Short answer. It ends on its own. Article 1669 provides that a lease made for a determinate time ceases upon the day fixed, without the need of a demand. Your landlord does not have to formally ask you to vacate for the lease to end; the fixed period itself already terminates the contract.
What the law says
If the lease was made for a determinate time, it ceases upon the day fixed, without the need of a demand.
Civil Code, Article 1669 — Lease for a Fixed Term Ends Automatically. Read the full provision →
A fixed term ends the lease by itself
Article 1669 removes any doubt about what has to happen for a fixed-term lease to end. It states that if the lease was made for a determinate time, it ceases upon the day fixed, without the need of a demand. If your contract names a specific end date, or a period from which that date can be calculated, the lease terminates on that day automatically. Your landlord is not required to send a notice, make a formal demand, or take any additional step for the term to run out; the calendar itself does the work.
Why no demand is required
A demand is typically needed when a contract's duration is uncertain or when one party wants to end it early, because the other side needs to be told the relationship is changing. A fixed term removes that uncertainty from the start: both landlord and tenant already agreed, in the lease itself, exactly when it would end. Requiring a separate demand on top of a date both parties already accepted would add an unnecessary formality to something the contract already settled.
What happens if you stay past the fixed date
The lease ending automatically is a different question from whether you are still occupying the property afterward. If you remain in possession after the fixed term expires and the landlord does not object, the situation can develop into a new relationship under the rules on implied new leases, rather than simply meaning the original fixed-term contract is still running. Staying past the date does not extend the original lease on its own terms; it changes what kind of relationship, if any, now exists between you and the landlord.
What this means for you as the tenant
Because the lease ends on the fixed date without needing a demand, you should not wait for a formal notice as a signal that it is time to vacate. If your contract sets a determinate period, plan around that date itself. If you want to keep occupying the property beyond it, that generally has to be arranged with the landlord before or at that point, rather than assumed to continue simply because no demand to leave was ever sent.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- LL and Company Development and Agro-Industrial Corporation vs. Huang Chao Chun and Yang Tung Fa, G.R. No. 142378, March 7, 2002 — read the decision on LawPhil →