Lease Dispute Resolution

Is the lessee released from rent by returning the property early?

Only if they offer a new, solvent lessee acceptable to the lessor, who agrees to take the lease on the same terms. Otherwise the rent must be paid until the lease relationship ends.

When can an open-term lease be terminated?

Where no term is defined, each party may declare termination for the following lease year no later than ten days from the beginning of the lease year. The lease year is the calendar year, and an agreement on a shorter period must be made in writing.

What rule applies to open-term leases of land plots?

For a lease of a land plot or a right without a defined term, termination is admissible only at the end of the lease year, and it may be terminated no later than one month after the end of the lease year.

In what condition must leased property be returned?

In a condition ensuring the proper continuation of the operation existing before the return. A detailed handover act at delivery and return is the best protection against disputes.

What limitation periods apply to lease claims?

Contractual claims are subject to three years, claims connected with immovable property to six years, and claims from periodically performed obligations — such as monthly rent — to three years.

5 min·9 Jan 2026

Lease Disputes — the Legal Framework

Lease relationships — offices, industrial and retail space, residential property — frequently end in disputes: who pays rent and until when, in what condition the property must be returned, and when the relationship may be brought to an end. The first source for resolving any of these questions is the contract itself; where the contract is silent, the norms of the lease chapter of the Civil Code of Georgia apply.

Article 581 defines the essence of the lease: the lessor must transfer defined property to the lessee for temporary use and, during the lease period, ensure the possibility of receiving the fruits where they are obtained as income through the proper management of the enterprise; the lessee must pay the agreed rent. The rent may be set in money or in kind, and the parties may agree on other means of determining it. This flexibility means that in a dispute the content of the contract takes first place, and arguments about what the parties must have intended come a distant second.

Updated: 15 Oct 2026

Legal basis:

Lease Dispute Resolution

Is the lessee released from rent by returning the property early?

Only if they offer a new, solvent lessee acceptable to the lessor, who agrees to take the lease on the same terms. Otherwise the rent must be paid until the lease relationship ends.

When can an open-term lease be terminated?

What rule applies to open-term leases of land plots?

In what condition must leased property be returned?

In a condition ensuring the proper continuation of the operation existing before the return. A detailed handover act at delivery and return is the best protection against disputes.

What limitation periods apply to lease claims?

Contractual claims are subject to three years, claims connected with immovable property to six years, and claims from periodically performed obligations — such as monthly rent — to three years.

5 min·9 Jan 2026

Lease Disputes — the Legal Framework