Facts
The dispute concerns a request for rent reduction filed by tenant [Z.] after the building she occupies was removed from the system of subsidized housing (HLM) on December 31, 2012.
[Z.] concluded a rental lease on July 25, 2005 for a 5-room apartment. The building was then classified as HLM and benefited from state aid. On August 29, 2012, X. became the owner of the building by donation.
After the building was removed from the HLM system, [Z.] requested a rent reduction, arguing that the rent was now abusive. The Rental Tribunal dismissed her request, considering that the rent was not abusive. The Geneva Court of Justice partially upheld Z.'s appeal and reduced the rent. X. then appealed to the Federal Tribunal.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal upholds the appeal and dismisses the request for rent reduction.
According to the Federal Tribunal, when a building is removed from the HLM system, the tenant can exceptionally invoke the absolute method to justify a request for rent reduction, particularly if the previous rent resulted from a stepped or indexed lease. However, in this case, the lease did not contain any indexation or stepped clauses, so the relative method applies.
The Federal Tribunal considers that the landlord did not violate his duty of cooperation by not producing the…