So, just to fill in anyone who doesn't already know, I thought I would share a short description of our trials and tribulations with the crazy landlady. I think it could be amusing to those not here and living it, I can actually laugh at it in between stressing over it even now.
We have lived in the same apartment (a 4 story home at the end of a row of six; the other five are all owner occupied) since moving here in February 2009. Our rent is paid on time, automatically, every month and we pretty much never trouble the landlady for anything. In the first four years we were here we only asked her to sign a form once a year that the immigration office needed to renew our lease (it says we live here and how big the house is) and we did ask if we could get two cats, she agreed and signed a form for that, and we acquired Taio and Fergie:
We have never called her for any maintenance issue, etc--handling all minor things ourselves.
Then, last summer, a construction project began on the lot directly behind us--where there had previously been a small home at the street and then a wall of an open shed along the border with our property and a large green area in front of that and all the way down past the other houses. That wall, and the green space beyond, was a huge selling point for us renting the house, it made our backyard so cozy and private. You can see that the cats quite enjoyed it in the photo above.
By mid September the builder had torn down the wall on the border, and left a large pile of ivy from the wall piled on our property as well as a miserable view of a trashed lot.
When the builder failed to clean up the ivy after a couple of days, I snapped the above photo and dropped it and a note off for the landlady asking her to get it cleaned up, preferably before it killed the grass beneath. She stopped by the next day, looked at it and said she would speak to the builder but it might be a while before it was taken care of.
Sooo, I am sure no one reading will be surprised to learn that we still had a pile of Ivy on our lawn when actual building commenced, with 6:30 a.m. digging with a front end loader (grrrr) in January:
The 20 foot deep hole was also not blocked by a fence on the border with us (unlike on other boarders). With this safety concern in mind, I took photos to the Rathaus and asked who was responsible and what to do, at which time I was given the builder's name and phone number and told to speak with him. I spoke with him, and he was not polite or receptive, and I left him with a letter telling him the fence and ivy needed taken care of, and some photos, and then left a copy for the landlady.
Two days later I had a fence and a couple of days after that the landlady and her son came and spent the day cleaning up the ivy (she did tell me to haul it off in our car--a company car, but I told her that was not possible and she did take it away herself that night, or rather hr son did).
I was feeling very victorious and enjoying my safe and clean yard:
Little did I know the nightmare was only just beginning. Only a couple of days later the landlady arrived demanding we pay her for removing the ivy. Initially demanding 1000 euro for this!
A day later she was here at 8:00 on a Saturday morning telling us we had to move out immediately because we lied to her--she had opened our garage and seen we have a car. We told her, yes, a business car in which we can not haul yard waste, etc. She stayed and mostly yelled at us in rapid fire, heavily accented German, for about an hour. After that, she came nearly daily, always coming directly into out yard (opening the garden gate to do so) and looking in through the windows, etc, before ringing the bell, and pushing her way into the house when I did open the door even if I told her I had no time, etc. At various times she accused us of having guns and threatened to call the police (we said to go ahead and do so; the police would find nothing illegal) or suggested we were good friends of hers and should band together against the builder.
About three weeks of this wore us down and eventually, thinking it would get rid of her, we agreed that she could take 350 Euro from our deposit for removing the ivy.
This only resulted in her saying we never paid the deposit, and still coming around daily. She even showed up and stayed up to an hour a day while my in laws were visiting. At that point she was blaming the banks for the missing deposit and acting friendly (though overbearing) and bringing oddball gifts for everyone--all the while trying very hard to convince my in laws to rent her other home in our town (explaining that they have no desire to move to Germany seemed to make no impact).
So, we were going rounds, she was still showing up. Last Saturday she came at 8:30, and even though the blinds were all still down, she rang the bell, and rang it and rang it (we decided to hide in our bedroom and not answer--feeling much like prisoners in our own home). After laying on the buzzer fora while, she went into the backyard and banged on the windows for several minutes, before returning to the buzzer. All in all it was 12 minutes before she gave up and went away!
What got me through that little episode was that a few days earlier, while speaking with a local friend about the situation, I had learned about the amazing and awesome Tenants' Rights group: the Heidelberg Mietverien, and i had an appointment with them coming up on Tuesday. So now, for only 75 euro this year, and 55 thereafter, I am a member of an organization which knows my rights and will represent me with her!!!
http://www.mieterverein-heidelberg.de/informationen_in_englisch_hd.html
They even have people who can meet with you in English (or Turkish)! I love the mietverein. If you are German, or might ever move to Germany, remember this word and look one up if you rent--absolutely a good deal.
So, the mietverien has confirmed that the landlady cannot just show up, cannot let herself onto the property, etc. They also agree that our bank statement from 2009 showing the deposit paid is all we need and that the landlady was required to have placed that deposit in a secure, interest bearing bank account in our name within 30 days of receiving it, etc. They wrote her a letter advising her of all this (and that she was responsible for the ivy and should not have charged us, or left it there for months), and telling her that she has until 11 April to show proof that our deposit money and the interest it should have earned are now in the bank under our name.
This resulted in her calling (but not coming over and into the yard!) and leaving a message yesterday saying we have to move out. Sigh. We think she cannot force us out without grounds, but I will speak to the mietverien and see what they say--I am not speaking directly with her at all anymore.
So I guess the moral of the story is that everywhere has people who are happy to take advantage of anyone who does not know their rights--and sometimes those people are little old ladies who seem harmless on the outside. No matter what happens it helps to have the mietverien on our side--they have advised us that we have the right to withhold rent to cover the deposit if she does not produce the bank paperwork, etc. And at least I no longer have a woman showing up in my backyard unannounced or invited.
We DO have lovely weather here in Heidelberg. I plan to take the camera up to the castle this week and get some spring time photos to share, so get ready for a much more pleasant post soon.
--Hadley
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