Disputes between tenants and landlords repeatedly end up in court. The German Tenants’ Association’s (DMB) litigation statistics show how the figures have developed in recent years and what the disputes concern.
Number of court cases falls continuously
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the number of tenancy-law disputes before the courts rose slightly in 2023. The parties to tenancy agreements went to Germany’s local and regional courts 182,826 times. The number of tenancy-law cases therefore rose by around 0.12 per cent compared with the previous year (182,612 cases). Overall, the number of tenancy-law cases has been declining continuously since 1996 (351,511 proceedings). According to the DMB, the Federal Statistical Office’s figures do not distinguish between the subjects of the disputes.
Subjects of tenancy-law proceedings
Figures from DMB Rechtsschutz form the basis of the statistics on the subjects of tenancy-law disputes. The German Tenants’ Association’s legal expenses insurer provides general legal expenses cover, with a particular focus on tenancy law.
Breaches of contract are the leading cause of tenancy-law disputes, accounting for 30.4 per cent. These concern rights and obligations under the tenancy in general, ranging from questions about keeping animals to problems involving defects in the property and rent reductions, or proceedings concerning the rent cap. Rent increases follow (17.4 %), then rental deposits (16.9 %).
Service charges, a perennial subject of legal advice, are the fourth most common subject of proceedings at 15.9 per cent, unchanged from 2023 (15.6 per cent). They are followed by termination for personal use (7.2 %), termination without notice (5.6 %), ordinary termination (1.6 %), and modernisation and cosmetic repairs (0.5 % each). A further 4.3 per cent cannot be assigned to any of these subjects and are classified as other matters.
Disputes over rent increases rise sharply
Disputes over rent increases accounted for 15.5 per cent in 2023 and have therefore risen significantly. “The increase in court proceedings caused by rent rises very clearly demonstrates the pressure on the rental housing market. The connection is obvious: where effective rules limiting rents are lacking, rents in some large cities are rising by double-digit percentages. Tenant households are feeling the effects, and fewer and fewer of them can afford housing. One in three tenant households is already overburdened by housing costs. This development urgently needs to be stopped. We therefore expect a new government to act as quickly as possible to extend the rent cap and combat extortionate rents,” explains Melanie Weber-Moritz, Federal Director of the German Tenants’ Association.