Sonntag, 13.09.2015
No duty of tolerance for tenant during long-term full renovation – relocation for 14 months
from
Laura CalassoLawyer
Specialist in tenancy and residential property law
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Guiding principle
If a complete renovation of the house, even taking into account energy-saving and climate protection concerns, results in the tenant having to temporarily vacate the property for a period of 14 months, this goes far beyond what is reasonable (Berlin Regional Court, judgment of October 18, 2013 - 63 S 446/12-).
The case:
The landlord announces extensive modernization work, which will require the tenant to move out for 14 months. The tenant refuses to allow the modernization work to be carried out, whereupon the landlord sues the tenant for toleration.
The verdict:
The Berlin District Court ruled that the landlord was wrong: the landlord had no right to demand toleration because the modernization work would mean unreasonable hardship for the tenant if she had to accept being without her apartment for more than a year due to the long and extensive work.
The Berlin Regional Court has ruled that hardship resulting from the tolerance of the modernization work must be taken into account in favor of the tenant, whereas this does not apply to pure maintenance work. Although the decision has not yet been made on the new Section 555 d (2) sentence 1 of the German Civil Code (BGB) 2 sentence 1 of the German Civil Code (BGB) (2013 tenancy law reform), however, the balance between unreasonable hardship and energy-saving concerns is likely to be at the landlord's expense under the new law as well in the case of such unbearable impairments.
The statements represent initial information that was current for the law applicable in Germany at the time of initial publication. The legal situation may have changed since then. Furthermore, the information provided cannot replace individual advice on a specific matter. Please contact us for this purpose.