Facts
The case concerns the validity of an ordinary termination of the rental contract by the landlord. The tenant had sublet the holiday home without the prior consent of the landlord. The landlord then terminated the rental contract. The tenant objected to the termination, arguing that it violated the principle of good faith.
The Cantonal Court of Graubünden ruled in favor of the tenant and declared the termination invalid. The landlord then appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that an ordinary termination of the rental contract is generally freely possible and does not require any special grounds for termination. However, a limitation arises from the principle of good faith: A termination may be considered a breach of good faith if it is made without any objective, serious, and legitimate interest or if it affects interests of the parties that are in a gross disproportion to each other.
In the present case, the decisive factor is whether the tenant was entitled to sublet. For this, it would have been necessary that the tenant had the intention to use the rented property again…