Access to the apartment
March 12, 2010 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla
Situation: Years ago, my grandmother transferred her house to her son, and a lifelong right of residence is now also registered in the land register for one of the two apartments for her. After the sudden death of this son, the daughter-in-law now wants to sell the house.
Question: To what extent does my grandmother have to grant access to her apartment to potential buyers for the house or to the daughter-in-law at all? In a rental agreement, this is usually once a year to my knowledge. How does it work in this case? Could the daughter-in-law demand access to the apartment with a potential buyer every week/every day? The communication between the two is now only through a lawyer. The relationship is very tense, and mutual concessions are limited to a minimum.
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry!
I would like to address your questions based on the information you provided:
Your statement regarding the right of the landlord to visit once a year is not entirely accurate. It is generally the case that the landlord has the right to inspect the rental property to assess its condition (with prior notice). The jurisdiction allows the landlord to verify the condition of the property every one to two years.
The landlord may enter the apartment if there is a legitimate reason to do so, such as selling the property, but only with prior notice (at least 24 hours in advance). The landlord must be accompanied by the tenant and cannot enter the apartment against the tenant's will.
While the landlord may not have access to the apartment every day, during periods of urgent sale, it is possible that access to the rental property must be granted every one to two weeks (this is a rough estimate due to varying legal interpretations).
Please find an interesting link on this topic here:
http://www.finanztip.de/recht/mietrecht/br-miet-1118671267.htm
I would like to emphasize that my legal advice is based solely on the information provided by you. My response is only a preliminary legal assessment and may not replace a thorough examination of the situation. Adding or omitting relevant information can lead to a completely different legal evaluation.
I hope my explanation has been helpful. Please feel free to contact me for further questions either through this portal or via email.
Wishing you a pleasant Friday evening and a restful weekend!
Best regards,
Dipl.-Jur. Danjel-Philippe Newerla, Attorney at Law
Heilsbergerstr. 16
27580 Bremerhaven
kanzlei.newerla@web.de
Tel. 0471/3088132
Fax: 0471/3088316
