{"id":7540,"date":"2024-04-11T08:50:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T08:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/?p=7540"},"modified":"2025-06-12T08:07:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T08:07:17","slug":"mietrecht-kann-der-vermieter-die-hundehaltung-einfach-so-generell-untersagen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/tenancy-law-can-the-landlord-generally-prohibit-dog-ownership-just-like-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenancy Law: Can the landlord generally prohibit dog ownership just like that?"},"content":{"rendered":"

District Court of Berlin, 07.12.2022, Case No.: 64 S 151\/22<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dogs can also be kept and raised in an apartment. Ideally, a tenant should look for a dog with a calm temperament, one that barks little and doesn\u2019t need much exercise. While young dogs, in particular, require a lot of movement and space, they tend to become calmer with age.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, conflicts between tenants and landlords can arise. In the case presented here, the landlord had generally prohibited the tenant from keeping a dog. The tenants challenged this in court.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Facts of the Case:<\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/span>Tenants wanted to keep a dog in their apartment and sued for approval.<\/span><\/h3>\n

The plaintiffs in this case were tenants of a two-room flat on the first floor of an apartment block, the defendant was the landlord. The plaintiffs kept a dog in the flat, although the defendant had denied them the consent to keep the animal, which was required under Section 11 of the tenancy agreement. As a result, the landlady had the tenants cancelled<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The tenants sued the landlord to establish that they could keep the dog without the landlord\u2019s consent. Alternatively, they requested that the landlord be ordered to grant consent for keeping the dog.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Landlord terminated the lease and sued for eviction<\/span><\/h3>\n

The landlord counterclaimed for the eviction and return of the apartment, or alternatively, for the removal of the dog from the apartment.<\/p>\n

The court of first instance (the district court) dismissed both the tenants\u2018 lawsuit and the landlord\u2019s eviction claim. However, the court did uphold the landlord\u2019s claim for the removal of the dog.<\/p>\n

<\/span>District court ruled in favor of the landlord, tenants appealed<\/span><\/h3>\n

The tenants then appealed to the Berlin Regional Court.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Decision of the Berlin Regional Court:<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Berlin Regional Court ruled against the district court and held that the provision in Section 11 of the rental agreement requiring the landlord\u2019s consent for keeping a dog was invalid under Section 307 of the German Civil Code (BGB), as it unreasonably disadvantaged the tenants, contrary to good faith.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Regional court deemed the prohibition of dog ownership in the rental contract invalid<\/span><\/h3>\n

Clauses requiring the landlord\u2019s consent for pet ownership are only compatible with the provisions of Section 307 BGB if the decision to grant consent is based \u201esolely on understandable and verifiable objective criteria\u201c that focus only on maintaining the contractual use of the property. If no such objective criteria guide the landlord\u2019s decision, the clause is tenant-unfriendly.exclusively on the basis of comprehensible and verifiable objective criteria<\/em>\" is made dependent, \"which are only limited to compliance with the contractual use<\/em>\"If, on the other hand, there are no objective criteria to guide the landlord's decision, the clause is hostile to the tenant.<\/p>\n

In this case, the clause provided no criteria for the landlord\u2019s decision regarding consent to keep pets, which meant that it could be interpreted, in accordance with Section 305c (2) BGB, as leaving the decision entirely to the landlord\u2019s discretion.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Clause must contain objective criteria to guide the decision<\/span><\/h3>\n

This was also evident from a letter from the landlady in which she stated that keeping dogs was \"not desired in any of our properties<\/em>\", because experience has shown that \"problems again and again<\/em>This interpretation was supported by a letter from the landlord, in which she stated that dog ownership was \u201enot desired in any of our properties\u201c because it \u201erepeatedly leads to problems.\u201c This made it clear that the landlord was not applying any objective review criteria in the form of a specific disturbance forecast for the individual case but instead rejected any dog ownership as generally \u201eundesirable.\u201cnot desired<\/em>\" reject.<\/p>\n

Since the clause on dog ownership in the rental agreement was thus invalid, there was no contractual provision, and it depended on a comprehensive balancing of the interests of all parties whether the specific dog ownership was covered by the permissible use of the property or not.<\/p>\n

Objections to the dog ownership were not plausible<\/p>\n

The objections raised by the defendant, which had been adopted by the district court, regarding the suitability of dogs of this breed for multi-family houses were significant but did not support a prohibition on dog ownership. The risks of a particularly high need for exercise, a strong protective instinct, and limited ability to be left unsupervised in the apartment were countered by the plaintiffs. They pointed out that both worked shifts, allowing them to alternate in caring for the dog, that they had years of experience in dog care and training, and that they could also rely on additional support from neighbors.<\/p>\n

As a result, the tenants were allowed to keep the dog in the apartment, and the landlord\u2019s claim for eviction and prohibition was dismissed.<\/p>\n

Source: Berlin Regional Court<\/p>\n

Important Note: The content of this article has been prepared to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, due to the complexity and constant changes in the subject matter, liability and guarantees are excluded.<\/strong>Important Note: The content of this article has been prepared to the best of our knowledge. However, due to the complexity and constant changes in the legal field, we exclude liability and warranties.<\/p>\n

If you need legal advice, please feel free to call us at\u00a00221- 80187670<\/strong>\u00a0or email us at\u00a0info@mth-partner.de<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lawyers in Cologne provide advice and representation in tenancy law.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keeping pets often leads to problems between tenants and landlords. However, the landlord may not generally prohibit the keeping of pets. Tenants are always allowed to keep small animals. In the case of dogs or cats, it depends on the individual case.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[3187],"class_list":["post-7540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mietrecht-rechtsanwalt","tag-darf-ich-den-hund-ins-buero-bringen"],"yoast_head":"\nMietrecht: Kann der Vermieter die Hundehaltung einfach so generell untersagen ? - Rechtsanwaltskanzlei\u00a0Tieben<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Die Hundehaltung in der Mietswohnung kann zu Problemen zwischen Mieter und Vermieter f\u00fchren. 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