German court: naked landlord doesn’t justify lower rent

BERLIN (AP) — A German court says a landlord sunbathing naked in the courtyard of his building isn’t a reason for his tenants to reduce their rental payments. The case involved a building in an upmarket residential district of Frankfurt, which included an office floor. The landlord sued the human resources company that used the office after it withheld rental payments. The company objected, among other things, to his naked sunbathing. The Frankfurt state court rejected the company’s reasoning, finding that “the usability of the rented property was not impaired by the plaintiff sunning himself naked in the courtyard.” It said that it couldn’t see an “inadmissible, deliberately improper effect on the property.”