Berlin-Moabit (Havelberger Straße) – Rent Reduced from €1,157 to €990 and €2,807 Repaid
Date Published
A 105 m² period apartment in Berlin-Moabit was let at a net cold rent of €1,113. A stepped rent clause would have raised the rent to over €1,550 by 2034. Our review against the Berlin rent index 2024 showed that the agreed rent breached the rent cap and clearly exceeded the permissible maximum.
The landlord pointed to a high prior rent. We examined this. The decisive question was whether that prior rent was itself permissible. As the previous tenancy had only begun after 1 June 2015, the rent cap already applied.
Following our objection, an out-of-court settlement was reached within a very short time. The net cold rent fell retrospectively to €990.41 from October 2024. The stepped rent was replaced by a lower stepped schedule. The tenants also received a repayment of €2,806.80.
The repayment was paid in full to the tenants. The claim was neither assigned to us nor retained as a commission.
Anyone who raises an objection within the first 30 months after the start of the tenancy can usually reclaim overpaid rent since the tenancy began (§ 556g para. 2 BGB). Even after that, a review is often still worthwhile, as the rent can at least be reduced for the future.
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