Wednesday January 12, 2022
BGH: The individual case is decisive
Traders can pay less rent with lockdown
According to a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice, it is possible for traders to have their rent adjusted due to a corona lockdown. However, the judges restrict: Courts must decide on a case-by-case basis and take into account, among other things, lost sales.
Tenants of commercially used rooms can be entitled to an adjustment of the rent as a result of the Corona lockdown after a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice. The Karlsruhe judges decided that all circumstances of the individual case must always be taken into account. These included, for example, the loss of sales for the specific property, state aid or insurance benefits.
Both sides – tenants and landlords – are burdened by the government measures in the fight against the corona pandemic, neither side bears sole responsibility. Half / half divisions of the rent are too flat.
In the specific case, it was about a branch of the textile discounter Kik in the Chemnitz area, which had to close from March 19 to April 19, 2020 and for which the landlord wants the full rent of around 7,850 euros. The Dresden Higher Regional Court (OLG) had decided that Kik only had to pay about half. It saw a disruption of the business foundation that neither tenants nor landlords could have foreseen. The OLG found that the consequences could not be expected of one party alone.
The Federal Court of Justice overturned this judgment, the court in Dresden has to hear the matter again. It has to examine what specific economic effects the lockdown had on the Kik branch and whether these were so serious that the textile retailer is therefore allowed to pay less rent.
Kik is not alone. With the officially ordered closings in the fight against the pandemic, many businesses had lost their income from one day to the next. Fixed costs such as rent, however, continued to be incurred. Some landlords showed courtesy, others did not.