Facts
Spouses K. and tenant L. were tenants of one 3 1/2-room apartment each in the property of M. In 1991, M. notified the tenants of a rent increase, which he justified by the expiration of the fixed-rate mortgage, inflation, and the achievement of a cost-covering gross yield.
M. filed a lawsuit to have the rent increases declared non-abusive. The District Court H. and the High Court of the Canton of Lucerne declared parts of the increases permissible, others abusive. M. then appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the plaintiff M.'s appeal and confirmed the contested judgment. It stated that the expiration of a fixed-rate mortgage alone does not constitute a reason for a rent increase.
According to the case law of the Federal Supreme Court, when calculating a rent increase due to a change in the mortgage interest rate, a standardized value must be used, usually the rate for first-ranking old mortgages of the respective cantonal bank. The individual financing conditions of the landlord, such as the expiration of a fixed-rate…