“Of course I wanted to help,” said Robert P. (name changed) when war broke out in Ukraine and many people fled to Germany. His 240 square meter house in Gräfelfing offered enough space, so he took in a 74-year-old woman and her 15-year-old granddaughter. Much to the displeasure of his landlords, who after eight weeks demanded that the refugees should move out. With the backing of the Munich Tenants’ Association, Robert P. went to court. Because according to their spokesman Volker Rastätter, humanitarian aid is a legitimate interest in subletting. The club expects a landmark judgment on the matter.
Robert P. has not lived in the single-family house in Gräfelfing for very long. The widower only moved in with his two minor children in November 2021; he had previously known the mother of the landlord couple. There is a small attic apartment on the upper floor, “which my son should use later,” Robert P. had imagined. But when war broke out, Robert P. decided to do his part. “We have space in the house and they have to sleep in dormitories on mattresses,” he says.
At first, two women with their children were supposed to come through an acquaintance. Robert P. spoke to the landlord couple, who gave their permission for eight weeks. In the end, however, the women stayed with the familiar, and Robert P. took in a grandmother and her granddaughter. The 15-year-old was severely traumatized, “her mother died in the war and her father stayed in Ukraine.” Robert P. organized psychological help for the young girl, while the grandmother looked after the widower’s children and helped around the house. As the tenants’ association puts it, “a strong personal bond has developed between the families”.
According to the judge, the additional agreement is probably not permissible
On the other hand, the landlords say that they categorically ruled out subletting by means of an additional agreement due to bad experiences with the previous tenant. Judge Eva Jung immediately makes it clear that this agreement is probably not permissible anyway.
The rented house and her house are on the same property, “we practically live under the same roof,” says the landlady. And the previous tenants were constantly coming and going, “we no longer had an overview of who was going in and out.” She is mentally very bad, says the woman in a tearful voice, “I need absolute rest”. But she doesn’t have it, because couriers passed her house, or her grandmother’s friends from the Ukrainian community. “We have nothing against refugees,” she adds. Boxes of fruit have even been donated. “But we never wanted refugees to live here, there are communal accommodations.”
The conciliation negotiations sought by Judge Jung were unsuccessful. The fronts on both sides are clear, lawyer Stephan Immerfall from the tenants’ association explains: “We want a decision.” Namely whether subletting for humanitarian reasons or because a strong bond has been formed can be asserted as a legitimate interest. A legitimate interest exists, for example, if a tenant has to sublet a room for economic reasons, or if a long-term tenant stays abroad for a year. Judge Jung will announce her verdict shortly before Christmas.