Termination
September 14, 2009 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla
Hello, I was divorced in April 1988. According to the divorce decree, I moved out of the shared apartment in the fall of 1980. However, I have now realized that I am still bound to the lease agreement. All rents and other correspondence have been conducted through my ex-wife's account. I also have no contact with the landlord. However, I know from a heating cost statement provided to me by my ex-wife that the letters seem to always be addressed to Reinhard and Elke. I have never directly received them. How can I get out of this lease agreement if my ex-wife does not want to? The shared lease agreement has been in place since 1974.
Best regards.
Dear seeker of advice,
Thank you for your inquiry!
I would like to address your question as follows, considering the information you have provided:
As you correctly recognize, the issue is that both of you signed the lease agreement, making you joint debtors, especially in terms of rent payments.
Often, in leases of this nature, it is agreed that in certain situations, such as divorce, etc., the termination (subject to the relevant notice period of course) can also be done by one of the co-tenants.
I assume that there is no such clause in your lease agreement.
In this case, the question indeed arises as to whether and how you can exit the joint lease agreement, especially considering that the other co-tenant is refusing to give consent.
In conclusion, there are two possibilities. Either the landlord will release you from the lease agreement and continue the lease solely with the remaining tenant (in this case, you should definitely inquire with your landlord) or you take legal action against your friend.
This could also be done through a lawyer's letter to give the matter more weight. My law firm would be happy to assist you in this regard.
If your ex-wife ultimately is not willing to terminate the lease, you would have to sue your friend to also terminate the relevant lease agreement. If you win in court, the termination by the friend would replace the original termination.
I hope this provides you with some initial legal guidance and wish you success and all the best!
I would like to point out the following:
The legal advice I have given is based solely on the information provided by you. My response is only an initial legal assessment of the situation and cannot replace a comprehensive evaluation of the facts. Adding or omitting relevant information can result in a completely different legal assessment.
I hope my explanations have been helpful. You are welcome to contact me via email or the follow-up option.
I wish you a pleasant Monday evening!
Best regards,
Dipl.-Jur. Danjel-Philippe Newerla, Lawyer
Heilsbergerstr. 16
27580 Bremerhaven
kanzlei.newerla@web.de
Tel. 0471/3088132
Fax: 0471/57774
