Published by Problem
To Section 6 (4) MietWoG landlords have until April 22.04.2020, XNUMX all tenants "To provide information about the circumstances relevant to the calculation of the rent limit". A list of what I mean, that everything has to be explained in this information, can be found above as a picture.
Part of these calculation circumstances is whether and which modern equipment is available according to Section 6 (3), i.e. whether and which of the following characteristics are present:
- Passenger elevator accessible from the apartment and the entrance without thresholds,
- Equipped kitchen,
- high quality sanitary equipment,
- high quality flooring in the majority of living spaces,
- Energy consumption value of less than 120 kWh / (m2 a).
Not only do you have to explain positively that there is such a characteristic, but (if so) that it does not exist.
The problem now is that the features contain ratings. Is every fitted kitchen relevant, even those from the 70s? Or is there only one that is “modern” today? When is a kitchen “modern”? When is sanitary equipment "high quality" and what does it all include? When is the flooring "high quality"? Is the elevator threshold-free even if there is a ramp? How high must a threshold be to be considered a threshold?
If you provide false information here or refuse to answer, you may face a fine of up to EUR 500.000 § 11 MietWoG.
Solution
However, you only act in an unlawful manner if you deliberately or negligently provide the wrong information.
In order to avoid negligence, you can ask the Owi authority for information on how to understand the specific facts correctly. So you can write to the district office and ask whether the fitted kitchen in the apartment on x-Straße on the 3rd floor on the left (seen from the street) fulfills the criteria according to Section 6 (4) sentence 2 number 2 of the Renting Act. You can inform that you assume that the fitted kitchen is relevant as a feature if you do not receive a different assessment from (e.g.) the 01.04.2020 by the authority.
You can also ask whether the sanitary facilities in this apartment are of high quality or not, according to the district's opinion, and explain that you will assume they are of high quality unless you are told otherwise by 01.04.2020/XNUMX/XNUMX.
It is not necessary to include pictures or further information (which you will usually not have at all) with the request. The principle of official identification applies here; the authority must obtain the information necessary for information itself.
If the district office does not respond, it is not negligent if, after the expiry of the period of refusal, you assess a doubtful feature as you notified the authority and had given it to be examined.
Structuring inquiries
In the district office, the files for such requests for information are certainly kept on a housing basis. It is therefore advisable not to query the equipment features individually - ie one feature per letter - but collectively for each apartment. For the same reason, it makes sense to make a separate request for each apartment, not to bundle them because the district office would not be able to process them in any case.
So that the rental cover is good for something:
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