Kehrwoche ("week of sweeping") is the weekly duty of cleaning communal living areas, and is a custom in the Swabia region of southwest Germany. The custom began at the end of the 15th century as a way to improve household cleanliness. Until 1988, communal law required households to take turns every Saturday cleaning common property both indoors and outdoors, such as stairways, adjacent pathways, etc. Nowadays, Kehrwoche may be included in rental agreements as a weekly obligation for residents.
Stuttgart's municipal law from 1492 states, "To ensure that the city stays clean, everyone should remove their soil, (...) from your own street corner every 14 days, although only at night. Those who do not have a privy, must bring the waste to the stream." In the 18th century, a new law, the "clean alley regulation" came about, that added detail. In 1988 the kehrwoche was abolished as a communal law. It doesn't apply to public order in any part of Baden-Wurtemberg, but it can be part of house rules and rental contracts. The communal order obliges every owner of a house to hold parts of his property, like entrance areas and access paths as well as the public pavements free of dirt, snow and ice. There is no determined time or interval, making it a permanent obligation, contrary to the weekly duty on Saturdays as in the tradition of the kehrwoche.
In Württemberg, as generally in Germany and other countries, it is typical to include the cleaning activities in the rental agreement, describing which parties on which days clean the pavement, shovel snow and clean the staircases. Also a sign displaying the bolded letters "Kehrwoche" is often hung on the door of the party responsible for the Kehrwoche activities of the week. The rental owner as well as the other tenants can see who is responsible for such tasks.
Agreements distinguish between "small" and "large" kehrwoche. Small kehrwoche includes hallways and staircases. Large kehrwoche includes the pavement in front of the house. Outside Württemberg, the cleaning of multi-tenant property is organised very similarly, using "large and small house rules" with identical meaning, as long as the delegation of cleaning responsibilities is not given to costly outside vendors or building superintendent.
The Kehrwoche is often cited as something highly characteristic of Swabians or of Wurttemberg, often seen as proving their pettifogging obsession with order.[ citation needed ] In fact it proves to be more of a myth[ according to whom? ], or a projection of a German characteristic on one particular of its ethnic subgroups.[ citation needed ]
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Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership in parts of Europe, notably England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes fortified manor house in which the lord of the manor and his dependents lived and administered a rural estate, and a population of labourers who worked the surrounding land to support themselves and the lord. These labourers fulfilled their obligations with labour time or in-kind produce at first, and later by cash payment as commercial activity increased. Manorialism is sometimes included in the definition of feudalism.
An apartment, or flat, is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building, generally on a single story. There are many names for these overall buildings, see below. The housing tenure of apartments also varies considerably, from large-scale public housing, to owner occupancy within what is legally a condominium, to tenants renting from a private landlord.
Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for all property charges regularly incurred by the ownership. An example of renting is equipment rental. Renting can be an example of the sharing economy.
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant. When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner. The term landlady may be used for the female owners. The manager of a pub in the United Kingdom, strictly speaking a licensed victualler, is referred to as the landlord/landlady.
Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee.
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user to pay the owner for use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial or business equipment is also leased. Broadly put, a lease agreement is a contract between two parties: the lessor and the lessee. The lessor is the legal owner of the asset, while the lessee obtains the right to use the asset in return for regular rental payments. The lessee also agrees to abide by various conditions regarding their use of the property or equipment. For example, a person leasing a car may agree to the condition that the car will only be used for personal use.
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a leasehold estate is typically considered personal property.
A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege.
Key money is one of several forms of payment made to a landlord. The term has various meanings in different parts of the world. It sometimes means money paid to an existing tenant who assigns a lease to a new tenant where the rent is below market. It sometimes means a bribe to a landlord. In other parts of the world, it is used synonymously with normal security deposits, which are used to cover nonpayment of rent and excessive damage to a rental unit.
Property management is the operation, control, maintenance, and oversight of real estate and physical property. This can include residential, commercial, and land real estate. Management indicates the need of real estate to be cared for and monitored, with accountability for and attention its useful life and condition considered. This is much akin to the role of management in any business.
Snow removal or snow clearing is the job of removing snow after a snowfall to make travel easier and safer. This is done by both individual households and by governments and institutions.
A rental agreement is a contract of rental, usually written, between the owner of a property and a renter who desires to have temporary possession of the property; it is distinguished from a lease, which is more typically for a fixed term. As a minimum, the agreement identifies the parties, the property, the term of the rental, and the amount of rent for the term. The owner of the property may be referred to as the lessor and the renter as the lessee.
Rent-to-own, also known as rental purchase or rent-to-buy, is a type of legally documented transaction under which tangible property, such as furniture, consumer electronics, motor vehicles, home appliances, real property, and engagement rings, is leased in exchange for a weekly or monthly payment, with the option to purchase at some point during the agreement.
A house in multiple occupation (HMO), or a house of multiple occupancy, is a British English term which refers to residential properties where ‘common areas’ exist and are shared by more than one household.
Landlord harassment is the willing creation, by a landlord or their agents, of conditions that are uncomfortable for one or more tenants in order to induce willing abandonment of a rental contract. This kind of activity is common in regions where rent control laws do exist, but which do not allow the direct extension of rent-controlled prices from one tenancy to the subsequent tenancy, thus allowing landlords to set higher prices. Landlord harassment carries specific legal penalties in some jurisdictions, but enforcement can be very difficult or even impossible in many circumstances.
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A plot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries. Possible owner(s) of a plot can be one or more person(s) or another legal entity, such as a company/corporation, organization, government, or trust. A common form of ownership of a plot is called fee simple in some countries.
A security deposit is a sum of money held in trust either as an initial part-payment in a purchasing process - also known as an earnest payment, or else, in the course of a rental agreement to ensure the property owner against default by the tenant and for the cost of repair in relation to any damage explicitly specified in the lease and that did in fact occur.
Liverpool City Council v Irwin [1976] UKHL 1 is a leading English contract law case, concerning the basis on which courts may imply terms into contracts; in particular in relation to all types of tenancies, a term may be implied if required for a particular relationship, such as for the landlord to keep the stairwells clear in a tower block. The tenants also had a duty of reasonable care which some among them had been repeatedly breached and led to a continuing breach in matters of damage about which they complained so they were not entitled to withhold rent on the facts.
Co-living is a residential community living model that accommodates three or more biologically unrelated people. Generally coliving is a type of intentional community that provides shared housing for people with similar values or intentions. The coliving experience may simply include group discussions in common areas or weekly meals, although will oftentimes extend to shared workspace and collective endeavors such as living more sustainably. An increasing number of people across the world are turning to coliving in order to unlock the same benefits as other communal living models, including “comfort, affordability, and a greater sense of social belonging.”
Eviction in the United States refers to the removal of tenants from the location in which they are residing. Within the United States, eviction rates vary heavily by locality. However, historically, there have been trends in domestic eviction patterns during certain time periods such as during the Great Depression and the COVID-19 pandemic.