Ruling: Unilateral termination in shared apartment not possible without further ado

  • 3 years ago

A legal dispute arose in Frankfurt am Main between two women who jointly occupied an apartment in the form of a shared apartment (AZ 2-11 T 117/20). In January 2017, the two tenants concluded a joint rental agreement in which they were both listed as the main tenants. In March 2020, one of the tenants expressed her wish to leave the lease in order to move in together with her boyfriend.

The other tenant agreed in principle to move out. However, she asked that the notice of termination, and thus the end of the lease, not be given until December 31, 2020. This would give her sufficient time to look for another apartment. She was also prepared to pay the rent alone from July 2020. However, this agreement was not sufficient for her roommate. Instead, she demanded that she be given immediate notice of termination and sued her roommate for consent to termination.

While the Frankfurt am Main Local Court agreed with the tenant's claim, the Regional Court (LG) disagreed. Since a residential community does not constitute a fractional community pursuant to Section 741 of the German Civil Code (BGB), there is no entitlement to consent to the termination of the lease. According to the Regional Court, it does not correspond to the interests of a residential community to issue a unilateral notice of termination without fulfilling essential requirements. Rather, the LG sees a residential community as a civil law partnership. Accordingly, a claim for consent to termination would exist if one of the parties refuses in the long term to reach an amicable agreement and emphatically rules out termination. However, this was not the case here.

Source: LG FFM
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