T dies. The persons listed under a) – c), who were sharing the house with T during the
last years, want to continue the contract with L under the same conditions.
It is important to distinguish a situation whereby two individuals conclude a contract as
co-tenants from a situation whereby one person concludes a contract as a tenant but thereafter
shares the property with a third party. In the latter case, the third person isn't in theory a
"party" to the contract and, unless married to the tenant 5556 or a cohabitant 5758 , does not, by
his/her presence alone, acquire any right to the building because he/she is not ‘party’ to the
contract concluded with the lessor. In the event of the death of the tenant, therefore, this
person would have to leave the premises. The best protection on this point certainly lies in the
prudence of having an amendment to the initial contract signed by the lessor, which would
also be signed by the third party.
With regard to cohabitants (marriage or legal "cohabitation"), two situations can arise :
54 Y. MERCHIERS, Les baux, Le bail de résidence principale, Larcier, 1997, p. 133, n°70.
55 So, a spouse who hasn’t signed the agreement is a ‘party’ to it and is therefore jointly obliged to the payment of the rents, even if
he/she leaves his/her spouse and abandons the premises (article 222 of the Civil Code). There is however a controversy about the
duration of such joint obligation.
If it concerns people living in ‘concubinage’ and if both have signed the rent agreement, each person will be responsible for only
half of the debts, unless the agreement provides otherwise (this is frequent). See exception when there is “cohabitation”.
56 We must however hold account of the law of January 28 2003 which automatically allots the family housing to the spouse or the
legal cohabitant who was victim of acts of physical violence of her/his partner, Mon. b., February 12 2003.
57 See the law of 23 November 1998 founding the legal (Mon.b. January 12 1999).
58 See Y. MERCHIERS, Les baux, Le bail en général, Larcier, 1997, pp. 130 and ff., n°68 and ff.
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