Lessee Challenges Termination Clause as Penalty; Court Upholds as Resolutory Condition

A lessee, having accepted a property for a fixed term under a lease agreement, subsequently contested the validity of a clause that stipulated immediate termination upon failure to pay rent on the due date, arguing that the clause constituted an unenforceable penalty rather than a valid right of termination. The court rejected the appeal, reasoning that such a stipulation is not a penalty but a resolutory condition (clause résolutoire) agreed upon by the parties, which legally allows for the automatic termination of the lease upon the lessee's non-performance of the obligation to pay rent, and is therefore enforceable.