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Tenants Can’t Withhold Rent From Allegedly Naked Landlord, Court Rules

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Frances Floresca Contributor
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A German court ruled Wednesday that a landlord who allegedly sunbathes naked in his building’s courtyard was not a reason for his tenants to reduce their rental payments, according to a court statement cited by The Guardian.

The Frankfurt landlord initially sued a human resources company for allegedly withholding rent, The Guardian reported Wednesday. The company said it withheld rent partly in response to the landlord ostensibly sunbathing naked in the building’s courtyard.

The Frankfurt state court rejected the company’s argument, finding “the usability of the rented property was not impaired by the plaintiff sunning himself naked in the courtyard,” according to The Guardian. The court reportedly said the landlord’s nude sunbathing did not have an “inadmissible, deliberately improper effect on the property.”

A lower court had previously ruled in favor of the landlord, and the state judges were ruling on an appeal to the lower court’s decision, The Guardian reported. The human resources company saw little success in pleading its case, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Top House Democrat Who Fought To ‘Cancel Rent’ Made Hundreds Of Thousands On Rental Properties)

The court found the company was entitled to reduced rents for a period of three months, not because of the allegedly naked landlord, but because of loud construction happening in the surrounding area, the outlet reported.

The court also said where the landlord lay in the sun could only be seen from the rented office by leaning a ways out of the window, and that the company could not corroborate the landlord was nude as he took the stairs down to the courtyard, according to The Guardian.

“On the contrary, the plaintiff stated credibly that he always wore a bathrobe which he only took off just before the sun lounger,” the court ruled, according to the outlet.