Legalities of apartment repainting on moving out

Hello

In my rental contract there is a clause that says that some rooms in my flat (bathroom, kitchen) have to be repainted after 3 years, and the rest (bedrooms etc) after 4 years. If I vacate the premises earlier than 3 years, I have to contribute to the renovation charges depending on how long I have been in the flat i.e. after one year I have to pay one third of the cost for repainting the bathroom etc and one quarter of the cost of repainting the rest, or after two years I would have to pay two thirds and half (two quarters) of the cost respectively.

I have given notice on my flat and on the day I leave, my contract will have lasted two years and three months. I am worried that - because the contract has exceeded two years - the landlords will ask me to contribute to the repainting on the basis of three full years occupation, ie pay in full for the repainting of the bathroom and kitchen and three quarters of the cost of painting the rest. (Another thing is that I signed the contract three months before I moved in so I have actually been occupying the flat for only two years.) I was thinking of suggesting that we work it out on a month by month basis so I contribute to the costs on the basis of my actual occupation of the flat.

Does anyone have any argument that I could give them based on something legal preferably!!? (I don't speak German unfortunately)

Thanks a lot

A

Apartment redecoration laws

The simple way is to divide the costs by 36 months (or 48, depending on the room in question) and then multiply by the number of months that you've lived there. That would be your share of the renovation costs. It shouldn't be round up or down, only for the actual number of months that you've been there.

I am dealing with the Schönheitsreparaturen (SHR) issue with my Landlord. I have been assured (by a trustworthy friend in the renovations business) that the Clause covering painting of the apartment (so much after 3 years, so much after 5 years etc.) by the tenant is definitely no longer valid...but having read the info on the link given by Battalion Boy, suggesting that SHR do need to be paid for by the tenant if the SHR are absolutely necessary - I am wondering what classifies as "absolutely necessary"? Of course there are marks on the walls, holes in the wall from pictures -the apartment will have to be painted. My landlady is acknowledging the "shakiness" of the SHR clause, but is still insisting that I pay for the painting (which I am having a hard time getting my head around coming from N-America where this falls under the Landlord's responsibility (to my knowledge) and I had nooo idea that the cost would be so exhorbitant)..any advice or further information on this issue?

why not paiint it yourself? Paint isn't that expensive along with a few brushes. It's really easy once it's empty.

Yes - it is not a bad suggestion...I would be a bit worried that my effort "wouldn't pass the test" though, and that it would have to be redone by an expert..no time for that.

How big is your apartment? And how much is the current estimate for painting? Normally landlords quote a high price for painting, but you can always find cheaper professional alternatives.

well, maybe if you only painted one or two rooms (using painters tape around windows and stuff like that) will minimize the total costs. Buy some beer and ask for friends to help. One small room might take 2 hrs. Certainly worth the savings don't ya think? Just don't buy cheap paint (it drips horribly). Whatever you do, don't buy oil based paint. Make sure it's latex.

Last year when we moved out of our apartment, I had the opportunity to chat with the new tenants who were going to move in. They wanted something other than the usual boring off-white that I was planning to paint, and it made no sense to paint the place twice in a few weeks. The landlord didn't care who painted it as long as it got done. So the new tenants painted it and we just had to leave the place clean. Worked out well for everyone involved. Perhaps something like that could be arranged?

Thanks for the advice. I also found this thread under "Life in Munich" for those interested in this topic.

"Apartment redecoration laws"

There is a link to it already, see post #2 above.

In September 2007 the German High Court (BGH) issued an important ruling regarding renavtions when moving out:
Focus in German
There are most certainly other articles published.

This is so strange, that the tenant have to pay for keeping the landlords property in shape.

We always do it like this with the tenants in our flats:
If you want to paint it or do something else, feel free, and we will cover the material costs...this does work well, because the tenants usually want to paint it their way:)

not true .. you have to pay/repair the "damage" you caused, e.g. if someone is a smoker it might get dirty really fast, a different apartment might still look good and they don't have to do anything.

Basically you have to leave it the way it was when you moved in, sounds fair to me.

I suppose you are right, it does make sense.
Guess I´ve just always considered paint to be a part of the regular maintenance a landlord has to expect when he profits from the yield and value accumulation of his property. But I guess that having the tenants do the painting against "free" materials is really not that kind to them, because the work is probably more worth than the paint anyway

Not if the contract stipulates that it must be done professionally.