Tenant does not want to pay the rental deposit - damage is time-barred

But not the entire deposit! That is not appropriate, and also by the new tenant, who - I assume - certainly does not pay a reduced rent compared to you. In this respect, he only gains a benefit, but no disadvantageous costs. Let him be sure about that... Your advantage. Time and the situation are on your side. Please report how it goes.

We even arranged the new tenant. She knew us and found out that we were moving out. She came by personally right away and viewed the apartment. The next day, she went directly to the landlord and introduced herself there. One week later, it was clear that she would take over the apartment. She pays the same rent as we did before.

How old is the soil overall?

How old is the floor in total?

And how big is the room?
What kind of PVC is that? Fully glued down? Could it be simply replaced?

How old is the floor altogether?

The floor is about 3.5 years old... With PVC, one assumes about 10 years of lifespan... which isn’t much, but still about a third.

I also understand the landlord’s frustration... but it wasn’t done maliciously. I have never experienced a floor that picks up color so easily from objects. We have already had 2 Christmases in our house... and nothing has stained yet...

And how big is the room? What kind of PVC is it? Fully glued down? Could it just be replaced?

The whole room is 30 sqm... it is a roughly 80 sqm apartment. It is an open living, dining and kitchen area. Here is a sketch....



The area to be replaced is shaded green...

The PVC covering is fully glued down... in strips about 2.5 meters wide... see the purple lines.. I asked why only the left side wouldn’t be replaced. That is "technologically not possible". There would also be color differences etc.... but you can also see those in the left and right hallways... and it would even affect the adjacent children’s room and bedroom... since it’s all one floor covering.

Brand: Joka Andante Beech...

I can only contribute from my own painful experience that (at least mine) the personal liability insurance unfortunately does not cover damages to rented property.... I never understood that either, I thought the insurance was supposed to cover damages I cause to others, in this case the landlord.

For me, it was about a kitchen, where the kitchen countertop had come loose..... the landlord had the entire countertop replaced by a carpenter for 1200 euros....

The previous countertop was made of low-quality plastic and I was supposed to pay for a wooden countertop from the carpenter even though it wasn’t even clear that I had caused the damage.

I was lucky that I was behind on the rent and simply offset it against the deposit and never heard anything again......

I also don't see any chances after more than 2 years... which, however, would also be the landlord's fault.

As I said, I am not willing to cover this amount of damage anyway. Since many things are not taken into account. The tenant demands 1200 euros... I would estimate a maximum of 600 euros. Actually more towards 200-300 euros because:

- Replacement of 30sqm / reasonable would be rather 10sqm
- no depreciation (30-35%) is considered
- VAT is included, although it's a fictitious billing according to § 215 Baugesetzbuch

We are then too far apart for an agreement to seem possible.