During the corona pandemic, many retailers lost their income – in many cases they had to keep paying rent.
(Photo: dpa)
Frankfurt It is an important issue during the corona lockdown for hundreds of thousands of companies that the judges in Karlsruhe have now fundamentally negotiated for the first time. Do businesses have to keep paying full rent even though many lost their income overnight?
Many companies had hoped for a generous interpretation of the judiciary. But in their hearing on Wednesday, the judges of the Federal Court of Justice indicated that they would not pass a general judgment on the matter.
This became apparent in the negotiations in Karlsruhe. Retailers who argue with their landlord about rent in corona lockdown are therefore unlikely to be able to rely on a fundamental half-and-half rule.
The two cases that are up for decision are each about the textile discounter Kik. From March 2020 onwards, he temporarily stopped paying the full rent in several branches. In the Chemnitz area and several other cities, the chain store wanted to set his rent to zero for this period against the will of the landlord – which is why the dispute ended up in court.
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Lower courts ruled differently
However, even the lower courts ruled differently. The Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court sentenced Kik to pay the rent in full. According to the judges, a closure order does not constitute a rental deficiency that entitles the rent to be reduced. In the case from Saxony, however, the Dresden Higher Regional Court had awarded the business the waiver of around half a month’s rent because it had to close from March 19 to April 19, 2020.
But the solution now appears to the BGH judges to be too general. The chairman Hans-Joachim Dose said, according to a preliminary assessment, “a comprehensive examination of all circumstances of the individual case is needed”. The judges plan to announce the final verdict on January 12th.
For many commercial tenants who had hoped for significant rent relief when the closure of their shops due to the corona pandemic was ordered, Dose’s additions will put a damper on them. Downtown retailers in particular often had difficulties paying their rent during the corona crisis. The legal situation, however, is tricky.
Since the turn of the year 2020/21 it has been made clear by law that commercial tenants can request an adjustment of their lease if they have to close due to corona measures or are only allowed to open their business with severe restrictions. But there is no regulation that says that they have to be waived part of the rent. (Az. XII ZR 8/21)
More: C&A has to pay additional rent for April