Commercial Evictions in Romania (Evacuarea Comercială)

In the high-stakes realm of Romanian commercial real estate, governed primarily by the Romanian Civil Code (effective 1 October 2011), permitting a non-paying corporate tenant to indefinitely occupy a 2,000 sqm warehouse or an entire floor of a Class A office building is financial suicide. Consequently, the commercial eviction process (evacuarea) is designed to be a summary fast-track process—provided the landlord's attorneys properly structured the original lease agreement.

The Golden Key: The Enforceable Title (Titlu Executoriu)

The entire strategy of commercial leasing in Romania revolves around obtaining and preserving an Enforceable Title (Titlu Executoriu).

Under the Romanian Civil Code, the status of a lease as an enforceable title depends on the objective:

• Rent Payment: Under Art. 1798, a lease is an enforceable title for the payment of rent if it is either registered with ANAF (the tax authority) or signed before a Public Notary.
• Restitution (Eviction): Under Art. 1809, a lease acts as an enforceable title for the restitution of the property only upon the natural expiry of the contractual term.

If a landlord seeks eviction due to a breach (such as non-payment) before the term expires, the lease itself is not an enforceable title for possession. In these cases, the landlord must utilize the Special Eviction Procedure (Procedura specială a evacuării) under Articles 1034-1049 of the Civil Procedure Code. This summary procedure is specifically designed for rapid repossession and is significantly faster than a standard civil trial.

Why Commercial Landlords Demand Notarial Deeds

While registering a lease with ANAF grants Enforceable Title status regarding the payment of rent, commercial developers overwhelmingly prefer to sign their mega-leases as Authentic Notarial Deeds (Act Autentic Notarial).

A contract fully authenticated by a Public Notary is virtually incontestable in court. When a corporate tenant signs a Notarial Deed, they legally acknowledge their debt obligations with the highest level of state authenticity. If the tenant defaults, they cannot effectively argue "my signature was forged" or "I didn't understand the clause," neutralizing potential delay tactics during the summary eviction proceedings.

The Institutional Eviction Timeline

When a corporate tenant breaches the contract (usually by failing to pay the Base Rent or the massive quarterly Service Charge reconciliation invoice), the landlord executes a hyper-aggressive procedure governed by the Civil Code and Civil Procedure Code.

Step 1: The Formal Cure Notice (Punerea în Întârziere)

The clock begins. The landlord issues a formal notification—almost invariably delivered by a Judicial Bailiff (Executor Judecătoresc) to ensure undeniable proof of receipt. Under Art. 1553 of the Civil Code, this notice must expressly specify the obligations whose non-performance leads to termination. The notice demands the payment of the outstanding rent, plus contractual penalties, giving the tenant a contractually agreed cure period.

Step 2: The Nuclear Option (The Unconditional Bank Guarantee)

Simultaneously, the landlord does not wait for the eviction to secure their cash. They immediately execute a "draw down" against the tenant's Unconditional Bank Letter of Guarantee (SGB). (See Commercial Security DepositsPreview unavailable). The bank wires the outstanding debt to the landlord. The landlord then formally orders the tenant to "Top-Up" (replenish) the empty bank guarantee. If the tenant fails to replenish the guarantee, this constitutes a fatal material breach.

Step 3: Termination via "Pact Comisoriu"

To ensure the lease is terminated "de plin drept" (by right), institutional Romanian leases include a Pact Comisoriu clause. Under Art. 1553 of the Civil Code, this clause is effective only if it clearly identifies the specific breaches that trigger it. Once the cure period expires without remedy, the lease is terminated automatically without further court intervention regarding the termination itself.

Step 4: The Special Eviction Procedure and Bailiff Execution

Once the lease is terminated for breach, the landlord initiates the fast-track legal process:

• Notice to Vacate: Before filing with the court, the landlord must notify the tenant via a judicial bailiff to vacate the premises within 30 days (Art. 1039 CPC), unless this notice was explicitly waived in the lease.
• Court Order: The landlord applies to the Judecătoria (District Court) under the Special Eviction Procedure (Art. 1034-1049 CPC) to obtain an enforceable decision (hotărâre executorie).
• Bailiff Execution: Armed with the court order (or the notarized lease if the term has simply expired), the landlord hires a Judicial Bailiff. Under Art. 897 CPC, the Bailiff must issue a somație (notice) giving the tenant 8 days to vacate voluntarily. If the tenant refuses, the Bailiff has the authority to perform a physical removal with the assistance of the Romanian Police or Gendarmerie.

The Tenant's Vain Defense: The Injunction (Contestația la Executare)

A sophisticated tenant facing a Bailiff lock-out will desperately attempt to halt the process by filing a "Contestație la Executare" (Challenge to Execution) and begging the judge to suspend the eviction.

However, because the landlord possesses an Authentic Notarial Deed or a court order from the Special Procedure, a Romanian judge will rarely suspend the physical eviction without forcing the tenant to first deposit a massive "Suspension Bail" (Cauțiune) into a state treasury account. For a failing company, raising this cash is often impossible, meaning the physical eviction proceeds unimpeded.

Bulletproofing Your Executions with Landager

In commercial real estate, speed to repossession dictates the survival of your asset yields. Relying on disconnected email threads to prove that a tenant missed a cure period notice is how developers lose multi-million Euro properties. Landager digitizes your lethal execution machinery. Instantly track the 15-day cure window following a late payment invoice. Generate automated, legally flawless "Notice of Default" templates, seamlessly log the Bailiff delivery receipts, and maintain a highly secure digital repository of your Notarial Deeds and Pact Comisoriu clauses, ensuring that when the moment arrives to execute an eviction, you hand your legal team an airtight, timestamped dossier capable of neutralizing any desperate tenant injunction.

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