Federal Court of Justice decides on rent payments in lockdown

Created: 01/12/2022Updated: 01/12/2022, 9:16 AM

With the officially ordered closings, many businesses lost their income.

© Frank Rumpenhorst / dpa

Suddenly, in the spring of 2020, life largely came to a standstill.

Shops also had to close - but the lease continued.

Now the Federal Court of Justice has to decide how the costs will be divided.

Karlsruhe - The Federal Court of Justice wants to comment today on the question of whether business owners had to continue to pay the full rent in the corona lockdown.

At the negotiation in December, it became clear that retailers would probably not be able to hope for a blanket half / half rule.

Each case may need to be carefully examined in court.

The highest civil judges in Karlsruhe were of the opinion that, for example, it must be taken into account whether the business owner received state aid or benefits from a company closure insurance.

Model case from Saxony

The basis is a sample case from Saxony.

It's about a branch of the textile discounter Kik in the Chemnitz area, which had to close from March 19 to April 19, 2020 and for which the landlord wants the full rent of around 7,850 euros.

However, the Dresden Higher Regional Court ruled that Kik only has to pay about half of it.

It is about "extensive state interference in social and economic life due to a pandemic".

The risk of such a systemic crisis cannot be assigned to one contracting party alone.

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Kik is not alone. With the officially ordered closings in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses lost their income from one day to the next. Fixed costs such as rent, however, continued to be incurred. Some landlords showed courtesy, others did not.

In December 2020, the legislature made it clear that commercial tenants can request an adjustment of their lease if they have to close due to Corona measures or are only allowed to open their business with severe restrictions.

It is assumed that the tenant and landlord would not have signed a contract if it had already been clear what the future would bring.

However, this does not automatically entitle business owners to have part of their rent waived.

The landlord can only grant a postponement.

The courts do not have a single line.

dpa