Legal protection against excessive rental prices

Hi!

Can anybody know or discuss the legal procedure in Germany/Munich when alien finds that his landlord charges him excessively than the Mietspiegel rates? Is there any legal procedure to protect us from excessive charges when somebody finds that he unknowingly signed an agreement that forces him to pay excess House Rent in Munich than what is stated in the Mietspiegel?

SS

The Mietspiegel serves to limit the ammount by which the landlord can raise the rent.
It plays NO role in the signing of a new contract.

If you think the contract you signed up for is charging an excessive rent you have 2 choices:

1) Ask the landlord to reduce the rent.
2) Terminate the contract.

did you look it up in the new Mietspiegel for FY07?
the one you find online is out of date, the newest one is currently only available as a brochure - you can pick it up from the infostelle there at Marienplatz.

how much are you paying, and for how many m²?

and don't forget that they can legitimately charge extra for stuff like underfloor heating, nice location, the height of the tiles in the bathroom and all sorts of other odd things...

Mietwucher

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mietwucher

Yes.


Link in German

Show him the Mietspiegel figures and if he doesn't reduce go to the Mieterverein.

Why should it matter if you are "alien" or not?

You need to be clear about what has happenend.

Has the landlord RAISED the rent?
Or have you just discovered after signing that the contractual rent is EXPENSIVE compared to other comparable property?

I have discovered after signing that the contractual rent is expensive compared to other property.

I am not familier in German. Can you explain what is "Mieterverein"? And its purpose?

It is about 1000 Euro for 65 sq. m, in ground floor. It also has a backyard garden of 30 sq. m. But there is no other facility as you mention. The location is modest (average) as per the Mietspiegel.

Here you are: Mieterverein.

Then I refer you to post number 2.

A landlord can ask ANY rent he chooses with a new contract and you have the choice to sign or not.
Asking for a reduction MAY work if he is interested in keeping you as a long term tennant.

I think it's pretty normal to pay extra for a garden, though.
If you calculate the garden at 50% of the area (which is the normal thing for balconies), then you have 1.000 for 80m², which is 12,5€/m², which is probably top whack for an average area but not a mega rip-off.

I know a colleague of mine is paying a lot more per m² than that for a flat she just rented that also has a garden (but she is in a "good" area).
You'd have to check the brochure exactly to see if the maklers' standard practice of calculating outside space at 50% is also the standard accepted by the Mietspiegel people.

Is this "warm" or "kalt", i.e. with or without costs for heating, water, janitor, etc.?

Whilst that may be true in theory you can nevertheless sign and then quote the Mietspiegel. There are laws that can force the landlord to reduce the rent.


It's a group that represent tenants' rights.

The Wikipedia entry quoted in post 4 suggests otherwise.

Including everything (electricity, water, heating etc.) but telephone charges are extra

Then it doesn't sound excessive IMO. Assuming roughly 200 € for running costs and 800 € for the pure rent, this boils down to 10 €/square metre (following Topys's approach of counting the garden at 50 %). Seems quite reasonable, no?

Janx, I am prepared to stand corrected but that is not my understanding.

The reason people do their DAMNDEST in Germany in areas where prices are rising to keep an old contract alive
is that each time a NEW contract is made it is ENTIRELY a matter of market forces.

@ Monkstown

ah yes those evil market forces . What do your tenants pay as a matter of interest? 1970s prices?

@ Parnell, I am just stating how the law works.

I'm not going to get into public laundry washing on here.
My conciencse is clear.

@ MT

Fare enuff maing , just think that as a major criticiser of owners of the means of production blah blah , you should not forget that you are one of those owners.

70% of the UK population now own a house. All big capitalists or just simply need somewhere to live and / or a bit of security?

Spot the difference:

[img]http://www.savenergy.org/images/photos/terraced_house.jpg[/img]

[img]http://goeurope.about.com/library/graphics/gal/london/buckingham_palace_1.jpg[/img]

1k€ warm for 65m² plus a 30m² garden is not even remotely over the odds, it sounds like a bargain to me

Sounds like fat-cat double-speak to me!

EDIT: This guy is getting a good deal , or at least a reasonable deal. Some people are never happy though.

I just checked where münzing is, it's within spitting distance of Starnberger See. Not exactly the cheapest area to live around here! google Map

Actually, it's mostly because of "protection times" due to older contracts. The older a rental contract the higher the contract termination period. For example, traditionally, rental contracts of over 20 years of age usually award a termination period of up to 1 year (i.e. time from required notice until actual termination of contract).

Money comes into play when a raise of rental payments didn't happen for several years during the contract time. In that case, especially since the maximum raise is restricted to 30% per year, it might be hard for the landlord to raise to the maximum technically possible with a new treaty (about 20% above maximum Mietspiegel numbers for the area, with the same equipment).

Mietwucher is very common and, sadly, has been somewhat "legalized" by courts in the last few years. Especially with new contracts it's very hard to do anything against it, that's why the Mietspiegel should be among required reading when looking for a new rental apartment.