Changing the Terms of the Contract
A lease amendment agreement, or wijziging van de huurovereenkomst, is a formal document used to make changes to an existing rental contract. A rental agreement is a legally binding contract, and its terms cannot be changed unilaterally by either the landlord or the tenant. Any modification, whether it's an adjustment to the rent, a change in the rules about pets, or permission for the tenant to make an alteration to the property, must be mutually agreed upon. This mutual agreement is then formalized in a written amendment, which is signed by both parties and becomes a legally binding part of the original lease.
Mutual Consent is Key
The cornerstone of any lease amendment is mutual consent (wederzijds goedvinden). A landlord cannot, for example, suddenly decide to forbid smoking and issue an amendment to that effect; the tenant must agree to the new rule. Similarly, a tenant cannot decide they want to sublet a room and create an amendment; they need the landlord's explicit permission. The amendment process is a negotiation. If one party does not agree to the proposed change, the original terms of the lease remain in effect.
Cannot Override Mandatory Law
It is crucial to understand that a lease amendment cannot be used to circumvent the tenant's mandatory legal rights (dwingend recht). Any clause in an amendment that is to the tenant's detriment and conflicts with tenant protection law is legally void (nietig). For example, a tenant and landlord could sign an amendment in which the tenant agrees to a notice period of three months. This clause would be void, because the law states that the tenant's notice period is mandatorily one month. The law always overrides a non-compliant contractual agreement. An amendment can only grant the tenant more rights than the law provides, not fewer.
