Black, single mum asked to move out by landlord - Germany

I do not know if this has been posted, I could not find it it but apparently a landlord in Osnabrueck was given notice to leave her apartment due to:


It seems amazing that anyone would actually ask anyone to quit for that reason. The full story here:

DW World: Black Woman Sues Landlord After Discrimination Admission

I think it is very sad. If she was a good tentent.

But it should not surprise anyone when you apply for a job they want pictures, hobbies and age! There are no discrimination laws in Germany like in the States.

I sadly think this stuff happens all the time -- unfortunately most of the prejudiced people have enough of a pea-brain to lie about why they are kicking someone out.

Ruthie, when you say "All the time" I assume that you mean a lot of people are kicked out due to racial reasons, have you any specific links to this sort of thing as this is the first time I have seen this before.

Surely, kicking a person out because of race is not legal?

"The case was likely to set a precedent in the application of Germany's anti-discrimination law, which came into effect in August 2006. It forbids discrimination based on a person's origins, skin color, age, disabilities or sexual orientation."

This sounds very much like the lady that was on here a few months back screaming "racism" because she was checked at a bahnhof. Could it be?

X-Magazine. As in Malcom-X?
Deals with black people's experiences in Germany. She's British and German, but she couldn't have a magazine about that.

Sounds to me like someone (even if it isn't the same lady that was here) who is just out looking for someone to poke with the racism stick. And no, I'm not in any way defending the alleged actions of the landlord.

Of course it is illegal, so most people don't let on that that is their reasoning.

If this woman has a letter from the landlord containing what was quoted, I'd say that is pretty good proof.

I was once kicked out of an apartment for not being Mormon. I objected and they realized they had no legal basis, but I left anyway, not wanting to have to deal with such jerks. So in the end they achieved what they wanted, with much embarrassment involved for them, however. Then again, finding housing in Utah isn't really so difficult...

I'm not familiar with the laws protecting renters from eviction, but isn't there some other protection beyond the anti-discrimination law? Additionally, what in the world is the matter with the other tenants- don't they know it's not easy for folks like this mother and child to find an apartment? Very heartless, especially if she has been a model tenant.

He gave this in writing

Come on...

I know what he did was wrong..

But look at all the shit that Bush and Blair caused...

There was clearly no WMD... yet there was a problem that needed to be adressed...

How else could he have asked her to leave?

Somehow refreshing honesty, even if the reasoning is repugnant. It's better to know the true grounds for descrimination against you, rather than have to put up with them magnifying every minor transgression of the mindlessly pointless rules to try to get you out by the back door. I'm sure the courts will treat her case sympathetically.

SP, hard to take your post seriously. The landlord obviously didn't have a problem renting to her as a single parent when they signed the rental contract, which I would think covers, in accordance with Mietrecht, the way in which in either side could terminate the tenancy. He didn't cite any violation of the rental contract, so there's no reason to think that she was not a good tenant. How should he ask her to leave? In accordance with the rental contract/Mietrecht, that's how.

Even before the anti-discrimnation law it was not possible to give notice to leave for that reason.
She could have thrown the piece of paper away.
However, who would like to live which such neighbours?
I also would have left and sue the landlord later. 10000€ is not a bad deal.
He must be very stupid or hones to give the reasons in writing.

She should have sued the other tenents for racism.

Sadly you can't sue someone simply because they have an opinion with which you don't agree.

I personally find it difficult to form an opinion on this as it only contains one side of the story. It does seem odd that she received the notice in December and yet she reveals all in April whilst at the same time gaining publicity for her "magazine" (that no one had ever heard of before today) that was launched last year.

If she was removed due to the reasons given, then it is a heinous decision from the landlord.

I only have a few doubts as my old school friend, a landlord, had a similar problem. He had all-sorts of accusations made against him by a tenant but the tenant forgot to mention that she had not paid rent for 6 months, had stolen the cooker, washing-machine, tumble-drier and let her dog poo all over the spare room. It did not get to court due to the production, by my friend, of photographs and police reports.

Still, if the lady in the article has it in writing then the landlord deserves all he gets.

That whole story seem to be weird (if the landlord wasnt braindead). If you read a longer german language version of the case, it makes a little more sense. For exampe this.

1) The black woman is not only suing the landlord but also one of the renters, because she is supposed to be the cause for her eviction.
2) The note of eviction is written in the black womans handwriting, though with the signature of the landlord.
3) The landlord is 86 years old.

There are still some things unclear and there is nothing than the statements of the involved to fill this gaps.

If the landlord was a racist, why would he have rented the appartement to her in the first place?
Could it be that she left on her own initiative, because of some (alleged) racists in her house, but asked the landlord to sign the note. Which he did without thinking about consequences...
I still wonder if this is meant as some publicity stunt to promote her magazine.

that little piece of information throws it into a whole other ballpark

That is what I was alluding towards. Odd that the note was in the womans handwriting but with the landlords signature

I find this quite strange, its takes an age to evict a person in Germany. If you have paid the rent and stuck by the house rules impossible unless they are about to demolish the building, and the "race card" doesnt work here as they do that by refusing you before you move in

Not quite. My wifes aunt and uncle had to leave their place as the owner "needed it to put his daughter in". They had to move but later found out that the landlord had just put another couple in to obtain more rent. It was a few years back though so I do not know if the law has changed since.

LMAO , that's brilliant , looks like she might have discriminated against him on the basis of his failing eyesight , lack of racism and general trusting nature.

I was told by a lawyer that it can take up to two years to get someone out of a rented apartment in Germany. This case looks fishy to me.

Take it from a landlord - It takes years, even if it is actually legally possible. 95% of the time its impossible to get rid of bad tenants legally.

Been there, done that.

andy M

Theoretically they could have sued, as this is illegal, but a) proving that the daughter didnt genuinely change her mind at the last minute is very difficult and to be honest, who needs the hassle. In the future the trick is to threaten to take the landlord to court to challenge his "Eigenbedarf" and then let yourself be bought off.

andy M

Given what has been posted since my last post on this thread and what the article posted by Freising says, I now doubt the woman's story.

False accsuations of racism can be as harmful as racism itself.

I hope they sued the landlord. That is (and was) against the law and can be very expensive for him.

Nope they did not as "he was so nice to us for the past years"...some people.

"Eigenbedarf" is still the easiest way to throw any renter with an unlimited contract out.
Can only be announced by private persons, not juristical persons though - good thing for the renter.

Evicting anyone - in the physical sense - against their will is near impossible, even if they don't pay rent or anything, as long as they have a contract.

i hope she takes the ba---rd for all she can get.After all she supposedly as a child as well.The reason he gave because of some other tenants not happy about it well shit who owns the f*--++ing property

why is it that on TT there are always those who, on no evidence, rush to claim that any complaint of racism by a black or asian person is quite obviously not legitimate?

Why is it that on TT when there's plenty of evidence of a scam , there are always those who defend the suspected scammer?

so says one article in the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, that well known defender of minority rights and the probity of equality legislation. But actually several people were poo poing it even before the link was posted.

Personally I have no idea of any of the details of this case and don't really care as it is a matter for the courts.

But I do know racism does go on and find it curious that so many people seem to be in denial over the matter.

Who on this thread has written that racism does not go on BTC?

Like you I don't know the full truth of the matter , but if that article is correct it sounds like reverse racism and ageism is going on - in which case I sincerely doubt that you will be calling for her to be taken to the cleaners as per Mik Dickinson and others...

Just wondering what the landlord and neighbors would have thought if the alleged evicted tenant was black and had a pearly white german husband who lived in the apartment too?

I would like to peruse a copy of her X-magazine just for the hack of it.

I've googled for that magazine and couldn't find it. Only one other reference to it calling it "X" instead of "X-magazin"...

nobody has as far as I can see, but a good few have gleefully jumped to the conclusion that it was all made up and just another example of a lippy black woman making up a story about racism.

And why am I reacting like this? Back in the 90s there was a senior asian officer in the met police who filed a complaint about a systematic campaign of racial intimidation. Almost immediately he was accused in return of concocting the whole thing and stories started appearing in the less rigorous local press and some of the redtops alleging that the racist notes posted to him were in fact in his own handwriting. The case raged on for a good long while with the case eventually finding in his favour. The stories about notes being in his handwriting had absolutely no basis in fact and were planted in the press by other officers trying to discredit him. These officers were later found to be the culprits and were all dismissed.
(i have been googling for reference to this story but cannot find it although it was widely reported at the time - maybe someone can help?)

Now, it is entirely possible that a black person could concoct a whole racism story to discredit some body or other and I daresay some of that does go on in a small scale way such as between kids and teachers and accusing police of brutality etc. However, it does seem to me that all the black or asian friends I have, have been at various points in their lives the victims of discrimination or harassment and taht a woman who wanted to make a big stink about racism wouldn't necessarily have to concoct a case to prove their point.

I think it is X Das Magazin für AfroKultur. It appears there has been only a test issue so far.

I absolutely agree with you and I have several stories of racism of my own, which I stopped telling to Germans because they all seem to say "that could not be true" or "no, the reason was a different one, it wasn't racism".

I find it astonishing that Germany has only had a law against such discrimination since August, 2006.
From the original poster's link:

as I understand it there were antidiscrimination laws before this but this law was updated to include sexual orientation too, in line with EU directives on the matter.

i only comment on the thread believing that all given info is correct.If evicting a single parent is involved and all the info is true then the Landlord is behaving in a racial manner.He should be done in the courts.Previous experience in Germany has always led me to believe that when Germans are confronted with anything they develop blindness and have not seen anything.Not all of the population but 90%

Article 3 of the German constitution

Shit Miwild you have a gun so i am not argueing with you