Facts
A.A. and B.A. are tenants of an apartment in V. The landlord C. announced a rent adjustment after a building renovation, which the tenants contested. The Rental Court of the Sense and See Districts found that no agreement on a rent increase had been reached and that the communicated increase was null and void. However, the Cantonal Court of Fribourg considered a rent increase of 1.22% to be justified. The landlord maintains the full rent increase shown on the form with a civil law appeal to the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court decided that the justification of the rent increase due to value-enhancing investments was formally correct in the official form. The numerical justification of the increase amount does not have to be part of the notification in the form. According to the Federal Supreme Court, the statement of the reasons for the increase in the form is sufficient, without the need to explain the calculation basis for the increase.
The Federal Supreme Court stated that the justification "Value-enhancing investments - due to total renovation" was sufficiently clear, as based on the principle of trust, the tenants were…