Suspicion of manslaughter on the part of the landlord: the rental agreement can be terminated without notice

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Higher Regional Court Frankfurt am Main: Assaults against landlords can justify termination without notice

Photo: Boris Roessler / dpa

If the managing director of a tenant is strongly suspected of having killed the landlord, this justifies an immediate termination of the lease for commercial space.

Violence by the tenant towards the landlord can lead to termination without notice even without a warning, as the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt am Main announced.

This was preceded by a tenancy dispute: A married couple had sued who had been leasing commercial space to the managing director of the defendant company to operate a car dealership since 2011.

After disagreements in 2015, the parties reached a settlement, according to which the property could be used by the defendant company in return for assuming numerous obligations.

Because the company did not comply with these, the plaintiffs pronounced several terminations of the lease without notice.

The regional court had dismissed the eviction action.

During the appeal process in early 2021, the plaintiff was reported missing.

Since the end of January, the wealthy pensioner from Frankfurt has disappeared without a trace.

Only his car and cell phone were found.

The defendant's manager is being investigated on suspicion of manslaughter.

He has been in custody since the end of February.

Because of this suspicion, the landlord terminated the tenancy again without notice.

This was rightly done, as the OLG decided.

If, as in this case, it is a particularly serious breach of duty, a predominant probability of committing the act is sufficient for the termination.

It is unreasonable for the landlord to wait for the tenant to be convicted first.

File number: 2 U 13/20

ime / AFP