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When renters move, there are often quarrels over the renovation. Photo: Maurizio Gambarini
Source: dpa-infocom GmbH
Do I have to paint or not? Many tenants do not know when the move is coming. The dispute over cosmetic repairs often lands in court. Because it's fast about a lot of money.
K arlsruhe (dpa) – In fact, everything goes as planned: the new apartment is found, the movers can come – but the owner is in trouble by moving.
Do I really need to renovate? The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe clarifies this issue today in a particularly delicate case (Az: VIII ZR 277/16).
What does it generally apply to renovation?
Renters know that the law makes the landlord obligated to keep the apartment in good condition. However, this principle can be waived, and as a result the exception has become a rule for a long time: "There is currently hardly any lease that does not require beauty repairs to the tenant", explains Ulrich Ropertz of the German Tenant Association. This does not mean that the tenant must necessarily come to a craftsman. He can do the job himself as long as he does it "professionally".
Cosmetic Repairs – What Does It Mean?
In summary, cosmetic repairs include all painting work in the apartment – such as painting or upholstering walls and ceilings. also painting radiators, doors or window frames from the inside. If the carpet needs to be replaced or the floor is sanded, the owner is responsible.
Why is there often a conflict over cosmetic repairs?
"Cosmetic repairs are expensive," says Ropertz. "If, as a tenant, I have to completely renovate the apartment when I move, it quickly costs a few thousand euros." In case of doubt, the mere fact of examining the lease agreement do not necessarily help the laypersons. Because many common clauses have in the meantime declared the courts ineffective because they disadvantage tenants inappropriately. If the tenant has such an ineffective clause in his contract, he is fine: He does not have to perform the cosmetic repairs then.
What clauses are not allowed in the lease?
Owners can not claim, for example, that the kitchen and bathroom It is mandatory to remove every three years – regardless of how the rooms look like. We can not expect tenants to renovate anyway when they move. Because then, what about someone who has only lived six months in the apartment? In 2015, the BGH also changed its line on an important point: since then, renters are no longer allowed to apply cosmetic repairs without compensation if they move into a non-renovated apartment. Otherwise, they should probably leave the rooms nicer than they found them. Is there a dispute, but the tenant must be able to prove that the apartment needed renovation.
What is the case in the case before the BGH?
The tenant had canceled his apartment in Celle (Lower Saxony). The rental housing cooperative but the ceilings and walls were too striated – they ordered for nearly 800 euros a painter. People argue about who pays. In fact, the renter would not have had to cancel because he had moved to a non-renovated apartment. If there was no agreement with the previous tenant: Of her, the man had taken over the carpet and the kitchen equipped and paid 390 euros. The transfer protocol states that he is responsible for "renovations and others. Tebo "takes over. The cooperative is now insisting – the tenant has bought the much more expensive carpet ("Tebo") with his promise to renovate.
Announcement of the BGH at the hearing
Communication on the judgments of the BGH of 2015
Judgment of the Federal Court of Justice of 18 March 2015, AZ VIII ZR 185/14
Scope of the cosmetic repairs, section 28 (4) II. BV
Tenants Protection Association Berlin on cosmetic repairs
Information sheet of Haus & Grund
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