In a legal dispute (AZ 39 C 114/20), a landlord terminated the tenancy of a tenant without notice, or in the alternative with notice, and demanded the eviction and surrender of the apartment. In the letter of termination, the landlord gave several reasons for termination. For example, the tenant had not fulfilled her duty of care pursuant to Section 536c (1) of the German Civil Code (BGB), as she had failed to report defects in the rented property. In addition, she had stored objects and junk in the basement, on the top floor and in the entrance area and courtyard without authorization and had not removed them despite a warning.
She had also denied the landlord access to the apartment in order to install smoke detectors. On this point, the termination was preceded by a letter in which the landlord proposed two dates within one calendar week for installing the smoke detectors. Since the tenant did not respond to the letter and the proposed dates, the landlord's legal representative wrote another letter warning the tenant and threatening to terminate the lease. The tenant responded with a letter drafted by the tenants' association, refuting the necessity of the demanded measures or her failure to fulfill her tenant obligations. She also did not respond to the landlord's notice of termination and the demand to vacate and surrender the apartment.
The landlord's action for eviction before the Gießen Local Court was unsuccessful. After examination of the facts by an expert, no defects in the rented property could be identified. The storage of junk and objects was not a reason for termination, because these neither constituted an odor nuisance for the co-tenants nor did they damage or endanger the building fabric. With regard to the installation of the smoke detectors, on the one hand the tenants' association assessed the situation as insufficient, on the other hand the tenant subsequently showed her willingness to tolerate the installation of the smoke detectors. Accordingly, the landlord had no claim to eviction and surrender of the apartment on the part of the tenant pursuant to §§ 546, 985 BGB.
Source: AG Gießen
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