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Miet-Falle Gewerbe: Wenn Vermieter draufzahlen | WISO — Transcript · YTtoTranscript

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Miet-Falle Gewerbe: Wenn Vermieter draufzahlen | WISO

ZDFheute Nachrichten · 1,440 words · 7 min read · EN

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Below is the complete, readable transcript of Miet-Falle Gewerbe: Wenn Vermieter draufzahlen | WISO by ZDFheute Nachrichten on YouTube. Read the full text, copy any part you need, or generate a transcript for any video with our free tool.

This room costs the student Johannes €460 in rent. That's almost 21 m² of cold space. He wants to tell us about an unusual contractual arrangement with his landlord and therefore prefers to remain anonymous, because the expensive room is the only option for him in the tight rental market. So, if I had said that I did

n't want to rent the apartment under those conditions [music], then I probably wouldn't have gotten the apartment . One of the special conditions that Johannes has to accept is renting the apartment through a commercial lease agreement. Tenants' associations have been observing an increasing number of such contractual arrangements, particularly in large cities, for some time now

and are warning tenants against commercial leases for residential space. When we have these commercial contracts , the "fair landlords" try to undermine the tenants' protective rights. We want to know how much tenants really suffer under such contracts and why such commercial leases for residential spaces are even concluded in the first place? Johannes wasn't initially

clear about exactly what kind of contract he was supposed to sign when he found a student apartment in Hamburg years ago. What he found particularly unusual about the viewing appointment was that he himself was not supposed to conclude a contract with the landlord. Instead, the rental agreement for the room was to be

signed by one of his parents, allegedly because of their better credit rating. We received the rental agreement by mail and when we opened it, we immediately saw that it was not a normal rental agreement. The Hamburg Tenants' Association is reviewing the contract for Johannes. Rolfbosse notes that this is not a normal lease agreement, but a commercial

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lease agreement with the purpose of subletting to third parties. And this is how it works. The landlord gives Johannes Mutter a commercial lease with [music] a base rent of almost €21 per square meter. On paper, his mother then rents the apartment to Johannes, who uses it exclusively for residential purposes. But why the commercial lease?

Rolf Bosse has a suspicion about that. In a commercial lease agreement, the long-distance tenant can agree on a much higher rent. There is no rent control and repair obligations can also fall on the tenant. This [music] means that Johannes Mutter's commercial lease is not subject to the rent control law. Johannes, as a tenant, could insist

on compliance with the rent control [music] from his landlord mother , but she would still have to continue paying the landlord €21 per square meter. The tenants' association therefore considers this design a conscious choice. If the commercial tenant and the occupant who actually lives there are related, then there are no disagreements between them, and that

benefits the fair landlord. Consequence of the commercial lease agreement. According to the Hamburg Tenants' Association, Johannes' family paid too much rent. The monthly rent upon moving in was €460. According to Rolf Bosse's calculations, if the rent control law had been applied, the apartment should only have cost around €370. However, the rent control law could

not be enforced with the landlord [music] because of the commercial lease agreement. According to the expert, this is no coincidence. This landlord has essentially been operating this business model for many years . What is the truth behind this accusation? The landlord of Johannes and his family is the Hamburg-based company Alster Terra. We want to learn more about their

rental practices and search the internet for rental advertisements from the company [music] and find some. Alsterter Terran offers 16 apartments for rent in Hamburg. Often, the aim is to specifically target students, for example by emphasizing proximity to the university. We came across the following advertisement. 50 m², €1145 cold rent, that's almost €23 per

square meter and is far above the rent control limit. Should the property also be rented commercially in this case, so that such a high rent is permissible? We are applying for the [music] apartment and pretending to be students looking for an apartment in Hamburg. We are indeed invited to a viewing appointment. [music]

On site we get to see a 50 m² apartment with two rooms. Initially, there was no mention of commercial rental [music] until the employee responsible for the viewing suddenly informed us of these contract terms . Your father will rent the apartment and then sublet it to you. In our case, this will also take place

via a commercial lease agreement, which we will receive later [music] with the request: "A parent should sign." We asked the property management why. I don't understand what this has to do with the business contract. So, I'm wondering , why don't we just draw up a normal rental agreement with my father or me as the main tenant?

Well, I think the property management company is telling us that the parents simply have a higher credit rating, making it easier to establish a shared apartment . We also specifically ask whether the rent control law applies to commercial leases and whether excessive rent can be reclaimed if necessary. You can't actually demand that, because it doesn't apply to such

contracts. So we too are supposed to conclude a commercial lease agreement, even though the premises are not intended for commercial use, but only for residential purposes. Is there any truth to the suspicion that this is an attempt to prevent the application of the rent control law? Ancient Terra knows this. [music] When asked, they said they use

commercial leases when a financially sound main tenant rents an apartment in order to sublet it to a shared apartment. In this way, a reasonable balance [music] can be created between the interests of the parties involved . When asked about the fact that, for example, Johannes' mother never wanted to form a shared apartment, but

only looked for an apartment for her son , Alzatterra writes that it occasionally happens that the main tenant exercises his right to determine the residents by initially subletting to only one resident . In Johannesfall, this is quite plausible for individual residents. He lives in a one- room apartment. We wonder if it is even

permissible to offer something as living space and then conclude a commercial lease agreement with a subtenant, even if the space is only intended to be used for residential purposes . The legal assessment of such cases is not entirely straightforward. But for Rolf Bosse of the tenants' association, the matter seems quite clear. If I don't use living space for living

, then I am committing a misuse of the property . In Hamburg, there's a regulation against the misuse of residential property, a law that prohibits this. Therefore, in my opinion, such a contractual arrangement already violates the rules against the misuse of residential property. We are also inquiring with the responsible district office in Hamburg Eimsbüttel.

Rolf Bosse expressed his suspicion of misuse by Alsterteran there about 10 years ago . We want to know how you assess the contractual situation where residential space is rented out commercially. We were informed in writing that, in principle, misuse of residential space occurs when living space is used for purposes other than residential use. What is

relevant, therefore, is not, for example, commercial letting, but rather the commercial use of residential space. The contractual arrangements are therefore not decisive for the district offices according to the applicable housing protection law . It is important [music] that the living space is actually inhabited. The tenants' association believes this is a legal gray area that Alsterter

Terran has been exploiting for years. The company wrote to us about this upon request. It is absurd to assume that concluding a lease agreement with the right to form a shared apartment would constitute a misuse of the property. Rather, this type of rental is covered by the [music] established case law of the Federal Court of Justice.

The Hamburg Tenants' Association sees things differently. Although the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has dealt with the commercial letting of residential space in principle, the judgments are not applicable to cases like Johannes's. There has been no clear decision yet regarding such constellations [music]. Johannes and his mother certainly do not understand why they should have to pay more rent for any longer because of the

commercial lease . Therefore, with the help of the tenants' association, [music] check whether you can find a loophole in your contract structure yourself. And the tenants' association is very optimistic that housing will soon become more affordable for them . M.