hTTi

Hey all,

I received a notice from the landlord (actually a company) about the renovation of windows etc. to decrease the heating/energy costs. According to the letter after modernization they are entitled to increase the rent by 8% as per the following paragraph in the letter:

Bei den vorstehend beschriebenen Arbeiten handelt es sich um Modernisierungsmaßnahmen im Sinne
des § 559 BGB, so dass die damit verbundenen Kosten zu einer Mieterhöhung gemäß § 559 BGB führen.
Der Gesetzgeber gestattet es dem Vermieter in dieser Vorschrift, die jährliche Miete um 8% der für die
Wohnung aufgewendeten Modernisierungskosten zu erhöhen.

The thing is they divided the 8% total costs by the entire livable area of the building to arrive at at the rent increase per sq.meter, which is then used to increase my rent based on the area of my apartment. e.g. 500K is the total cost of modernization then 8% of 500K = 40K => 40K/12 (Months) = 3300/month. => 3300 / 1500 sq. meter = 2.2 Euro. So, if my area of the apartment is ~50 sq. m => 110 extra rent per month. Which is more than what the rent will increase by if they just increase my previous rent by 8%.

Are they allowed to do this?

Another thing is I'm currently on ALG I because I was laid off from my last job. It's been couple of months and while I'm not terribly strapped for cash and can afford it as I had a decent job in the past. So even apart from ALG I I have decent savings of my own. Can I still raise the hardship clause as per the following paragraph in the letter or should I not:

Schließlich machen wir Sie darauf aufmerksam, dass Sie uns Umstände, die eine Härte im Hinblick auf die
Duldung oder die Mieterhöhung begründen, bis zum Ablauf des Monats, der auf den Zugang dieser
Modernisierungsankündigung folgt, in Textform mitteilen müssen.