Private landlords may not recklessly rent out their property to relatives at an exorbitant rent. This has now been decided by the Frankfurt am Main Local Court (AZ: 940 OWi 862 Js 44556/21). In this case, a private landlord had rented out his 53 square meter 2-room apartment to his cousin and his cousin's family for 810 euros per month.
However, the local comparative rent was initially allowed to be around 550 euros, taking into account a twenty percent materiality limit, and 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.
In the court's opinion, the private landlord took advantage of the housing shortage. It was true that he had asked the other members of the homeowners' association about the rent. However, this alone was not sufficient. Instead, he should have obtained information from competent authorities 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 transfer the additional revenue generated.
Source: ordentliche-gerichtsbarkeit.hessen.de
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