Germany: Commercial property rental – The 10 most important questions from landlords and tenants

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the effects of the corona crisis will continue to preoccupy us for a long time to come and that commercial leases will therefore come under increasing pressure. Landlords must prepare themselves for the fact that their tenants will find themselves in a severe liquidity crisis as a result of collapsing sales, closures or quarantine orders ordered by the state or authorities, as well as general assembly bans or curfews, and that they will no longer be able to pay their rents now or in the foreseeable future.

According to the information available to us, the German government is currently examining options for protecting tenants who are experiencing payment difficulties as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Apparently, this applies to both commercial and residential tenants. In this context, a ban on termination in the event of payment defaults caused by the coronavirus pandemic is being discussed. This would mean that although the obligation to pay rent would not cease to apply, rents would be temporarily deferred. As a result, the deferred rents would have to be paid later. In the case of housing, the alternative
However, a special housing benefit is also being discussed as a possible solution, which should take effect when tenants of residential accommodation suffer considerable losses of income as a result of the coronavirus crisis and have no possibility of compensation through transfer payments. In this case the tenants of commercial space would be excluded. Until it is clear whether and to what extent the Federal Government is helping tenants in the current situation and whether this legal « protective shield », which is currently emerging, will also cover tenants of commercial space, landlords of commercial space should take a few things into account.

You will find answers to these and other urgent questions in our act news (in German): https://act-newsletter.com/Coronakrise_Gewerberaummiete_die_zehn_wichtigsten_Fragen_von_Vermietern_und_Mietern.pdf