Rental dispute over damages - BGH strengthens landlords when settling deposits for damages
In a rent dispute over the calculation of damage claims on the security deposit regarding a tenant's liability for damages to a rental property, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has supported landlords. Landlords should be able to charge tenants for damages to their rental property with the security deposit even if they have not exercised their right of offset within the six-month statute of limitations, according to a ruling by the Karlsruhe Senate in a case. This right of offset allows landlords to demand monetary compensation for damages to their property instead of restoring the damaged item.
In principle, landlords have six months after the return of a rental property to demand damage compensation from their former tenants. However, there is an exception: If the claim could have been asserted before the six months elapsed, then the assertion is still possible later. A condition for this is that it concerns identical claims. Whether this applied in the case before the BGH was one of the focal points of the proceedings.
In the concrete case, a tenant had sued because her landlord had not returned her security deposit of around 780 Euros after she moved out. He justified this by stating that he was offsetting the deposit with damage claims. However, according to the tenant, these claims had already expired. She therefore sued for the return of the deposit - and won in the lower courts. The landlord's appeal was now successful. The BGH overturned the judgment of the Nuremberg-Fürth District Court and remanded the case back to the court for new proceedings.
- Despite the tenant's argument that the landlord's damage claims had expired, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe ruled in favor of landlords, allowing them to deduct damages from the security deposit even beyond the six-month statute of limitations.
- In a significant decision for landlords in Germany, the BGH upheld the right to claim damages for rental property damage, rejecting the tenant's case in the process, which had initially been successful in lower courts.
- Landlords in Germany can now take comfort in the ruling of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe, which allows them to deduct damages from the security deposit, even if they have not exercised their right of offset within the six-month statutory period.
- The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe's decision also emphasized that the right of offset is not limited by the six-month statute of limitations and can be asserted even after the return of the rental property, provided claims are identical and had not already expired.
