Private landlords may not carelessly rent out their property to relatives at an exorbitant rent. This was the decision of the Frankfurt am Main Local Court (AZ: 940 OWi 862 Js 44556/21). In the case in question, a private landlord had rented out his 53-square-meter, two-room apartment to his cousin and his family for 810 euros per month.
However, taking into account a twenty percent materiality limit, the local comparative rent was initially allowed to be around 550 euros, or a maximum of 570 euros from June 1, 2020. Although the rent seemed very high to the cousin, he concluded the rental agreement because he had already been looking for an apartment for over a year.
According to the court, the private landlord took advantage of the situation of housing shortage. It is true that he had inquired about the amount of the rent from the other members of the condominium owners' association. However, this alone was not sufficient. Instead, he would have had to obtain information from knowledgeable bodies about the price at which he was allowed to rent out his apartment. The private landlord must now not only pay a fine, but also pay off the additional revenue generated.
Source: ordentliche-gerichtsbarkeit.hessen.de
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