Ending a lease and eviction in Mexico: the civil codes

How a lease ends: the lists

All three codes list the ways a lease can end, in similar terms:

• Mexico City, art. 2483: end of the agreed term; express agreement; nullity; rescission; confusion (tenant and owner become the same person); total loss of the property through chance or force majeure; expropriation; eviction by a third party’s superior title; judicial sale under art. 2495.
• Jalisco, art. 2140: a similar list, with rescission among the grounds.
• Quintana Roo, art. 2736: the same list, minus a judicial sale.

A fixed-term lease ends on the date set, without the need for a prior notice: Mexico City art. 2484, Quintana Roo art. 2737 (“sin necesidad de desahucio”), Jalisco art. 2141. If the tenant stays on after the term “sin oposición”, the Mexico City code (art. 2487) treats the lease as continuing for an indefinite time, and either party can then ask to end it under art. 2478. Jalisco and Quintana Roo have their own tacit renewal articles (2143 and 2739) with different consequences.

Lease with no fixed term: notice periods

Once the notice is given, Mexico City art. 2479 requires the tenant of an urban property to allow notices (“cédulas”) to be posted and to show the interior to people interested in renting it. The Mexico City wording asks for notice that can be proved (“de manera fehaciente”).

Grounds for rescission

Mexico City (art. 2489): the landlord may require rescission for non-payment of rent; use of the property contrary to the agreed use; sub-letting without consent; serious damage attributable to the tenant; changing the form of the property without express consent; and other cases set by law. Art. 2490 lists the tenant’s grounds: breach of the landlord’s duty to keep the premises usable (art. 2412), total or partial loss of the property, and hidden defects.

Jalisco (art. 2144): non-payment, use for another purpose, sub-letting or transfer without permission, serious damage, changing the form of the property, and non-payment of utilities for more than two months where the tenant agreed to pay them. Art. 2145 gives the tenant rescission for the landlord’s failure to repair or provide services, loss of the property, a repair that stops use for more than a month, and hidden defects.

Two Jalisco rules are specific:

• Art. 1792. Where unpaid rent is the only ground for rescission, if the defendant shows the receipt or pays the rent claimed (plus costs), the judge “deberá sobreseer todo procedimiento” if no judgment has been made yet. The article is declared non-waivable.
• Art. 2142. If two or more consecutive months of unpaid rent go with abandonment of the property, “previa certificación de la autoridad judicial”, the property is returned to the landlord and the contract ends.

Quintana Roo (art. 2741): non-payment, use contrary to the agreed use, and sub-letting without authorisation. Art. 2738 adds a tenant’s right to ask for an extension of up to one year, within 15 days after expiry, if rent is up to date; the landlord who wants to live in the property is exempt.

The court route

The civil codes say what the grounds are. How the claim is made depends on the procedure code in force in the state. The federal Código Nacional de Procedimientos Civiles y Familiares includes a “Juicio Especial de Arrendamiento Inmobiliario Oral” (arts. 520 to 529). In it, the defendant has 15 days to answer the claim; the court sets the trial hearing within 15 days after the pleadings; at the hearing a conciliation and mediation stage opens before evidence; and where two or more months of rent are claimed, the landlord may ask the court to require the tenant to show receipts or deposit slips, failing which assets can be attached (art. 525).

That code enters into force state by state by a declaration of each local Congress, and the national transitional article sets a limit of 1 April 2027 at the latest. I did not read the date of the declaration for Mexico City, Jalisco or Quintana Roo. Until the national code applies in a state, the state’s own procedure code governs. Neither the civil codes nor the national code, in the passages read, authorise a landlord to recover the property without a court. If you are in dispute, a lawyer in the state should confirm the procedure.

If the property changes hands

In Mexico City, a sale of the property does not end the lease: art. 2409 keeps the lease alive “en los términos del contrato”. Tenants who are up to date have a right of first refusal (art. 2448 J). A judicial sale also leaves the lease in place unless it was made within 70 days before the attachment (art. 2495). Quintana Roo art. 2744 sets that period at 60 days and Jalisco art. 2146 at 60 days, with an added condition about a registered mortgage.

Which professional to consult

A real estate lawyer in the state of the property (real estate lawyer). For notice and deposits, see security deposit rules; for the baseline rules in the capital, renting a home in Mexico City.