Duisburg Regional Court, 07.06.2016, Ref.: 6 O 219/13
If tenants repeatedly fail to adhere to the tenancy agreement, causing persistent disturbance or nuisance to other tenants, this constitutes a breach of the peace. The same applies to insults, slander, etc.
Facts of the Case:
Tenant had hairdressing salon in retirement home
The tenant in this case ran a hairdressing business in a care home for the elderly. The tenancy was repeatedly characterised by disputes between the care home manager and the tenant. In the end, the landlady terminated the tenancy with notice and then without notice.
Landlady cancelled the hairdresser's contract without notice and on time due to disturbance of the peace in the building
The termination without notice took place because the tenant had informed some of the residents of the home of the termination with due notice. Furthermore, the landlady stated that the operator of the hairdressing salon had claimed that the head of the home had treated her badly and had thus turned the residents against her. As a result, the peace of the home had been permanently disturbed. The tenant responded to the notice of termination with a termination without notice on her part. The tenant also asserted claims for damages for the period between the eviction of the rented property and the expiry of the period of ordinary termination.
Decision of the Duisburg Regional Court
The Regional Court stated that an unjustified termination by the landlord could in principle constitute a breach of contract. It could then also give rise to and justify any claims for damages on the part of the tenant. Under certain circumstances, the unauthorised termination could also constitute grounds for the tenant to terminate the tenancy without notice.
The landlord could not reasonably be expected to continue the tenancy in this case
However, a prerequisite for this is the consideration of all relevant circumstances that make it unreasonable for the tenant to continue the tenancy if they use an unjustified termination as a reason for their own termination. In this case, the landlord could not reasonably be expected to continue the tenancy as the tenant had made untrue and defamatory allegations and also made negative comments regarding her nationality and religious affiliation. This had led to unrest among the residents.
The tenant's employees had also made defamatory comments
The situation had been further fuelled by a letter in which employees of the tenant had also made defamatory comments in a letter to the home management. The court found that the tenant should have intervened with her employees. Furthermore, the court also saw no justification in Article 5 of the German Constitution, as the statements had clearly served to demean the dignity of the care home manager.
Source: Duisburg Regional Court
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