Condominium owners have the option of terminating an existing tenancy due to their own needs. This right is stipulated in Section 573 (3) Sentence 1 of the German Civil Code (BGB). The termination letter must prove that the owners or their family members as well as the members of the household have a concrete reason or a justified interest in taking over the apartment. A letter of termination due to own need must contain two essential points.
Firstly, the notice requires information about the person who wants to take over the apartment. Secondly, the reason for the interest in the apartment must be stated in such a way that it is clearly defined and distinguished from other reasons. In the case at hand (VIII ZR 346/19), the owners of an apartment filed a notice of own need for their son. As reasons, they stated that their son needed more living space - especially to work in a home office. Since the tenant did not accept the submitted notice of termination, the landlords filed a lawsuit. However, this was rejected from the outset by the local and regional courts.
The reason given by the courts was that the termination did not meet the formal requirements because there was insufficient evidence of the reason for termination. According to the courts, for example, information about the son's current living situation with details of the number of rooms and size would have had to be provided in order to verify the reason for termination. The landlords then filed a complaint of non-admission before the BGH. However, during the proceedings, the parties indicated the termination of the legal dispute. Since the non-admission appeal would in all likelihood have led to an admission of the appeal, both parties must bear the court costs incurred in equal shares and the respective attorneys' fees.
Source: BGH
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