Mietrecht#

Landlord and Tenant Law, regulates the relationship between landlord and tenant, especially with regard to residential buildings; in the ABGB, Allgemeines buergerliches Gesetzbuch - General Civil Code (§§ 1090-1121) defined as "transfer of use against payment". Whereas the ABGB provides freedom of contract claiming equality of tenant and landlord, the current law contains many, mostly coercive, provisions designed to protect tenants (Law of tenancy 1981, as amended by the 3rd WohnrechtsaenderungsGesetz (Amendment of the Law on Residential Rights) Federal Law Gazette 1993/800), which have overruled the ABGB provisions. Its main points are a system of ceiling prices in the form of standard rates with surcharges and discounts, and protection against eviction: The landlord can only give notice for important reasons such as personal use (i.e. if s/he needs the premises for him/herself or his/her family) or default in rental payments (§ 30 MRG, Law of tenancy). Security of tenure applies only to certain kinds of homes (according to their size and year of building); what makes the subject even more complicated is the fact that amendments of the law never interfere with existing contracts and that a tenant´s family members have the right to take over tenancy from the tenant. The field of "Housing and Accommodation" as a political issue has been further fragmented as more and more homes have been bought as private property and as co-operative societies and the public authorities have started dominating the market as builders or landlords.

The present-day situation is for the most part the result of developments in the past: In the 19th century urban growth and the increase in the number of workers as tenants caused excess demand and an extreme housing shortage. Protection of tenants was not common until World War I and mainly served to stabilise internal relations (protection of families of conscripted soldiers, civil servants). In 1917 regulations for the protection of tenants were issued prohibiting rent increases for small flats in certain areas up to the end of the war. In order to preclude circumvention, no landlord was allowed to give notice without sufficient reason. As the economic situation in post-war years was extremely unfavourable, the protective regulations remained in force; inflation decreased rent returns, in particular as rent increases were still forbidden. In 1922 the Rent Act (Mieten-Gesetz) introducing the "Friedenskrone" (Peace-time Rent) was enacted as a political compromise; protection against eviction remained in force. Partial reforms carried out during the 1st and 2nd Republics did not affect the substance of the provisions governing tenancy. It was not until the Law of Tenancy was adopted in 1981 (Mietrechts-Gesetz 1981) that fundamental changes took place, since then rents have been assessed according to quality categories; until then the Rent Act from 1929 was still in effect. Despite numerous efforts, there is still a need for reform, which is indicated by the shortage of flats on the one hand and a large number of empty buildings on the other, while still others are overcrowded; moreover, people looking for accommodation as well as people without adequate financial means remain at an enormous disadvantage.

Literature#