Dyslexia Is No Excuse for Rent Arrears: Judge Terminates the Lease Agreement

In a ruling published this week, the Rotterdam District Court (ECLI:NL:RBROT:2026:15375) a Commercial Lease Agreement terminated. In and of itself, that is not surprising. The general rule is that if someone (such as a tenant) fails to fulfill an agreement (for example, by failing to pay), the other party to that agreement may then terminate it. What was surprising, however, was the tenant’s defense. Namely, that he is experiencing financial difficulties and that he is dyslexic and therefore unable to properly understand contracts.

The amount of the rent arrears is undisputed

The tenant in this case was occupying two commercial spaces. For those spaces combined, he was required to pay the landlord a monthly amount of €2,620.71 in rent, service charges, and VAT. On the day of the hearing, the rent arrears totaled over €32,000. The tenant did not dispute the existence or the amount of the arrears. The small claims judge noted in this regard that such rent arrears constitute a breach of contract that the termination of the lease justifies.

Tenant cites dyslexia: ‘Doesn’t understand contracts’

The tenant argues in his defense that, due to his dyslexia, he is unable to truly understand the lease agreements. The small claims judge first notes that he does not understand exactly what the tenant means by this. Apparently, no legal consequence or conclusion is attached to this statement by the tenant. The judge nevertheless addresses the arguments. Although the tenant is dyslexic, he is legally competent. He is not under guardianship, and he could reasonably be expected to know what he was signing. Furthermore, this is a commercial agreement, and the landlord was not aware of the tenant’s dyslexia. The landlord therefore could not have known that the tenant did not understand what he was signing. The judge therefore notes:

“The diagnosed dyslexia therefore has no legal implications for Onyx’s claim.”

In short: even if it is true that the tenant was dyslexic, that is still no excuse for allowing a year’s worth of rent arrears to accumulate. The defense therefore fails.

Tenant Is ‘Struggling Financially,’ but Judge Terminates Lease Anyway

The argument that the tenant is experiencing financial difficulties does not change the situation for him either. However, given the extent of the payment arrears, that is insufficient to prevent termination of the lease. Therefore, the judge does not address the tenant’s suggestion to grant the eviction only if he fails to comply with a new payment plan. In addition, the landlord had stated at the hearing that several payment plans had already been agreed upon, but that the tenant had failed to comply with them. Financial difficulties in the case of substantial rent arrears may, incidentally, indicate that it will not be possible to catch up on the arrears within the foreseeable future. This is therefore not (always) the strongest defense in a collection procedure.

Dyslexia is not at the other party’s expense and risk

Someone who struggles with dyslexia cannot simply invoke it in the event of a dispute over a contract. This is especially true when it comes to a business contract and the other party is unaware of the dyslexia. In this case, it likely played a role that dyslexia cannot be the cause of a year-long failure to pay rent on time.

A party that knows it is entering into a contract with someone who has dyslexia would be wise to document what steps were taken to ensure that the contract’s terms and their implications were clearly communicated. For example, by noting in writing that the terms were discussed. And someone who has dyslexia or, for another reason, is unable to properly understand legal documents would be wise to seek assistance from an advisor when signing contracts.