Title Fourth: Lease of Agricultural Land

Article 602

Art. 602 - Leases of rural properties are subject to the aforementioned general rules and to the particular rules established by the following provisions.

Article 603

Art. 603 - Leases of rural property may be made for forty years, at the maximum; if they are made for a term exceeding this, each of the parties may terminate the contract at the expiration of forty years.

Article 604

Art. 604 - The lease must specify the type of crops or products that are the subject of the exploitation. In the absence thereof, the lessee is deemed authorized to undertake all types of crops that can be made on lands of the same species.

Article 605

Art. 605 - When the lease includes utensils, livestock, or provisions, such as hay, straw, or fertilizers, each party is required to provide the other with an exact inventory, signed by them, and to cooperate in a joint assessment.

Article 606

Art. 606 - The lessee must enjoy the leased property under the conditions determined by the contract. He cannot enjoy it in a manner that is harmful to the owner. He cannot, unless he is expressly authorized to do so, introduce changes into the operation that could have a harmful influence, even after the end of the lease.

Article 607

Art. 607 - The lessee has no right to the increase of animals nor to the accessions that occur to the thing during the duration of the contract.

Article 608

Art. 608 - All necessary works for the enjoyment of the property, such as the opening and maintenance of drainage ditches, canal dredging, maintenance of roads, paths and hedges, rental repairs of rural buildings and silos, shall be borne by the lessee in the absence of a stipulation or contrary customs; the lessee must carry them out at their own expense and without compensation, and shall be liable to the lessor for damages resulting from the non-performance of these obligations. The construction or major repair works of the buildings or other dependencies of the farm shall be borne by the lessor; the same applies to the repair of wells, canals, pipes and reservoirs. In case of default by the lessor, Article 547 shall apply.

Article 609

Article 609 - If, in a farm lease, the properties are given a content area greater or less than what they actually have, there is cause for either a supplement or reduction in price or termination of the contract, in the cases and according to the rules provided in the book on sales. This action prescribes within one year from the contract, unless the entry into possession was set for a later date; in that case, the prescriptive period runs from that latter date.

Article 610

Art. 610 - When the lessee is prevented from tilling or sowing his land due to force majeure, he is entitled to either a waiver of the lease price or reimbursement of what he has paid in advance.

Article 611

Article 611 - The tenant has the right to remission or restitution of the price if, after having sown, he loses his entire crop as a result of a case of force majeure that is not attributable to his fault. If the loss is partial, there is cause for reduction or proportional restitution of the price only if the loss exceeds one-half. There is neither cause for remission nor reduction if the farmer has been indemnified for the damage suffered, either by the author of such damage or by insurance.

Article 612

Art. 612 - The tenant farmer may not obtain a remission when the loss of the crops occurs after they have been separated from the land, unless the lease grants the owner a quantity of the crop in kind; in which case the owner must bear their share of the loss, provided that the tenant is not at fault or in default of delivering their portion of the crops. The tenant farmer may also not demand a remission when the cause of the damage existed and was known at the time the lease was entered into.

Article 613

Art. 613 - The lessee may be liable for fortuitous events by an express stipulation. This stipulation can only be made for ordinary fortuitous events such as hail, lightning or frost. If it is made for extraordinary fortuitous events, such as war damage to which the country is not ordinarily subject, it is null.

Article 614

Article 614 - Termination is warranted in favor of the rural lessor: 1 - If the tenant abandons cultivation of the leased property or does not cultivate in the manner of a prudent landowner; 2 - If he does not store the harvest in the places designated for this purpose according to the lease; 3 - If he uses the leased thing for a use other than that for which it is intended according to its nature or according to the contract and generally if he does not execute the clauses of the lease in such a way that it results in damage to the lessor. All of this, subject to the lessor's right to damages, if applicable.

Article 615

Art. 615 - The lease of rural properties ceases automatically upon the expiration of the time for which it was made. If no term has been agreed upon, the lease is deemed to have been made for the time necessary for the lessee to harvest all the crops of the leased property. Notice must be given at least six months prior to the expiration of the current year. The lease of arable lands, when they are divided by soles or seasons, expires at the end of the last sole.

Article 616

Article 616 - If, upon expiration of the agreed term, the tenant remains and is left in possession, the contract is deemed renewed for the same period, if it is made for a determined time; otherwise, it is deemed renewed until the removal of the next harvest.

Article 617

Art. 617 - The lessee of a rural property, whose crop has not been harvested by the expiration of their lease, due to a circumstance not resulting from their fraud or fault, has the right to remain on the premises by paying the lessor a rent equal to that determined in the contract, provided they have taken care to record, at the end of their lease, the state of the crop.

Article 618

Art. 618 - The outgoing tenant shall do nothing that diminishes or delays the enjoyment of his successor.

Article 619

Article 619 - The outgoing farmer must leave to his successor, some time before his entry into possession, suitable lodgings and other facilities necessary for the work of the following year; Reciprocally, the incoming farmer must leave to the one who departs suitable lodgings and other facilities for the consumption of fodder and for harvests remaining to be made. In either case, the usage of the place is followed.

Article 620

Art. 620 - The outgoing farmer must leave the hay, straw, and fertilizers of the year, if he received them upon entering into possession, in a quantity equal to that which he received. He cannot be relieved of this obligation by alleging necessity. Even if he did not receive them, the lessor may retain a sufficient quantity, to be estimated at the current price of the day. The local custom is also followed in this matter.

Article 621

Article 621 - The farmer must return at the end of the lease the things delivered to him on an inventory, and he is responsible for them, except in cases of force majeure not attributable to his fault and deteriorations resulting from ordinary and normal use of these things. If, during the lease, he has replaced or had repaired what was lost or deteriorated, he has the right to have his expense reimbursed, if there is no fault attributable to him.

Article 622

Art. 622 - If the tenant has supplemented the equipment intended for the operation with other objects not included in the inventory at his own expense, the owner has the choice, at the end of the lease, to either reimburse him for their value as determined by experts or to return them to the tenant in the condition in which they are found.

Article 623

Art. 623 - Other rural contracts, such as Mozaraa, Moussakat, Mougharasat, shall remain governed by the texts in force and local customs.