Landlords cannot make claims against the Jobcenter if a basic income support recipient owes them rent. This was recently decided by the Lower Saxony-Bremen Regional Social Court (LSG). In the case in question, an owner rented apartments to recipients of basic income support and had them give their consent to the direct payment of rent by the Jobcenter as a precautionary measure.
After a recipient of basic income support owed the landlord the service charges for 2018 and 2019, he demanded payment of the arrears from the Goslar Jobcenter. However, the Jobcenter refused to make a direct transfer as the landlord had no claims of his own under SGB II. The landlord did not want to put up with this, especially as rent debts had also accumulated in the meantime, and filed a lawsuit.
However, it was not him, but the Jobcenter that was ruled right by the LGS. The reason for this is that the direct payment serves to secure the accommodation benefits. It does not serve the purpose of enforcing rent claims against the Jobcenter. The collection of debts is the responsibility of the landlord - who now also has to bear the costs of the proceedings, among other things.
Source: Judgment of February 3, 2022/L 11 AS 578/20/landessozialgericht.niedersachsen.de
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