Return of unreasonable rent

Question

Hi,

I have had a guest stayed at my hyreslaganhet from 14 month.
The contract was planned to end on Oct1st but the guest wanted to stay another 2 month and moved out Dec3 2013.

I now recieved a letter from Hyresnamnden that my rent was too high as per the guest.
I wonder my guest had 14 month to think about th ehigh rent and he did have th echance to move out if th erent was too high we had a contract and he signed nothing i forced him to do. He stayed with another person in my flat.
Please let me know my rights and why can th eguset apply against me when he agreed to pay( so in this situation people can go rent nice flats furnished in town and stay for a year and so and then ask for return of the money they agreed to pay) . I find it very strange. Will you please advise me.
Thank you

Answer 1

Thank you for your question!

The rules regarding tenancy in Sweden is found in the 12th chapter of jordabalken (also called the Swedish Law of Tenancy). 55 e § in this law states that if a landlord who has sub-letted an apartment, or a room in an apartment, and received a rent that is not considered reasonable, the landlord can be imposed by Hyresnämnden to return part of the received rent. In deciding what is a ”reasonable rent”, Hyresnämnden will look at agreed rents for similar apartments in your area.

I understand that this may seem strange for you. The Swedish Law of Tenancy is constructed as a protectional law for tenants, and the purpose of this article is to discourage unreasonable rents. If you do not agree with Hyresnämnden’s decision, you can appeal to Svea Court of Appeal (Svea Hovrätt).

Kind regards,