How do I cancel a lease documented on Ejar before it ends?

This answer was reviewed against official sources on 2026-10-05

Short answer

A lease documented on Ejar binds both parties for its full term and can end early only by agreement, by a court judgment or order, or in a few listed exceptional cases. The easiest route is Ejar’s “termination by both parties” service: the landlord or the tenant files the request from their Ejar account, the other party approves it, and the service has no fee. If the other party refuses, Ejar cancels the lease one-sidedly only on an Execution Court order to vacate the property; other disputes go to the General Court through Najiz.

When can a lease end before its term?

Article 94 of the Civil Transactions Law says a valid contract cannot be revoked or amended except by agreement or under a statutory provision. Ejar’s FAQ states that the unified lease is binding for its full term once documented and lists six cases in which it may be terminated or ended:

Agreement of both parties.
A court judgment for breach of an essential lease term.
Proof, by an approved government report, that the building is at risk of collapse.
Government decisions changing building regulations so that the unit cannot be used.
State acquisition of all or part of the property so that the unit cannot be used.
Force majeure.

If the other party refuses

The unified residential lease gives the tenant a grace period after each due date: 30 days when payments fall every 180 days or more, and 15 days when they are more frequent. If the tenant is 15 or 30 days late after the grace period ends, the landlord may terminate the lease through Ejar unless the parties agree another grace period on Ejar. However, Ejar’s one-sided cancellation service requires an execution decision ending the lease that includes its number, which the landlord obtains from the Execution Court through Najiz, since the unified lease is an executive instrument.

Either party harmed by a breach may also ask the court to terminate if the other party does not perform or remove the harm within 30 days of the breach, after a notice sent through Ejar. This matches Article 107 of the Civil Transactions Law, which allows a party to seek termination after formally notifying the party in breach and lets the court refuse if the unperformed part is minor. Article 442 lets either party request termination of a lease for an urgent excuse of their own, provided they compensate the other for the harm; if the landlord is the one asking, the tenant need not hand back the property until compensated or given adequate security.

For eviction, the current Execution Law (M/53) applies until 27 October 2026 and the new Execution Law (M/237) from 28 October 2026.

Rent and deposit after termination

Under Article 111 of the Civil Transactions Law, terminating a time-based contract such as a lease has no retroactive effect, and the court may award compensation where justified. Ejar explains that when a lease is dissolved the contractual relationship ends but each party keeps its rights, such as rent and the security deposit. The deposit is refunded or deducted according to the Ejar handover form both parties fill in within 7 days.

Steps

From the landlord’s or tenant’s Ejar account, open the contracts list and search by contract number.
Choose “Terminate contract”, then select the termination reason and the lease end date.
Choose the financial settlement (all payments, or the tenant’s final payment), then confirm so the request goes to the other party.
The other party opens the requests list and approves and confirms the termination, or rejects it with a reason.
On approval a text message arrives and the status becomes “Terminated”; on rejection the lease stays “Active”.

Follow-up questions

Does the lease end as soon as the tenant moves out?

No. A fixed-term lease ends on its end date, while an automatically renewing lease must be ended by both parties through Ejar.

Can the parties agree to end the lease after the non-renewal notice deadline has passed?

Yes. The landlord–tenant rules exclude from automatic renewal any lease that both parties agree to end by mutual consent after the non-renewal notice deadline (at least 60 days before the end) has passed.

Official sources

General information for guidance, not legal advice; the governing regulations and official bodies are the final reference.

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