Facts
Pension Fund B. is the owner of a development with over a hundred apartments. It gave A. ordinary notice of termination of the lease agreement, justifying this with urgent renovation work on the plaster ceilings in all apartments, which could not be carried out in the presence of the tenants. A. contested the termination as being in bad faith, as he considered the justification to be incomplete and inaccurate.
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed A.'s appeal.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court clarified that a justification for the termination is not a requirement for validity, even when the termination is made with a view to renovation or conversion work. The general principles for justifying terminations also apply to terminations for renovation and conversion work.
However, the justification can be of significant importance at the factual level, i.e. in the context of the assessment of the evidence. If the landlord has a sufficiently developed project at the time of termination, it is reasonable for them to justify the termination accordingly in…