Sold House in Germany in empty condition whitout tenants to a builder who wants to demolish and build a new house.
Handover to new owner failed because one tenant still claims to live there.
Residential lease-agreement was cancelled in written but only to Mr. instead of Mr. AND Mrs. Tenant. Therefore the cancellation is invalid. One of the two tenants never moved out.
Didn't pay rent for three years.
German law protects tenants even though they don't pay and it is not allowed to throw them out without correct cancellation letter and a specific amount of time.
Owner can file a law suit and evict the tenant but new owner can't wait and would claim indemnity while this is going on. Can take 3-6 months.
Lawyer suggests a payment to tenant and legal agreement to resolve case so the new owner can take over fast. Tenants furniture was discarded because nobody knew he still came back every now and then.
Tenant knows that he is in the way and asks for a big payment as his lawyer threatens to issue a temporary restraining order for the demolition of the house which would cause additional costs for the builder and new owner.