Rent Law - Tenancy notice: This applies to both tenants and landlords
A apartment is more than just a sleeping place. Here, at their home, tenants know their neighbors and cashiers at the supermarket, are in the sports club, and know which restaurants deliver the best food at the weekend. Children attend a school or kindergarten nearby, where they have found friends.
If then a notice of termination due to own requirement lands in the mailbox, despair ensues: tenants must give up their home, pay for an expensive move, and find a new one. This is not easy: In metropolitan areas, nearly two million affordable housing units are missing, reported the Hans Böckler Foundation in 2023. But sometimes tenants can resist and stay in their beloved four walls. For not every termination notice is valid.
Termination notice only for immediate family
Landlords may register a need for their own use if they want to use the apartment for themselves or for immediate family. This includes spouses, registered partners, parents, grandparents, parents-in-law, children, stepchildren, siblings, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, and nephews. Also registered partners or their children, household help, or caregivers living in the landlord's household can be a reason for a termination notice. However, distant relatives such as uncles, aunts, cousins, and already divorced spouses and partners do not fall under this regulation. If the landlords are legal entities – for example, corporations or GmbHs – they may not terminate on their own need.
The landlord must specify exactly in the termination notice for whom they are registering their own need – otherwise, the termination notice is invalid. This can be a sentence like "my son Max Mustermann will move in with his friend". Following this, they must explain why they need this particular apartment. Acceptable reasons are, for example, that the apartment is closer to the workplace or that their living circumstances have changed, such as if the landlord wants to live with a partner, needs a larger apartment. Financial losses, because the current apartment of the landlord is more expensive than their own property, are also a valid reason. Using the apartment as a home office or as a temporary residence while their own home is being renovated does not count.
Additionally, the landlord must observe the statutory termination periods: For a lease term of up to five years, this is three months, between five and eight years, six months, and above that, nine months.
In the aftermath, collecting rent
After the tenant moves out, the landlord must also carry out their declared plan. They cannot, for example, register their own need for their mother's apartment and then rent it to their brother instead. If they do not move in and instead want to rent it out again, they must be able to justify this. Otherwise, the accusation of feigned need for own use looms. Then, the evicted tenant can demand damages. In general, tenants and tenants have a claim to the difference between the old and new rent.
People who experience a specific form of burden have the opportunity to object to termination due to social hardship. For example, if they are sick, pregnant, or particularly old, the tenancy relationship will be continued until the burden no longer exists. For particularly old people, this can even last until the end of their lives. Child-rearing difficulties, a testing situation, or financial difficulties can also be grounds for social hardship. Even if tenants cannot find a new apartment, this can be a reason for such an objection. However, this only applies as long as they do not find a comparable replacement apartment, and "comparable" should be understood broadly. In densely populated areas, the new living quarters may be significantly smaller and more expensive.
Tenants must express their objection at least two months before the termination of the tenancy agreement. After that, a court appoints an expert opinion and determines whether social hardship exists in the specific case.
If tenants are unsure whether a termination is lawful or if they should defend themselves with an objection due to social hardship, they can seek help from a tenants' association. In addition, there are numerous specialized experts on rental law who are a good option, especially if there is rental protection insurance in place.
The Headlines section of a local news outlet might report on the Economic impact of the housing shortage, citing the Hans Böckler Foundation's 2023 figure of nearly two million missing affordable housing units in metropolitan areas. In the era of rising apartment rents, some tenants might consider utilizing the Rent Law that allows them to object to termination due to social hardship, if they are facing financial difficulties or other burdens that prevent them from finding a comparable replacement apartment.
