Untrue allegations made by a tenant in a legal dispute with the landlord can justify an ordinary termination in accordance with Section 573 (1), (2) No. 1 BGB. This is the result of a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) (VIII ZR 147/22). However, this requires a comprehensive case-by-case assessment, taking into account the relevance and scope of the false statements as well as any previous breaches of contract by the landlord.
In this case, a landlady from Berlin had given her tenants notice to vacate their apartment due to allegedly keeping dogs in breach of the contract. The tenants then claimed, among other things, that the landlady wanted to bulldoze them out of the building. The landlady then gave the tenants notice to quit without notice or, alternatively, with due notice due to untrue statements.
The BGH emphasized that the entire conduct of both parties must be taken into account when assessing the right to terminate. In particular, it is relevant whether the tenant's misconduct was caused by previous unauthorized actions by the landlord. These could cast the tenant's behavior in a milder light and influence the severity of the breach of duty.
Source and further information: VIII ZR 147/22/juris.bundesgerichtshof.de
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