Mary Allen
Animal husbandry in apartment buildings is a sensitive issue. Here you can find out how much say your landlord has and to what extent he can restrict dog ownership.
Since the judgment of the Federal Court of Justice on March 20, 2013, landlords can no longer refuse to keep animals across the board. However, this does not mean that every animal is automatically allowed. We explain what the relevant clauses in the rental agreement mean.
Dogs are allowed in the rental agreement
If the rental agreement allows dogs to be kept in general, dogs are generally tolerated in the house. However, if you want to take in an unusually large dog or a listed dog, the landlord can prohibit you from owning a dog, despite the blanket permission in the rental agreement. According to case law, such dogs can pose incalculable risks for the other tenants, which neither the landlord nor the other residents of the house have to accept. In individual cases, the interests of all sides must therefore be weighed against each other.
Dog ownership is not permitted in the rental agreement
If dogs are not allowed according to the rental agreement, it is still not the end of the day. It is important to look closely at how the ban was pronounced.
The individual agreement
If the tenant and landlord specifically stipulate (e.g. in an additional agreement to the rental agreement) that keeping a dog in the apartment is not permitted, the tenant must respect the ban. He is then not allowed to keep a dog in the apartment. However, if such an individual agreement prohibits the keeping of any animals, the tenant has a good chance of getting through with his dog wish, because a general ban on any animals restricts his personal development too much. The chances in court are therefore not bad in this case.
Formal Agreement
On the other hand, if the keeping of animals has not been individually agreed upon as prohibited, but rather excluded in the form of a form in the rental agreement (e.g. within the framework of the General Terms and Conditions), the clause is ineffective. However, this does not mean that the tenant may keep a dog without regard to other residents of the house. The interests of all persons must be carefully weighed against one another. Only if the tenant’s desire to have a dog predominates, the keeping must be permitted.
The landlord reserves the right to consent to keep dogs in the rental agreement
Some landlords make keeping dogs in the apartment dependent on their consent. This is permissible and binding unless the landlord reserves the right to agree to any animal husbandry. Once permission has been granted for a dog, this does not mean that it is forever binding. If there are important reasons (fear of certain breeds can be enough here), the landlord can also prohibit dog ownership again.
However, arbitrariness is excluded. Does the landlord agree with the attitude e.g. B. a Doberman, he can not revoke this consent later? However, if the tenant has previously had a poodle that the landlord has agreed to, this does not mean that he can keep a Doberman after his death. The consent must then be obtained again. And even if the animal behaves in a persistently disruptive manner (e.g. barks continuously), the landlord can withdraw consent again.
Dog ownership is not regulated in the rental agreement
In some leases, keeping animals is not regulated at all. It must be weighed up on a case-by-case basis as to whether keeping a dog is part of the contractual use of the apartment. And it depends above all on the living situation: in a single-family house, keeping a dog is more likely to be in accordance with the contract than in an apartment building. And this is especially true when the family home is in a secluded location and the animal is used as a watchdog.
But the interests of the various parties also play an important role here. If the apartment or the house has just been renovated, the landlord should not be expected to allow the tenant to bring a dog into the apartment. If neighbors react allergically to the animal, this can also be an argument against the potential dog owner.
However, if you are a tenant in an apartment building, it is sufficient if one of your neighbors already has a dog. In this case, the landlord would have to present a very good reason why you should be forbidden to keep a dog while the other tenant is allowed to keep a dog.
Guide and assistance dogs are of course an exception and must always be tolerated by the landlord. After all, the tenant is dependent on the four-legged friend for therapeutic reasons. And: Pensioners are also entitled to a dog for social and therapeutic reasons if it can be described as small.