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New apartments in Frankfurt am Main: Rent brake with delay
Photo: Arne Dedert / picture alliance / dpa
In Hesse, the rent brake came into force with a long delay due to formal errors.
The federal state does not have to pay tenants any compensation for this.
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) announced this landmark judgment.
The decision has an impact on many federal states because the original rent brake was also ineffective there due to inadequate justification.
Tenants therefore had no right to a rent reduction for years.
In the specific case, a tenant wanted to hold the land liable for the financial damage.
In 2017 he moved into an apartment in Frankfurt am Main at a square meter price of 11.50 euros.
The local comparable rent was 7.45 euros.
The apartment was actually in an area where the rent brake should apply.
The rent there may exceed the customary local price by a maximum of ten percent.
However, the tenant lost his lawsuit to repay or reduce the rent because the Hessian ordinance was invalid.
Previously failed in all instances
A federal law authorizes the states to issue a rent brake in areas with a tight housing situation.
However, the regulation must be justified in a comprehensible manner.
This was lacking in Hesse, as well as in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg.
Thereupon the legal service provider Conny (formerly lessemiete.de) sued the state of Hesse for damages on behalf of the tenant.
By issuing the erroneous ordinance, the state had violated an official duty towards tenants.
This lawsuit failed in all instances.
Like the regional court and the higher regional court in Frankfurt, the BGH now also denied the liability for damages.
Now the BGH decided: There is no official liability in such cases.
File number: VIII ZR 25/20
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apr / Reuters