Köpenick Local Court, 14/05/2019, Ref. 7 C 4/19
Flats are often let in such a way that the landlord and tenant do not even know each other personally. The landlords are often communities of owners who do not have the time or inclination to manage the property themselves. They therefore appoint a manager to look after the property. This is often the only person who liaises with the tenants. However, this can lead to problems that may result in claims by the tenant against the property management company. The names of the members of the company may not even be known to the tenant, but only to the manager. How does the tenant find out the names of the owners, which may be important?
In the judgement below, the Köpenick Local Court clarifies that the administrator is not obliged to provide information about the names and addresses. Rather, the person requesting information can find this out by inspecting the land register.
FactsIn the present case, the parties are in dispute about the duty of an administrator to provide information regarding the full names and registration addresses of the members of a community of owners. The plaintiff is a former tenant of a flat, the defendant is the administrator appointed by the letting owners' association.
The plaintiff is requesting information from the administrator in order to enforce a claim for the return of the rental security in court. In his own opinion, he requires the full names and addresses of the members of a community of owners who had rented the flat to him. The plaintiff therefore requests that the administrator be ordered to provide this information.
The administrator requests that the action be dismissed. On the one hand, he believes that the Köpenick district court does not have local jurisdiction. Secondly, he points out that the composition of the owners' association has not changed and that he continues to represent it in and out of court.
Köpenick Local CourtThe Köpenick Local Court considers the action to be admissible but unfounded and therefore dismisses it. Contrary to the opinion of the administrator, it affirms its own local jurisdiction.
However, it finds that the plaintiff is not entitled to claim information from the administrator. The only basis for the claim is Section 242 BGB. However, this may only exist if no other possibility of obtaining information exists or is reasonable. However, it sees one way of obtaining information in the inspection of the land register, which at least contains the names of the owners. In addition, there is the possibility of inspecting reference deeds, which can be used to determine the addresses of the owners at the time of entry in the land register. On the basis of the former addresses, a successful residents' registration office enquiry could in turn be carried out, thus achieving the plaintiff's objective. According to the court, the fact that this procedure is somewhat cumbersome and that even more data of the owners would be known than in the case of voluntary notification has nothing to do with the claim against the administrator. Furthermore, the inconvenience does not make it unreasonable to inspect the land register. Therefore, there is another possibility for the plaintiff to obtain the desired information, the court dismisses his claim.
The court also points out that it is sufficient to bring an action if the administrator states that an action against the owners can be served on him.
Source: Köpenick Local Court
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