Landlord Termination for Rent Default Upheld Absent Qualified Unfairness

A landlord's termination of a tenancy due to the tenant's payment default was initially overturned by a lower court as abusive, but the higher court allowed the appeal, ruling that to overturn a termination based on late payment under Article 257d of the Code of Obligations, there must be an obvious, qualified unfairness by the landlord, as payment default is a severe breach of the main contractual obligation. The court reasoned that such an abuse is only conceivable in cases of minimal arrears (e.g., 0.5% of the rent or a one-day delay), whereas the current default, representing about 21% of the monthly rent, was not minor, and considerations of hardship for the tenant are irrelevant when termination is based on a valid default as stipulated by law.