Photo © 20th Century Fox, Idiocracy, Source.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
they authorised me to renovate an asbestos-contaminated flat WITHOUT informing me of the asbestos hazard and thus simply accepted a life-threatening illness.
Apparently it's not enough for them that I renovated the asbestos flat once. You threaten me in court with a counterclaim of 4,000 euros because I didn't knock the tiles out of the hallway and kitchen when I moved out (maybe there's still asbestos glue underneath?), didn't remove the decking boards from the balcony (how am I supposed to know that the balcony doesn't contain asbestos cement?), didn't remove the kitchen (which was already inside).
In your opinion, I should have de-facto renovated the flat a second time with asbestos?
You misused me as a cheap asbestos removal worker, circumventing legal regulations and saving expensive removal costs. That is reprehensible. Any argument on your part that does not take this inhumane circumstance into account is cynicism.
And your lawyer's accusation Dr Stephanie Schorkthat I "pulled the asbestos exposure card" because I didn't receive a replacement is just disgusting. It's like accusing a raped woman of pulling the "rape card".
But that seems to fit in well with Degewo's image:
- DEGEWO employees who claim nonsense (We test for all harmful substances in the world)
- DEGEWO lawyersportraying asbestos victims as perpetrators and opportunists and presenting fiction as fact in court
- DEGEWO top managementwho are publishing a book entitled "Responsibility for the city: contributions to a new togetherness" while they irresponsibly jeopardise thousands of tenants
- DEGEWO press spokespersons who announce absurdities on television with cynicism: don't drill any holes in the wall, then you can live in it well
This can hardly be surpassed in terms of absurdity and idiocy. Unfortunately, it seems as if DEGEWO is mentally inspired 1:1 by the film "Idiocracy" orientated.
You have put me and my family in a life-threatening situation that could have serious health consequences. You have given me a in need of renovationI rented a flat that was contaminated with asbestos, which was unfit to live in from the outset, and authorised a costly renovation at my own expense. According to the "agreement for structural alterations", I was also supposed to dispose of the building rubble myself.
The fact that I am supposed to take legal action for a paltry rent reduction because DEGEWO is so proud not to recognise its own mistake is not only an indictment of DEGEWO, but of every single one of you who has been involved in this matter. You can truly be proud of yourselves, a great achievement.
Every time I remember the flat renovation and the way you treated me so abominably, I will post something new. You have shown absolutely no empathy and no compassion and therefore this discussion can only be dealt with in this way.
Putting my trust in DEGEWO was the biggest mistake of my life.
Yours sincerely,
DEGEWO asbestos victims*
*In 1991, DER SPIEGEL the West German entrepreneur, Mr Hackel, as an asbestos victim when he found asbestos in his business in East Germany. The West German environmental experts were "dismayed". But 20 years later in Graunstr. 7 (West Germany), is it OK for a tenant to move into an asbestos flat without being informed of the asbestos hazard by the landlord? Worse still, the landlord authorises an extensive renovation of the asbestos flat without pointing out the danger? Worse still, the landlord calls the tenant an offender and opportunist in court just because he won't take the blame?
P.s. Finally, some information and a comment on the manipulative accusations made by the law firm commissioned by degewo Attorneys Eisenberg, Dr König, Dr Schork:
With regard to the accusation that we made ourselves liable to prosecution because we recorded conversations with degewo:
"Parts of conversations that do not belong to the core area of the private sphere may be utilised if the interests of the general public outweigh the interests of the parties to the conversation, which are protected by fundamental rights, to such an extent that utilisation of the tape recordings is to be regarded as permissible."
Bavarian Supreme Court (BayOLG) - Judgement of 20 January 1994 - File number 5 St RR 143/93
Regarding the accusation that degewo had informed us in 2012 about asbestos in the flat via a brochure and that we had removed the floor from the flat "in violation of civil and criminal law": that is simply a lie and a fabrication and is part of the manipulative construct that the lawyers have successfully built up for degewo. Incidentally, this information letter would also have arrived too late, as we renovated the flat in February 2012, before we moved in.
The facts were so distorted and manipulated by the lawyers that the judges seem to have lost their perspective.
The tactic worked. My PKH applications were rejected by the district court and the Berlin regional court, although the evidence is clear. The housing industry must be delighted if even such a serious case apparently has little chance in court. It is truly a huge success for our society.
As long as asbestos is used, nothing happens. Only when fibres are released does it become a problem. But how would Westerners with their education know that? It must still seem like a miracle to them that the Ossis, who have lived with all kinds of asbestos for decades, have still not died out.
As long as no fibres are released and you know where the stuff is installedit's not a problem. Fortunately, the GDR didn't collect any statistics on this, they certainly took their big brother (the Soviet Union) as a role model, who handled Chernobyl in exactly the same way. With asbestos, nobody notices if someone dies of lung cancer after 35 years anyway. The connection has to be established first. And in the case of tenants who don't know that they had asbestos in their flat and have perhaps renovated it, it is practically impossible to find the connection.
Wikipedia: "A criminal organisation within the meaning of the provision is understood to be a permanent association of at least three persons whose purpose or activity is aimed at committing criminal offences."
DEGEWO seems to afford the most expensive and manipulative lawyers (plural, because it is not uncommon for five or more lawyers to be hired to protect themselves against aggrieved asbestos tenants). These lawyers, which Degewo is guaranteed to have taken out of the drawer labelled "eliminate problems by dirty means if necessary", are then paid from the rental income of aggrieved asbestos tenants in order to intimidate other aggrieved tenants! Just imagine that! This is so perverse, but you can't expect anything else from a criminal housing company like DEGEWO. And all those involved (lawyers, employees, etc.) are in the same inhumane league, because birds of a feather flock together.