Tenancy Law: Feigned Owner Occupancy in Stade

Termination for Owner Occupancy After a Death

Mr. Scheeßel had lived in a rental property in Stade for 36 years. His landlord of many decades was of the same age; they had known each other since their school days and maintained a friendly to amicable relationship. However, in 2013 the landlord passed away; the heir to the rental property suddenly claimed owner occupancy and promptly terminated the long-term tenant’s lease. Mr. Scheeßel, later a client of our detective agency in Stade*, did not believe the justification, as he had previously heard rumors that the house was to be sold because the heir did not want to “be tied down” by the property. Mr. Scheeßel, with his extremely favorable lease agreement, stood in the way of a profit-maximizing sale.

 

The client of our detectives in Stade initially attempted to resolve the matter out of court—first personally, then through an attorney—but was unsuccessful. The case went to court, and on the advice of his legal counsel, Mr. Scheeßel commissioned Aaden Corporate Investigations to provide court-admissible proof of the feigned owner occupancy.

Apparently Uninhabited Rental Property

In a preliminary investigation, our well-connected research team determined that the rental property had not passed to a single heir, but rather to a community of heirs consisting of four closely related individuals.

 

During an on-site inspection of the disputed rental property, our private detectives in Stade sought to gain an initial impression of the situation. The findings of the assigned investigator during the observation on site can be summarized as follows:

 

• externally uninhabited appearance of the property (no curtains, closed windows, no window decorations, no visible furniture or lamps)

• all garbage bins placed in the driveway empty, although the last collection had taken place several days earlier

• poorly maintained green areas in front of and behind the house

• empty mailbox

The two doorbell nameplates (upper and ground floor) were labeled with the names of two heirs each. When the detective in Stade rang the bells, there was no response. During the entire observation period (from 07:00 a.m. to 02:00 p.m.), no one entered or exited the building. Two postal workers delivering mail in the neighborhood during the observation period stated, in response to a pretext inquiry by the investigator, that they only very rarely delivered mail to the property and had not encountered anyone there in person since our client had moved out.

Information Gathering Through Investigative Interviews

Since the numerous indications obtained on the first day of investigation already provided clear insight into the use—or lack of use—of the house, the focus on the second day, in addition to verifying the previous findings, was on conducting pretext interviews with the main heir living nearby. To cover the possibility that the corporate detective in Stade had arrived at the property only after any potential occupants had already left the day before, he arrived at the location at 04:30 a.m. this time and remained until 10:30 a.m. At no point was there any light in the building, nor did anyone enter or leave. The investigator rang the doorbell again and once more received no response.

 

Afterward, the investigator from our corporate investigations agency in Stade went to the house of the main heir and rang the bell there, having previously prepared a credible pretext to obtain information through questioning. In conversation, the main heir confirmed to the investigator that the house was for sale and that no one lived in it. He also handed the detective a business card with the contact details of his sister, who was responsible for managing and selling the property. After forwarding this information to the operations management of our private detective agency for Stade, one of our female detectives contacted the sister of the main heir and arranged a property viewing appointment for the day after next.

Clear Evidence During the Property Viewing

You may wonder why the assigned detective did not arrange the appointment with the property manager himself. The reason is strategic: the female detective intended to accompany the initial case handler to the viewing, allowing both to pose as a couple searching for a home. The positive side effect of this credible pretext: in the event of court proceedings, our detective agency for Stade could present two witnesses.

 

At the agreed appointment, the property manager and co-heir arrived on time to let our detectives into the house and thereby unintentionally demonstrate that the property was unoccupied. As became clear during the conversation, no one had lived there since Mr. Scheeßel had moved out. The termination for owner occupancy was clearly based on a fabricated justification. Since the heir also provided the supposed interested couple with informational materials and even handed over a draft preliminary contract, Aaden Corporate Investigations for Stade concluded this investigation with written evidence obtained first-hand.

*Notice*

Note: For reasons of discretion and data protection, the locations and certain personal details have been altered without changing the substance of the actual events.

 

*Note: All assignments of Aaden Commercial Detective Agency Hamburg are processed by our operations management in Hamburg. We have a network of qualified, vetted investigators who can be active on site for you within a short time.

Aaden Corporate Detective Agency Hamburg

Contor Center Hamburg

Katharinenstraße 30a

D-20457 Hamburg 

Tel.: +49 40 4223 6960

E-Mail: info@aaden-detektive-hamburg.de

Web: https://aaden-detektive-hamburg.de/en

 

CEO: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

Register Court: Amtsgericht Köln

Registration Number: HRB 83824