Facts
[A.] was the owner of a holiday home, which he rented to [C.] based on an oral contract. [C.] sublet the house to [E.] and [F.] without the prior consent of [A.] . [A.] later transferred the house to his son A. [X.] , who terminated the lease agreement with [C.] . [C.] filed a lawsuit against the termination, which was declared valid by the District Court and invalid by the Cantonal Court.
After the death of [C.] , his sole heir [D.] joined the proceedings. The Federal Court overturned the judgment of the Cantonal Court and remanded the case to the lower instance for supplementation of the facts and a new decision.
Considerations
The Federal Court states that an ordinary termination of the lease agreement can generally be made freely, but can violate the principle of good faith. A termination is considered to be in bad faith if it is made without any objective, serious and worthy interest or if the interests of the parties are in a gross disproportion to each other.
The Cantonal Court had considered the termination to be in bad faith, as the tenant had been entitled to sublet and had exercised his right in good faith. However, the Federal Court sees a need for clarification here, as it was not determined whether the tenant had the concrete intention to use the rented property himself and was therefore entitled to sublet.
Furthermore, the Federal Court criticizes that…