Problem landlords and apartment renters' rights

our neighbor has a leaky toliet. we reported the problem to the owner of our building. it took almost one week for someone to come by to look at the problem. then the guy said he would come back in one week (this week) to fix it. my spouse called the owner of our building on friday when it was quite apparent that the guy was not coming. there's a big wet spot in our bathroom which is directly below where our neighbor's toliet is leaking and the spot grows a few millimeters per day. it's about 10% larger than it was when the guy took a look at it and yesterday, i noticed that mold is beginning to form.

we've decided to move out. but i'm wondering if we can get the building owner to pay for our move. and how we should go about doing this? first with an email or snail mailed letter from us? or should we go directly to a lawyer? any advice would be really helpful.

I assume you're renting. I can't see the building owner paying for you to move out and, frankly, it seems a rather disproportionate response to a bit of damp. Nonetheless, if you want legal advice then join your local Mieterverein and ask them about it.

I also have problems with my landlord. One of my windows needs fixing. It was broken before I moved in and it was agreed that the previous tenant would fix it. Except now for some reason it doesn't fit properly in its hinge so it wont close. The hinge needs to be filed down a bit and then it will fit fine. Also, the oven worked before I moved in, but when I moved in it did not work. I have lived here for 3 months, and have called several times about both problems. The owner has promised to come by twice, and has not shown up. I'm angry.

Same response as above; if your landlord isn't responding to your problems, then contact your local Mieterverein. That's precisely what they're there for.

It sounds like this is a fairly common problem - before I moved to Germany I rented in London for a year, the difference between the level of service I've had from the managing agents is staggering.

If there was a problem in my flat in London we'd e-mail the agent and she'd contact us straight away to sort out the problem, whereas here the agent doesn't appear to respond to e-mails. I've written a letter (it took me the best part of a day due to my fairly basic German) and we've had a partial response. I'm going to have another go at a letter and if that doesn't do the trick I'll try this Meiterverein thing.

thank you for the information. but i think in terms of health, that the situation is not good. i've been told that the renter is king (so-to-speak) in germany. and that it's a matter of knowing what your rights are. at the least, i believe we should be entitled to a reduction in our rent for the month.

look

i cant believe how many idiots put up with crap from these schwein, present people excluded.

i worked in a tenants advocacy group at one time, in a place where the law of the land was 17 pages, and mostly courts (95%) ruled in favor of landlords. devastating rents, crappy buildings, no maintenance.

There is the local advocacy office here in berlin (for all sorts of stuff), which also speaks english and does not have auslander- or fremdefeindlichkeit http://www.bayouma-haus.de/

I think you should go in and talk to them about your problems.

I don't remember the woman's name, who is normally there, who also speaks english.

Appointments on Friday, I think, for 30 minutes with a lawyer. I believe they are free, for those with no money, or mabye based on income; we didn't have to pay. You have to contact them ahead of time, about a week, as there are many people waiting. The lawyer spoke english.

in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

Rudolfstraße 15b
10245 Berlin

030/29 04 91 36
030/29 04 91 29
bayouma-haus@awo-friedrichshain.de

You can PM me.

Im a caretaker in Berlin (Hausmeister)
As a renter, you have very very strong rights.
Write a letter to the landlord (owner) stating what the problem is, give them 14 days to fix the problem (state a specific date for example 16 days after the date of writing the letter, tell them thaqt if the problem is NOT fixed in between these 14 daqys, you will reduce your rent until the problem is fixed.
EXAMPLE:
Letter dated 1st of January and posted on the same day.
Dear Herr Noodledick,
as per my telephone converstation with you on December 26th, I am having a problem with water coming thru my ceiling form the neighbour above.
I ask that you please send some one to my flat to have this problem fixed no later thaqn January 17.
If this problem is not fixed on or before this date, I will make a reduction in my rent.
thank you, ... Blah blah...

hope this helps.

oh yeah, absolutely (sirfish). i agree.

there is this buddy of mine with a flat in friedrichshain. he's got a cool gallery for sure, and lives above. it's the old BGC space. the landlord is a total dick, who puts the rent up his nose. for real, i met this guy in the hallway. black clothes, gold chains, big guy. looked like a mafia character. must be really empty inside.

anyway, my friend has a lawyer, and he's lived here for something like 12 years. knows the ins and outs. sirfish is right. you can withhold the amount of your rent, or not pay it alltogether, depending on the cost of having a repairman come in to fix it. they or the management company (the lordschwein) bitch and moan about how he is going to kick you out for not paying: at least, in the case of my buddy, the other people in the building are mostly the derelict leftovers from a former houseproject which didn't bother to organize itself (typical kids I mention, are rebelling against everything, throwing out the baby with the bathwater).

the landlords can be betting on the tenant not knowing what sirfish knows, or contacting a lawyer. renter's rights are so weak elsewhere (generally, north america, and other 3rd world areas), and there is this sort of predation on auslanders (who may 'be idiots', or afraid, intimidated). this is the characteristic rudeness, plus greed, + +... typical of stupid people, those not realizing the world has changed (again).

Good time to teach them a lesson! For every person you 'fix', probably the next person has to deal - that much less - with them being a dick. So you are helping the rest of us out! Thanks! Get some tenants' rights flyers (from bayuma haus) in german, whatnot (five languages), and stuff em in all the mailboxes.

In the case of berlin, many buildings being owned outright, and picked up by a bunch of former stasi (no 'owners' after communism).

No you can't. I'm going to court on Friday for having done exactly that. The lawyer ain't cheap.

If you can wait to resolve the problem, get legal insurance now since it takes months from the time you first buy it until you can actually use it. Legal fees are based on either an hourly rate of around €150-250/hr or a percentage of the total amount of money in dispute.

Go to the Mieterbund site and find out more. Go to the Mieterbund/Mietverein near you and get help from them before it becomes a legal case. Once a case has a suit or court involved, the Mietverein is legally prohibited from giving you ANY advice on the situation.

Also, be wary of taking advice from someone who advocates and supports the willful destruction of other people's property.

woof.

I'm not sure if things are different in Munich vs. Berlin. However, 2 weeks after moving into my furnished sublet, I found out from neighbors that the building was due to be renovated. I asked my sublessor, but she never gave me a concrete answer other than she didn't "guess" it would start before March. Then she terminated my contract for Feb 28th. Well, Feb 1st the scaffolding went up, fortunately on the other side of the building from me. Feb 6th there was a sign in the main entrance that renovation would begin Feb 12th (less than one week's notice, unbelievable!) This Tues morning (Feb 13th) they started ripping up the vacant apartment on top of me, at 7:25 AM. When I say ripping, I mean doing enough destruction that plaster & paint rained down in my bedroom. Wednesday they didn't get started till about 8:30 AM, with more big crashes but fortunately no more plaster/paint mishaps. Today all is quiet; maybe the wave of destruction has moved on to another flat.

My mother (American lawyer) told me to stop being the nice guy & just not pay my last month's rent. As she pointed out, I am a stranger here, my German is not good, I would have no ability to negotiate the court system, and the Hauptmieter has every advantage. Fortunately I followed her advice (after agonizing because I hate to be combative); I did NOT pay my rent for Feb (and I only have a one-month's deposit here). My Hauptmieter wrote me that I was "so much trouble" to her -- always interesting in life to be confronted with a perfectly selfish person. This Tuesday I was so peeved that I transferred all utilities back to her name; I do not intend to pay another cent on this place, even if they cut off the utilities (although my guess is that process probably does not proceed very quickly in Germany). I think I can get out of here in one more week, because the place I'm moving to will allow me in a week early since the other sublessee is leaving early. The good thing is my Hauptmieter is in Sweden and doesn't fly back to Berlin till Feb 28th. So I am lucky that it is quite unlikely there will be anyone banging on the door trying to get at me! So we shall see if I get through the next week intact.

BD I normally love your comments, or at least find them on the mark and helpful. However, now I am [img]http://www.feebleminds-gifs.com/ape-scratch.gif[/img]
@BadDoggie in Munich

Going to court is completely normal in the course of having one's rights upheld. Reads withheld rent, and in the normal course of events, the (gendernonspecific) bitchy landlord took me to court. 'Saved' money [withholding rent paid] - lawyer for court 'cost' = in the red ≠ 'One cannot do'. Does not for logic make.
i bet there must be a school (of the americas) teaching such thinking. Bush is jonesin to bomb iran on the same 'evidence'. Can you cite where, in the relavent discussion, the someone is and where they advocated willful destruction? I may have missed mention of whom this someone is, and where advocation of willful destruction occured; I am curious.

@Katchyta: [img]http://www.cybertoad.net/forums/images/smiles/mf_popcorn.gif[/img]Good luck!

For needs-based legal representation Bayuma-Haus (for Berlin). 30 minutes. Although you may wait a week. Also, there are those and many other such lawyers to contact. The Amtsgericht helps in representation. Who, precisely in such a thread, is likely to be forced to withhold rent, in lieu of repairs? Unless one is a well-off wage earner, or a building owner, in which case does not sound like the thread poster. I can report I have first-hand seen very positive results from withholding rent, done properly, which did include court time. The landlord lost. Sirfish, the Hausmeister, posts similarly.

Wow, that was difficult.

actually a tennant has more rights than a landloard...what they dont want you to know. for any type of situation that is deemed "abnormal" or "extraordinary" (like the original poster's moisture/mold problem) you have a right to shorten the rent until such time the problem is fixed.

I had strange mysterious little bugs in my apartment (not harmful, but pesty) for a few months, i shorten the rent with the appropriate legal amount until such time as I did not see the bugs or until they took care of the problem to my satisfaction: which happen to be 4 months.

A lot of these agencies, not private haus owners, are incompetent, dishonest, rude and greedy. To get what I want, most times (and this is true about everything in this damn country) you have to get agressive and nasty: not physically, but with a letter or face to face speaking. 99 times out of 100, if you mention an attorney and your rights, the problem will magically get taken care of immediately.

Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Dont put up with anything, especially from some German.

Hey all -

Just wondering if there are any services here that offer free legal advice regarding getting back a kaution on a flat. Or perhaps some of you might have been in a similar situation. My ex German room mate refuses to return my part of the kaution (it's been about 9 months since I have moved out and he is still living in the apartment). My contract is actually between myself, my ex room mate and the co-signer for the apartment which happens to be his grandfather. I still have the original signed contract which says I am to be repaid my deposit upon vacating the apartment plus a final receipt signed by the person who lived in the room before me stating that I repaid him his part of the deposit when I took over the room.

I've heard of a few other people having problems as far as getting reimbursed for their deposits from landlords but never from former room mates - is this common in Berlin??

Thanks!

Topics merged by admin

Tried entering the word "deposit" into the search window? However the only legal advice that is free is the advice on this forum which can sometimes be dubious

I would be tempted to try UK forums where there may be contributers familiar with the German rental market. There are a few solicitors on: http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/

9 months is too long.After all the heating and water costs have been read they have to pay out minus any damages caused by you.After a 12 month period they cannot claim anything back off you.Either get down to your local Mietverein or get a lawyer to write a threatning letter