Facts
The appellant [A.] has been renting a 2-room apartment in [X.] since July 1966. The landlord [B.] increased the monthly rent from CHF 647.-- to CHF 878.-- as of 1 November 2008. [A.] contested this rent increase. The Appellate Court of the Canton of Basel-Stadt dismissed his appeal against the judgment of the President of the Special Civil Court, who had set the rent at CHF 765.--.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the lower instance. It found that the property in question is an old property, as it was built before 1900 and acquired by the respondent in 1971. Therefore, the criterion of the customary rent in the locality or neighbourhood was the focus for assessing the abusiveness of the rent, and the appellant could not demand proof of an excessive return. The lower instance was allowed to use the Basel "Rent Price Grid"…