Proof of amicable termination of a rural lease

Published on November 29, 2023

Rural law

The MSA Transfer Bulletin: Not to be overlooked!

(Besançon Court of Appeal, November 21, 2023, RG 22/01729).

The issue of proving the existence of an (oral) rural lease is a recurring subject. The signing of an MSA mutation bulletin is often put forward as a beginning of proof, but judges invariably recall that it is insufficient to demonstrate the very existence of a lease.

Less debated is the question of proof of the amicable termination of the rural lease, which, however, is not without practical consequences.

By a judgment of November 21, 2023, the Besançon Court of Appeal provides interesting insight into the proof of amicable termination of a rural lease and its effective date. An opportunity for it to highlight the importance of the MSA Transfer Bulletin.

Proof of the amicable termination of the rural lease

In this case, an owner and their tenant verbally agree to terminate the lease that has bound them for several years. They sign, with the new operator, an MSA transfer form, each in their respective capacity as owner, "transferring operator" and "new operator". Subsequently, the tenant backtracks and claims to remain in the premises as the holder of a farm lease.

The Court holds, however, that the signing of the MSA transfer form constitutes proof of an amicable termination of the lease, further noting that subsequently, a lease was signed between the owner and the new operator, and the latter agreed to board cattle belonging to the initial farmer's sons-in-law, under a document countersigned by the latter.

The case allows the Court to clarify that it is not necessary for the outgoing tenant to be affiliated with the MSA, nor even to be a French national, for the signing of the MSA transfer form to manifest their intention to terminate the lease, insofar as these documents are established and signed "in terms presenting no ambiguity as to the qualities of each party and their purpose at the time of their establishment".

Effective date of the amicable termination

The facts of the case also allow the Court to examine the determination of the effective date of a mutual termination, which is of the utmost importance in this case.

Indeed, the first judges had interpreted a general mention in the MSA transfer bulletin to conclude that the termination signed in March 2021 would only take effect at the end of that same calendar year, so that the new lease and the promise of sale concluded in the meantime by the owner had been made in violation of the rights of the sitting tenant.

The said mention, which appears in many transfer bulletin models, is as follows: "any change with an effective date after January 1^st will be taken into account for the following year." The Court of Appeal usefully recalls that this is only a deferral of the taking into account of MSA rights. Such a mention, however, has no impact on the effective date of the lease termination, as evidenced by the signing of the MSA transfer bulletin.

The appeal judges thus retain, as the date of termination, the entry into enjoyment of the "new operator", as provided for by the new lease concluded with him, which effectively materializes the "transfer" of the land to his benefit