Guarantor is liable for a lease agreement extended without his knowledge

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Lease contract guarantors must be jointly and severally responsible for the debts, even if they have not agreed to the contractual amendment that provided for the extension of the document.


This is the understanding of the 3rd Panel of the Superior Court of Justice, in the judgment of a special appeal filed by a guarantor who sought recognition of the cancellation of the guarantee for not having signed a contractual amendment that increased the rent value and extended the lease term.

The Court of Justice of São Paulo, despite B2B Lead recognizing that the guarantor did not sign the addendum, understood that the guarantee provided would persist until the end of the lease, with the only exception that there would be no liability regarding the new value agreed between lessor and lessee.

At the STJ, the rapporteur, minister Nancy Andrighi, voted in the same direction. She cited article 39 of Law 8,245/91, which establishes that, “unless otherwise provided in the contract, any of the lease guarantees extend until the effective return of the property”.

Limits of liability
The minister rapporteur highlighted that the law allows the guarantor to exempt himself from the obligation by means of a notice of termination, recognizing that the attitude of no longer being responsible for the rental debts must come from the guarantor himself, in accordance with article 835 of the Civil Code of 2002.



“In the case under trial, in the absence of a contractual clause contrary to the provisions of article 39 of the Tenancy Law — that is, which exempts the guarantors from responsibility until the delivery of the keys — nor the release of the guarantee by the guarantors, the provisions of the special law regarding the subsistence of the guarantee provided must prevail”, concluded the rapporteur.

In relation to the contractual amendment, Nancy Andrighi also maintained the TJ-SP's understanding that the guarantors' liability remains limited to the rental value provided for in the original contract and in accordance with the correction index established by it. With information from the STJ Press Office.