Form clauses for cosmetic repairs: The Federal Court of Justice changes its jurisdiction
> May 2015
Renovation clauses transfer the obligation to make cosmetic repairs, which is generally placed on the landlord, to the tenant. This could be performed by a form until now. It was inessential whether the tenant was provided with a renovated or an unrenovated apartment at commencement of the rent.
The Federal Court of Justice has now changed its previous jurisdiction, according to which cosmetic repairs could be transferred to the tenant even in an apartment provided to the tenant unrenovated at commencement of the rent by using general terms and conditions. This clause permissibly commits the tenant of the apartment to remove the traces of usage of his predecessor without receiving any appropriate compensation for this. In another decision, the BGH also made a statement on the ratio compensation clauses. It decided in this respect that inappropriate disadvantaging of the tenant is already present in that the cost share allocated to him could not be determined reliably and that it was not clear for him at conclusion of the rent contract what burden he may have to bear. According to the opinion of the BGH, this applies independently of whether the apartment was provided to the tenant renovated or unrenovated at commencement of the tenancy.
