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We are experts in tenancy law and among Denmark's leading law firms when it comes to advising both landlords and tenants. Read more about tenancy law at Lejeret.com, where we have collected a large number of questions and answers on many tenancy law topics.
Unfortunately, it is inevitable that tenants and landlords sometimes disagree about who should do what in the lease, or how much money one should pay the other. If you, as a tenant of a private lease, are dissatisfied with your landlord, you can complain about it to the Danish Rent Board.
To resolve problems between landlords and tenants, a Rent Board has been established in each municipality, which primarily handles complaints from tenants. The Rent Board is usually located at the town hall in the individual municipality.
The Rent Board has a permanent secretariat that prepares the cases. The board itself consists of three people.
Some may refrain from complaining about things they are unhappy with, whether it is about defects or the amount of rent, because many are afraid of the landlord's reaction. It is therefore important to know that as a tenant you are very much protected against the landlord being able to terminate or reduce your tenancy.
The typical cases that the Rent Board decides on concern:
Both landlords and tenants can bring cases before the Rent Board.
Before a tenant can complain to the Rent Board, the tenant must have complained to the landlord, and the landlord must have rejected the complaint or failed to respond. If you complain about two different matters, they are treated as two separate cases. However, only one fee is payable if you complain about several things at the same time. In certain cases, it is the landlord who is obliged to start the case at the Rent Board.
Once the fee has been paid, the Rent Board will take over the case and obtain a statement from both parties. The Rent Board will often inspect the tenancy. The Rent Board is obliged to obtain all the necessary information from the tenant and the landlord in order to make the right decision. If you do not provide the Rent Board with the information requested by the Board, you risk the Board making a decision in favour of the other party in the case.
If you live in a public housing association, you cannot complain to the Rent Board. Instead, you must complain to the local residents' complaints board if you are dissatisfied with conditions in the housing association and the housing association has rejected the tenant's complaint.
The rules for filing a complaint with the Residents' Complaints Board are the same as for filing a complaint with the Rent Board, and the case processing and price are also the same. The Rent Board and the Residents' Complaints Board usually have the same address.
The typical cases that the Residents' Complaints Board decides on concern:
Please note that the Residents' Complaints Board, unlike the Rent Board, cannot decide on complaints about the amount of rent, as a tenant of public housing cannot complain about the rent.
The housing court is essentially the same as the district court. The housing court is therefore an ordinary court, and apart from some special rules, the cases are handled like in an ordinary civil trial.
Where in ordinary court cases only one judge participates, in housing court one can request that two lay judges also participate. In that case, there will be three judges who will decide the case.
The two lay judges are not lawyers, but have practical experience with tenancy agreements.
If you are dissatisfied with a decision made by the Rent Board or the Residents' Complaints Board, you can file a lawsuit with the Housing Court within four weeks. The lawsuit must be filed against the landlord or tenant and not against the Rent Board.
In addition, the Housing Court can decide on anything that may concern the tenancy, including whether termination or cancellation of the tenancy agreement is justified.
If the tenant has won the case in the Rent Board or the Residents' Complaints Board, the tenant will usually be able to receive legal aid coverage for the case or free trial in the housing court.
The Housing Court will ask both the landlord and the tenant to provide the information and comments that the parties wish to include in the case. The Housing Court will – unlike the Rent Board – not obtain the necessary information itself.
The rules for increasing the rent in either residential or commercial leases are complicated, and which rules apply depend, among other things, on the property's
Below we provide an overview of the different rules for residential leases and commercial leases, respectively.
Calculating the rent in a residential tenancy is a major science, and there are a total of 9 different methods to find out how the rent is calculated. However, we have made it easy to understand how the rent is calculated. In the table below, you can find out for yourself which principles the rent is calculated in each tenancy.
If the rent is calculated according to the value of the leased property, the rent can be increased if the current rent is at least approximately 10-15 % less than the current level of the leased property's value. The rent can be increased at the earliest 2 years after it was last increased.
The rent may be increased if the landlord's reasonable expenses for operating and maintaining the property increase. The landlord must prepare a budget as documentation that the rent can reasonably be increased.
In these leases, the rent can only be increased if agreed in the lease contract, and only if there is an increase in the net price index.
In public housing, the rent may be increased if there are changes in the budget of the housing association in question.
The rules on increasing the rent in a commercial lease to the current market rent are found in Section 13 of the Commercial Lease Act. Deviations from Section 13 may be agreed in the lease, which is why you should always start by reading the lease before starting to increase the rent.
The first step will be to have a market valuation prepared by a real estate agent.
The next step is to notify the tenant of the rent increase. The rent increase is distributed by 1/4 per year for 4 years, unless otherwise agreed in the lease.
The tenant is also given 6 weeks to object to the rent adjustment. If the tenant objects, a case must be started at the housing court. Here, a 3-judge hearing should be chosen, where there is 1 legal judge and 2 lay judges, one for a tenant organization and one from a landlord organization.
During a lawsuit, it will be necessary to be able to present comparative leases, i.e. similar leases in the immediate area that have a similar rent to the one to which the landlord wants the rent increased. Lease contracts for these leases should be presented.
Similarly, tenants have the opportunity to present comparative rents that can prove that the rent is already reasonable or perhaps even too high.
The main hearing at the court will start with an inspection of the lease, as well as the comparative leases that the parties wish to present. On this basis, the court will decide what the market rent for the lease is.
Unless the lease is non-cancellable, the tenant may choose to terminate the lease agreement and move out if the tenant is dissatisfied with the increased rent.
You can order our top leases at a fixed low price and fast delivery. We prepare residential leases for only DKK 2,999 including VAT, and commercial leases from only DKK 3,499 including VAT. You also have the option to contact us for a fixed price.
The lease is prepared entirely according to your wishes, and ensures that you as a landlord are in a better position than under the general rules of the Tenancy Act. We are experts in tenancy law and among Denmark's leading law firms when it comes to advising both landlords and tenants.
Contact us today and get your lease contract tomorrow.
Are you having legal challenges?
In 2012, lawyer Søren Vasegaard Andreasen (H) published the book “Lejeret”, which describes the rights and obligations of tenants and landlords in plain Danish. The book provides a lot of good advice on how both tenants and landlords can best protect their interests. The book also contains a number of clear illustrations and many examples of what you as a tenant or landlord should write to the other in different situations.
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