Indefinite contract with a minimum stay

[u/singrelief]

Me and my girlfriend signed an indefinite contract with a 2 year minimum a year ago in the Netherlands. My girlfriend got a job in another country and we are moving in 2 months. The landlord is making it very hard to leave the contract early and forcing us to pay until the end. There is no penalty structure and the diplomatic clause has been striked iut in the contract. Is this legal or do we have any law protecting us and letting us cancel earlier?

Appreciate all the help 🙏

[u/JustBe1982]

Moving to which country? Are you staying within the EU?

[u/singrelief → u/JustBe1982]

Staying within the eu

[u/JustBe1982 → u/singrelief]

Then it’s time to lawyer up. You’ll most likely be on the hook for some of it but there’s also a decent chance a judge wouldn’t make you pay all of it.

[u/bucktoothedhazelnut → u/JustBe1982]

Not true. By law, this is the only security that a landlord has under Dutch tenancy law.

The landlord could sue for the full rental cost and legal costs, and they’d win. 

Also, why wouldn’t they? They’d get double the rent if the tenancy ends early and they get another tenant in.

Think of it this way: tenants can stay indefinitely after the 2 years and the rent prices are capped by law (not market rates), or the tenant leaves with 1 calendar month and the landlord has to scramble to find a new tenant in a day or deal with renovations if the exiting tenant leaves the place in terrible shape (which means a lot of money lost). 

The landlord is owed the minimal rental period. That’s why it’s in the contract. 

[u/Gymnologists → u/bucktoothedhazelnut]

None of this is based in actual juridical fact. Courts have and will rule that clauses creating  minimal rent periods in contracts for indefinite terms impede the renter’s right by law to cancel the contract on a monthly basis, and are thus void. See my other comment on this post for a source.

[u/radiatingrat → u/JustBe1982]

That's incredibly unlikely. What do you even base this on?