District Court Freiburg, 10.12.2013, Case No.: 9 S 60/13
Tenants of residential properties are generally required to refrain from making any noise that exceeds room volume between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., as well as from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. This is established in the Federal Immission Control Act and the relevant state immission control laws, along with other guidelines.
However, tenants must also observe the tenant’s duty of consideration during other times and are therefore not entirely free in their behavior within their living spaces.
Nonetheless, normal living noises caused by tenants must be tolerated by other tenants; these include, in particular, noises generated by the tenants‘ children.
Whether the noises generated by washing machines and dryers placed within the apartment also constitute normal living noises was the issue to be decided by the District Court of Freiburg in the aforementioned case.
Case Facts of the Court Decision
The plaintiffs and defendants had a rental agreement for an apartment in a newly constructed building. After moving in, the plaintiffs, as tenants of the rental apartment, initially placed their washing machine and dryer in the shared laundry room of the apartment building.
Other Tenants Complain About Washing Machine in the Apartment
During the course of the tenancy, the tenants then placed both the washing machine and the dryer in their apartment. This led to complaints from tenants living in the neighboring apartment.
Landlords Amend House Rules
To force the tenants to move the washing machine and dryer back out of the apartment, the defendants, as landlords, amended the house rules, citing a clause in the rental agreement with the following wording:
„To maintain order and for the use of common facilities, the house and garage rules on page 11 apply. They are part of this contract. The landlord is permitted to change these regulations if there are factual reasons to do so.“
The house rules then included the following clause:
„Washing machines and dryers may not be installed in the apartments; each tenant has their connection point in the laundry room for this purpose.“
Tenants File Declaratory Action
The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit seeking a declaration that they were entitled to operate an automatic washing machine and dryer in their apartment rented from the defendants.
The initially involved local court sided with the plaintiffs and ruled in their favor. The defendants appealed this decision to the Freiburg District Court.
Decision of the District Court Freiburg:
The Freiburg District Court also sided with the plaintiffs (tenants) and ruled that the plaintiffs were entitled to operate an automatic washing machine and dryer in the rented apartment.
The defendants did not present any new points in the appeal that would question the original decision.
Modification Clause in Rental Agreement Invalid
The court agreed with the local court that the modification clause in § 10 No. 1 of the rental agreement dated 21.02.2012 was invalid due to a lack of sufficient specificity pursuant to § 308 No. 4 BGB (Federal Court of Justice WM 1984, 314; Federal Court of Justice WM 1985, 128).
Moreover, the modification clause regulated in § 10 Paragraph 1 of the rental agreement dated 21.02.2012 did not, based on its wording, cover the new house rule established by the defendants regarding the placement of washing machines and dryers.
Placing Washing Machines or Dryers Constitutes Proper Use of the Rental Property
Placing and operating washing machines and dryers in the apartment for household use is considered a proper use of the rental property, especially in new buildings, unless explicitly agreed otherwise in the contract (Federal Court of Justice decision of 10.02.2010 – VIII ZR 343/08 – […] Rn. 33; District Court Detmold WuM 2002, 51 [District Court Detmold 18.03.1998 – 10 S 276/97]; Local Court Cologne WuM 2001, 275; Local Court Hameln WuM 1994, 426; Erman/Lützenkirchen, BGB, 13th ed., 541 BGB Rn. 43; Schmidt-Futterer/Eisenschmid, Tenancy Law, 11th ed., § 535 Rn. 368f.).
The modification clause in § 10 Paragraph 1 of the rental agreement would only apply to „regulations“ necessary for maintaining order among the various residents of a building.
These regulations do not concern the scope of proper use of individual apartments but do include adherence to quiet hours and the duty of consideration, which, however, are not yet affected by the installation of household appliances.
The defendants would also not be entitled to a claim for ceasing the operation of the washing machine and dryer in the apartment under § 242 BGB. The tenant must ensure constant optical and/or acoustic supervision when using the washing machine and dryer in the apartment so that the risk of damage remains limited, regardless of the age of the machines (Schmidt-Futterer/Eisenschmid, op. cit., § 535 Rn. 370 with further references).
Noise from Washing Machines and Dryers Must Be Accepted as Socially Adequate
The noise generated by household appliances like washing machines or dryers, which a tenant uses considering the required duty of consideration, possibly specified by quiet hours in the house rules, must be accepted by the co-tenants as a socially adequate noise disturbance.
Source: District Court Freiburg
An earlier decision by the Local Court of Cologne addressed the same issue: Local Court Cologne, judgment of 11.01.2001 – Case No. 207 C 221/00
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One Response
In my apartment building with six residential units, 6 parking spaces for washing machines and dryers were installed after extensive refurbishment in 2014.
Each tenant also has their own electricity connection and cold water meter.
This facility is made available to all tenants free of charge.
Despite this facility, two tenants are not prepared to use this convenience
and continue to wash your laundry in the kitchen or bathroom.
There is a building insurance policy that covers tap water damage in the event of an incident. If water should leak from the washing machine in the basement for any reason, the damage is very minor because, as usual, there are water drainage shafts. In the first case, the insurance also pays the full amount of the damage if washing is done in the kitchen. Water damage in the living area is much more expensive and can even make an entire house uninhabitable.