The lessor of a listed manor house does not have to look after the interests of the lessee during the pre-contractual clarification and take the contractual risk away from him. Instead, the lessee must examine and decide for himself whether the contract is advantageous for him or not. This is the conclusion reached by the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main (OLG).
In the case at hand, the State of Hesse leased a former manor house in which tenants opened a restaurant in 2014. The tenants undertook the renovation work on the first floor and the equipping of the kitchen at their own expense, but charged the state for the work they had done themselves. They did not make lease payments. Because of the payment arrears, the state terminated the lease in January 2019 and sued before the Darmstadt Regional Court for eviction from the manor house and - taking into account a corresponding reduction - for the outstanding rent of 68,500 euros.
The tenants did not want to accept this and sued the state for damages for breach of pre-contractual obligations. They claimed that they had been fraudulently misled about the condition of the manor house. The case finally ended up at the Higher Regional Court, which ruled in favor of the state. On the one hand, a tenant must inform himself comprehensively about the contract. On the other hand, the information provided by the state about the state of repair of the manor house was not false in breach of duty.
Source: OLG Frankfurt am Main, judgment of 6.4.2022, Az. 12 U 323/ordentliche-gerichtsbarkeit.hessen.de
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