No Evictions: The German Solution to Rent Under the Coronavirus Crisis

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The German Government has come up with an intermediary solution to the rent problem under the coronavirus crisis, which denies landlords the ability to retract the contract if the tenant does not pay their rent, but it also gives them the right to reclaim their debt through a court of law. 

We are currently facing a time in which all the world’s governments are scrambling to come up with measures to deal with the extraordinary circumstances and economic repercussions we are subjected to due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The German federal government is finalising a legal battery, which will come into play immediately, and includes regulations on contractual obligations and the payment of rent. These policies could very well influence the decision that the Spanish Executive ends up making next week on the same topic.

The Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Jose Luis Abalos, said that Spain’s objectives to take a proposal to the Council of Ministers next Tuesday, April 2.

For Unidas Podemos, the left-wing party in Spain, housing has always been one of its main focal points in the Executive and they have already achieved the first battery which is the approval of a delayed payment system for mortgages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Pablo Iglesias, the leader of this party, has always deemed this as insufficient because he considers that those who pay rent should also have economic measures which protect them. Nadia Calviño the Minister of Economy has disputed this because she believes this could be very detrimental to the homeowners and landlords, as 96% of the rental market is controlled by small property owners.

Angela Merkel has opted for an intermediary solution. Germany has prohibited the eviction of tenants or termination of their rent contracts to anyone who, between April 1 and September 30 of the year 2020, cannot manage to pay their rent due to the coronavirus crisis. This period can be extended for another six months until March 31, 2021, which means there is a possibility to stay in the house without paying rent for up to a whole year.

Although this legal measure could be defined as a moratorium, it is not completely compatible with the term because property owners have the ability to reclaim the debt through the court of law.

Long-Term rental specialists Rentola have been helping Europeans find the right property for them since 2003

Written by

Laura Kemp

Originally from UK, Laura is based in Axarquia and is a writer for the Euro Weekly News covering news and features. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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