Federal court of justice decides: child noise can be a disturbance of rest

Federal Court of Justice decides: Child noise can be disturbance of rest

June 27, 2018 – 1:20 p.m.

Help, the neighbors are annoyed!

How much child noise is too much? So far none, according to the courts. In special cases, there are limits, according to a new judgment. What does that mean for parents?

Rent reduction due to child noise?

By Jutta Rogge-Strand

The legislator placed children under special protection. Children can also make noise in the rented apartment: running, jumping, screaming is allowed, and especially small children can live out their natural urge to move. Now the Federal Court of Justice (BGH, decision of August 22, 2017, VIII ZR 226/16) has ruled that child noise is also a reason for one rent reduction can be.

Stomping, jumping, rumbling, screaming and loud family arguments day and night, plus shocks that the pots jump out of the shelves in the kitchen: In Berlin a family with two small children disturbed the tenant living below them so much that they lost theirs Rent has decreased by 50 percent. The case ended up in the Berlin district court and was initially dismissed. Now the Federal Court of Justice has decided: The district court has to check carefully whether the tenant is not right.

Small children can be loud

They roll the bobby car across the floor, play screaming in the hallway and start crying loudly at night. The parents naturally try to calm the little ones down: and also shout the whole house together. That was too much for a Berlin tenant. Everyone has to have a certain one "normal" Accept the noise level of the neighbor. But what’s wrong? "normal"?

In general, the smaller the children, the more likely they are to make noise occasionally. Baby cries at night cannot be banned anyway. There are often complaints when parents have to wake up their children before 7 a.m. and so the usual child noise cannot be avoided. But even then the parents are right.

"Father roars, child screams."

In the Berlin case, the regional court apparently did not pay enough attention to the tenant: a site visit and an expert should now clarify whether they don’t is right. The tenant had recorded exactly which noises could be heard at what time, and the noise level included the parents’ loud intervention. a "normal" The Federal Court of Justice said it had to accept noise levels. But it also has limits.

Child noise is normally not a reason for excessive noise pollution and is therefore regularly rejected by the courts. Baby or child cries in particular must also be accepted at night. Because at this age children do not yet understand that they should behave calmly so as not to disturb the neighbors. For older children, therefore, somewhat stricter rules apply: a certain understanding can be expected from them.

For example, if the ten-year-old has the idea of listening to his new favorite CD at full volume from 10 p.m., he has a problem: at this age, children should understand that the volume is annoying for the neighbors and therefore prohibited. However, the Berlin judgment is only a special individual case and therefore cannot be generalized. Ultimately, families with small children should also try to keep living together tolerable for their neighbors.