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100-year-old provides apartment on Tegernsee for refugees free of charge - and has to pay extra in the end

2022-11-27T09:09:53.663Z


100-year-old provides apartment on Tegernsee for refugees free of charge - and has to pay extra in the end Created: 2022-11-27 09:57 By: Gabi Werner Because they could not produce a written rental agreement, a family that provided their apartment free of charge for refugees from the Ukraine has so far been left with the ancillary costs. © dpa In order to offer refugees from the Ukraine a place


100-year-old provides apartment on Tegernsee for refugees free of charge - and has to pay extra in the end

Created: 2022-11-27 09:57

By: Gabi Werner

Because they could not produce a written rental agreement, a family that provided their apartment free of charge for refugees from the Ukraine has so far been left with the ancillary costs.

© dpa

In order to offer refugees from the Ukraine a place to stay, the Herrberg family provided their second home in Bad Wiessee free of charge.

But then the helpers got caught in the grindstones of bureaucracy.

Bad Wiessee - "This procedure is absolutely demotivating and inappropriate," sighs Klaus Herrberg.

What the Tübingen native experienced at the responsible offices of the Miesbach district office and the municipality of Bad Wiessee after taking in refugees in his mother's second home prompted him to write an open letter to District Administrator Olaf von Löwis (CSU) and Mayor Robert Kühn (SPD) to write.

100-year-old wanted to provide free housing for refugees

About the background: Lore Herrberg from Esslingen (Baden-Württemberg) has owned a small one-room apartment on Wiesseer Wilhelminastrasse since the 1970s.

In the meantime, the elderly lady, who recently celebrated her 100th birthday, can no longer travel to Lake Tegernsee, she lives in a nursing home.

"When she heard about the war in Ukraine and the refugees, she decided to make her fully furnished apartment available to the district and municipality of Bad Wiessee to accommodate refugees, free of charge," reports son Klaus Herrberg.

He and his siblings supported the project together.

In March the time had come: The district office – grateful for every free accommodation provided – accommodated three Ukrainian women in the apartment.

"Electricity and water meter readings were documented," says Herrberg.

A free rental agreement was also agreed – but only verbally.

Because of additional costs: Helpers feel compelled to demand rent

"At the time, we saw no reason to put it in writing," explains Herrberg.

After all, it was an official process, the competent authority was involved.

The rude awakening followed for the family when they wanted to settle the additional costs incurred with the district office in Miesbach in the summer.

Herrberg complains that he was informed that reimbursement was not possible retrospectively from the date the women moved in.

As an alternative, he was instead suggested to conclude a rental agreement with the usual local rent.

From that point on, the ancillary costs could also be settled, it was said.

Herrberg: "We were forced to do that from September 1st, although our mother would have liked to have continued to make the apartment available free of charge."

Next "disappointment": No refund of second home tax

The family also experienced a “disappointment” – as they say – in the municipality of Bad Wiessee.

She refused to “waive the second home tax, which is particularly expensive in Bad Wiessee” from March onwards.

Completely incomprehensible to Klaus Herrberg and his siblings.

A refund of the tax, they write in their open letter, "regardless of the legal situation would at least have been a concession by the municipality for the free assistance in the difficult situation of the refugee accommodation".

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Complicated legal situation: Authorities feel bound by the law

As simple as the case may sound, the legal situation is obviously as complicated as an inquiry to the offices concerned shows.

"Despite all the unbureaucratic help and quick solutions that the administration has done to the best of its ability, we as an authority are bound by laws and legal requirements," said district office spokeswoman Sophie Stadler.

In plain language, this means that in order to be able to reimburse costs, an agreement that is effective under civil law – i.e. a rental agreement – ​​must be submitted to the district office.

"The district office needs confirmation that there is a flow of money between landlord and tenant," Stadler makes clear.

The background to this is the fact that, as a result of a decision by the federal government on June 1, refugees from Ukraine no longer receive social benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, but under the Social Security Codes.

This means that the refugees have to look for accommodation themselves, the costs incurred - including the ancillary costs - are then reimbursed and then have to be passed on to the landlord.

"But if there is no agreement between landlord and tenant, what costs should the state reimburse?" Stadler makes the problem clear.

The tax authority needs a rental agreement to waive the second home tax

Even the Bad Wiessee town hall saw no way of circumventing the law in this case.

As Mayor Robert Kühn makes clear when asked, the tax office cannot simply waive the second home tax at will and on demand.

In order to do this, a valid rental agreement had to be presented first.

"Unfortunately, that's the way it is," regrets Kühn, who also refers to the principle of equal treatment.

"We can't bend the laws here." Kühn speaks of an isolated case that shouldn't bring the community's commitment to the refugees into discredit.

So far, Bad Wiessee has taken in 160 refugees from the Ukraine and taken care of them unbureaucratically.

"The colleagues did an incredible job

there." (gab)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-11-27

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