Moving out of an apartment without renovating

[JN53 304]

8 hours ago, jeba said:

I´d rather translate ".. Hat der Mieter die Schönheitsreparaturen übernommen ..." like "...If the tenant is responsible for cosmetic repairs..."  - and that´s a big "IF". Apart from that: is this from the lease contract we´re talking about?

 

It's not my apt. contract, though it is a bit similar. Perhaps the translated English will help someone. Only the second sentence of 4.3 from stuartmartin's post is in my contract.

[JN53 304]

10 hours ago, Tim Hortons Man said:

I think the best thing to do is to join the Mieterverein, especially as many of them offer services in English, before giving notice and then go and talk to them.

 

**rant**

 

I never understood for the life of me why Germans put in beautiful hardwood floors and don't protect then with a shellac or a lacquer. In only takes a few months of wear and tear to totally ruin a gorgeous hardwood floor. Same with flat white paint, utterly stupid!!!! Our walls have so many marks from normal wear and tear I'm almost embarrassed to have people over, but then dirty walls seems to be a German thing. We're moving back into our own place and will have it painted and the wife is insisting an waschbare paint. I'm sure the painter will think we're totally nuts, why would you want to protect your walls. Dirty walls are a German thing.

 

**end rant**

 

I've sent the realtor an e-mail to check with her first. If there seems to be a problem, I'll see about joining the Mieterverein. I wouldn't need to have English services, but good that you mention it, as others may need services in English.

 

Most of the German houses I've been in didn't have hardwood floors or they were covered with carpets and the walls were a nice white, not dirty.

However, a home I currently work in does have a couple of areas with dirty walls. The paint in that place is probably what you call flat white paint and their hardwood floor is not properly taken care of. I can understand your rant.  

[sluzup 192]

Contracts that say that you have to re-decorate every x number of years, or when you move out, have been declared invalid.  I did a quick search (I am supposed to be doing the gardening, but have come in for a rest), and found this...

 

Berlin Mieterschutzbund

 

 

[dotinwiesbaden 195]

Hello all,

 

Need your kind and expert advice on the following similar situation - I am now a bit confused as heard from many people incl. German colleagues that a cosmetic repair clause in rental contracts is invalid:

 

We are about to move out of our apartment which we rented for just under three years (standard notice period included). 

It was freshly painted when we moved in. Our contract states the usual process of cosmetic repairs that should be carried out, similar to that cited above:

• kitchen / bath painting every 3 yrs
• livingroom, bedroom every 5 yrs
• other spaces (Flur) every 7 yrs

There is also a section in there saying something like if the move out term precedes the minimum cosmetic repair term (as above), the landlord will carry out the cosmetic repairs through professionals and charge us the following amount: 1/3 of cost for areas where cosmetic repair is required every 3 yrs, 1/5 of cost for the ones where repair should be every 5 yrs and so on.

 

We took really good care of the place, so really only the kitchen (and perhaps the bath) are the ones that should be repainted which we are more than happy to do ourselves even if not required by law, just out of courtesy as the landlord has been superb so far. 

 

We are also prepared to fix the small stuff in the other rooms like holes from pictures, curtain rails etc. and also where the wall shows a bit of wear with some small marks etc. But I'd rather if we did not have to paint - or pay for a professional painter - the whole place, it's a freakin' enormous Altbau :-)

 

Questions: Is the contract section regarding costmetic repair requirements really valid? Can they still charge us for a professional paint job even though we are below the term required for the cosmetic repairs? Shall we at all repaint the kitchen out of courtesy and if yes, can the landlord still say it is not professional enough and call in painters?

 

Your help would be much appreciated.

 

 

[RedMidge 6,062]

@dot- there seem to be conflicting opinions regarding this. MY advice- go to the Mieterverein, and ask them, taking your contract it you.

[JN53 304]

Well, my realtor said I'd need to do Schönheitsreparaturen and that she'd come by in June to check out the apartment to give me an idea on what I need to do. At this point she used renovieren. Are Schönheitsreparaturen the same as renovieren? From looking online it seems they are the same. Or is this something the realtor would have to tell me?

 

I think I'll just wait and see what she says about my apt. and then I can show her what the contract says, as she didn't comment on the exact parts I had e-mailed to her. If I have to fix up the apartment, I will. I really don't think it would cost me that much to do it, if it is necessary.

[stuartmartin 46]

Toothpaste is good for filling nail holes in wall 

 

[stuartmartin 46]

Take your contract to pub or somewhere and strike up conversation with someone and let them read it and ask what to do 

[jeba 3,535]

50 minutes ago, stuartmartin said:

Toothpaste is good for filling nail holes in wall 

 

 

 

What flavour?

 

 

 

[stuartmartin 46]

29 minutes ago, jeba said:

 

 

What flavour?

 

 

 

Well unless you have red striped wallpaper I would stick to Mint 

[Mik Dickinson 438]

under schonheitsreparaturen is stuff just like you mentioned filling in holes etc up to an annual cost of  well it used to be 150 DM.As to filling in holes and not paintimg over them never heard so much idiocy in my life.You would see them a mile away.However your landlord cannot stipulte you have to have the apartment painted by proffessionls it has to be in a liveable condition

[JN53 304]

In my opinion the apartment is in livable condition. We'll see what the realtor says when she checks it out in June.

So are Schönheitsreparaturen the same as renovieren? I'm still not clear on that.

[jeba 3,535]

12 hours ago, JN53 said:

So are Schönheitsreparaturen the same as renovieren?

Not really, but in your context yes. Renovieren would imply more than just Schönheitsreparaturen (e. g. installing new windows, new flooring, new sinks, bathtub etc.) but that cannot be legally expected from a tenant (under normal circumstances at least).

[JN53 304]

13 minutes ago, jeba said:

Not really, but in your context yes. Renovieren would imply more than just Schönheitsreparaturen (e. g. installing new windows, new flooring, new sinks, bathtub etc.) but that cannot be legally expected from a tenant (under normal circumstances at least).

 

Thanks, Jeba. It sounds like the realtor was using the words interchangeably. I'm sure it wouldn't be installing new windows because the company paid for the guy that came to put a seal around the windows.

[jeba 3,535]

20 minutes ago, JN53 said:

 

Thanks, Jeba. It sounds like the realtor was using the words interchangeably.

Yes, that´s being done often in everyday language.

[Thai 350]

"Schoenheitsreparaturen" is legal language - it is not used in everyday language, the word used in everyday language is "renovieren". It usually includes painting the walls or putting new wallpapers, sometimes putting new carpets, etc. but normally not installing new windows - this is  something that does not need to be done by the renter.

[Mik Dickinson 438]

Look to put it in simple terms if the place is freshly painted when you move in its to be painted when you move out and flooring left clean when you move out

[cb6dba 5,925]

23 hours ago, stuartmartin said:

Well unless you have red striped wallpaper I would stick to Mint 

I have stripped toothpaste - could be a fit...

[Sam11 1]

Hi everyone,

I have been living in an apartment for 4 years and the guy before me lived for about 14 years.

A total of 18 years without any renovation by the landlord.

Note: he also, increased the monthly rent when I moved in but I really needed a place and I took it.

I am planning to move out and I am worried that he might withhold/charge me fees for the apartment. (The walls have cracks on them and they start to fall apart).

I am afraid he might hold me responsible for this.

 

Can anyone give me advice?

 

Many thanks

 

Sam

[fraufruit 35,302]

Did you take photos of the condition of the flat when you moved in? If not, good lesson learned. Do so next time.

 

I assume you haven't given your 3 month notice yet. If you are expecting problems, join your local Mietverein so they can help you.

 

BTW, rents are almost always raised between renters.