Berlin-Mitte Local Court, judgement of 8 October 2020, case reference: 27 C 21/20
Facts
Flooding in rented flats is a recurring problem due to climate change
In this case, the tenant of a basement flat sued her landlady on the basis of a defect that significantly restricted the contractual use of the flat. The flat had been flooded several times in recent years during heavy rainfall. The flooding was caused by the formation of backwater in the drainage system. The solution to prevent this backflow was to install a backwater flap, which the tenant had asked her landlady to do several times. However, the landlady saw the cause of the flooding in the change in the climate and therefore did not recognise any obligation to act on her part.
Judgement of the Berlin-Mitte Local Court
Landlord is obliged to carry out repairs
The Berlin-Mitte District Court has now ruled that the landlord is responsible for repairing the drainage in the flat. The tenant was entitled to the contractually agreed use of the rented property in a suitable condition. Possible flooding, which would occur at any time during heavy rain, would make living in a rented flat unreasonable for tenants. Even if the landlord had no legal obligation to modernise the rented property and no backflow protection had been installed in the rented property at the start of the tenancy, a subsequent defect had nevertheless arisen as a result of the change on which the climate was based.
The defendant or the landlord of the rented property was therefore obliged to repair the rented property, i.e. to remedy the defect.
Source: Berlin-Mitte Local Court
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