Berlin-Moabit (Wiclefstraße) – Rent Reduced from €700 to €550 and €1,500 Repayment

The monthly net cold rent for the 65 m² apartment on Wiclefstraße could be significantly reduced out of court just a few days after our legal involvement. The landlord reduced the rent from €700 to €550 per month and also agreed to cover the legal costs incurred. In addition, repayment of €1,500 in overpaid rent was agreed.

In our assessment, however, the reduced rent remains excessive. On the basis of the Berlin rent index, we consider a net cold rent of around €395 to be appropriate and are currently reviewing the possibility of court proceedings.

The landlord – a larger commercial property company – relies on a protected prior tenancy from 2013, i.e. before the rent cap came into force, which is said to have already been €550. We dispute this. In the event of a dispute, the other party would need to substantiate and prove this prior rent, for example by producing relevant documents or witness evidence – which experience shows is frequently associated with considerable difficulty.

Separately, the question arises of whether the landlord adequately complied with their statutory duty to inform the tenant. If the tenant was not properly informed before the contract was concluded about a prior tenancy rent exceeding the rent index level, the landlord will generally only be able to rely on this after the expiry of a so-called "penalty period" of up to two years following the belated provision of that information.