By Sara Orlos Fernandes
Angelika Grosse (79) has lived in her apartment on Brandenburgische Strasse in Berlin-Wilmersdorf for 20 years. Six rooms near Kudamm, 204 square meters, 2200 euros rent. Now the landlord wants to sue the pensioner. The reason: The rent payments came too late.
The process for the eviction action (Az.: 202 C 93/23) began in the Charlottenburg District Court on Thursday. It won’t be an easy decision for the judge.
In view of the tense Berlin housing market, Grosse knows: “The landlord can take twice as much.” Especially in this location, given the size of the apartment. In the notice of termination, the landlord accuses her of having paid the rent “on time”. The pensioner should be out by the end of the year.
Grosse, on the other hand, says: “I get an American pension. It always comes on the third day of the month.” That’s why she always paid a little later. The landlord has assured that this is not a problem.
But that’s not the only reason why the termination came as a surprise to the pensioner. She said in court that she had not received the warning that the landlord is said to have sent her before the termination. Grosse: “We regularly break into mailboxes.”
Previously, there was only one problem with the landlord because of their subtenants. After her husband’s death, she rented rooms to students. Grosse to BZ: “I felt lonely and young people have a hard time finding apartments these days.” When the landlord forbade her to do so, she broke up the flat share.
The landlord’s lawyer, on the other hand, says: “The tenancy was not unencumbered.” There were repeated rent arrears and constant breaches of contract that were no longer acceptable to the landlord.
Not only the fate of the 79-year-old now depends on the court’s decision. Grosse’s daughter recently moved into the large apartment with her partner because the pensioner cannot afford the rent on her own – in consultation with the landlord. She gave up her apartment in the same building.
Angelika Grosse still has to wait for the verdict and thus the answer to the anxious question of what will become of her. Her attorney filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Thursday. The judge gave her until September 28 to justify her decision.