According to a judgment before the Local Court of Waiblingen (AZ 9 C 1106/18), an owner is ordered to pay damages of approximately 7,650 euros to the former tenant of her condominium. Due to her own needs, the landlady terminated the tenancy of the tenant, but subsequently did not move into the household herself, as planned and stated, but rented the apartment to new tenants. The landlady claims that the reasons for registering the tenant's own needs ceased to exist at a later date. The law states that the landlady is obliged to notify the former tenant that the reason for her own need has ceased to exist.
The tenant of the apartment sued the landlord for damages and was successful in her claim. The sum to be paid in this case is made up of the relocation costs and the difference in rent between the apartment in dispute and the new apartment. For a similar living space size, the cold rent of the new apartment is about 270 euros per month more. For the calculation of the rent difference, the court set a period of 24 months, as this cannot exist indefinitely and rents can equalize over time. In principle, other reasons, such as the necessary purchase of new furniture, could also be included in the calculation of damages.
The reason given by the landlady for the notification of her own need and the associated termination of the existing tenancy was that she had planned to move back to Germany from the USA together with her school-age children. In the meantime, her husband, who lives in the U.S., had fallen ill and was in need of care, which is why the actual reason for her needing the apartment for her own use no longer applied. The tenant challenged the landlady's statement and went to court. The court asked the landlady to prove that the reasons for the tenant's own need had ceased to exist. The landlady did not comply with this request. Thus, the court ruled that in this case she was to be treated as if she had faked the own need and therefore obliged to pay damages.
Source: AG Waiblingen
© photodune.net
