Blankenheim –
“Please, help us.” The 86-year-old Ruth Köppe and her 85-year-old husband Ernst-August Köppe are facing financial ruin because of the threat of coercive payments from the district and turned to the editorial team in an emergency. Their only hope: that in their case the district will show mercy before justice and not deprive them of their last savings.
Because even the lawyer they brought in is at the end of his life. District Administrator Markus Ramers, approached by the editors, agreed on Monday that the administrative management would take care of the case (see “The District Administrator wants to help”).
Your offense: “state disruptor”
The offense of the elderly senior couple: They and their severely disabled daughter (54) are “state troublemakers”, as it is called in legal German. As a tenant, you live in an apartment that is not allowed to exist at this point under building law, because it is located in a commercial area. Because they have not vacated this apartment for many years despite repeated requests from the district, the district has now seized more than 12,000 euros from their account. And in October he called for the payment of a further EUR 24,000 fine.
And that despite the fact that her lawyer had previously informed the district administration that the family would be leaving the apartment in December. He had also agreed with the district that no further fines would be imposed on the family until then.
Attorney Tobias Knips from the Mechernich law firm Müller, Eicks and Winand is stunned and angry about the harsh approach of the district: “We cannot understand how the district treats the Köppe family. Despite their old age, they lovingly look after their severely disabled daughter. The seized 12,000 euros were to be used, among other things, to manage the upcoming move and be available to the couple for their retirement years. Now the family has nothing at all.
Married couple is threatened with old-age poverty
Instead, the couple is threatened with old-age poverty. “Ruth Köppe nods excitedly:” We wanted to buy the kitchen for the new apartment with that. “
But how did the couple get into such trouble? In order to be able to live in a house with their mentally ill daughter, who is unable to work, the two decided in 2015 to sell their old property in Hinterhausen near Gerolstein. They planned to rebuild in Schmidtheim. “The building land was so cheap there,” says Ernst-August Köppe. The bricklayer, who worked as a foreman in his parents’ company until he retired, still dared to build the new building himself despite his age.
In a newspaper advertisement, the couple came across the 160 square meter apartment in the street Amgericht in Blankenheim, which had previously served as the manager’s apartment and was now available for rent. On October 15, 2015, they moved in there with their daughter, for whom Ruth Köppe is employed by the court as a carer.
House building was not a good star
The family didn’t mind that the neighborhood only consists of businesses. They had their peace there and appreciated that all rooms were on the ground floor, depending on their age. However, the warm rent of 1,000 euros with almost 1,600 euros pension from Ernst-August Köppe and the 434 euros disability pension from the daughter was quite steep.
In 2015, the municipality of Blankenheim informed the district administration about the unauthorized residential use after the landlord complained to the municipality about noise pollution in the commercial area on behalf of his tenants, according to the district. In February 2016, according to the district administration, the family was informed and heard by the district building authority about the intended prohibition of use. The couple understood and informed the building authorities that they intended to build a small house in Schmidtheim. So they asked for time. The circle gave them that.
The building in the Blankenheim industrial park may not be used for residential purposes, says the district building authority.
–
–
Building a house in Schmidtheim, however, dragged on. And it wasn’t a lucky star. Moving in had to be postponed year after year. Nevertheless, Ernst August Köppe is certain that it would have worked if they hadn’t run out of money. The proceeds from the old house weren’t enough. But neither the house bank of the Köppe family nor the building society, contrary to previous advice, had been prepared to finance the financing gap with a loan in view of the Köppe’s old age. “We would have needed around 70,000 euros,” says Ernst-August Köppe.
District administration lost patience
In January 2020, four years after the initial hearing, the county government’s building and housing department lost patience after hearing that the family had sold the shell. The family itself, according to the circle, did not inform about it.
The district imposed fines of 1,000 euros on each of the three family members if they had not left the apartment by August 1, 2020. Finding a new apartment, according to the Köppe family, proved difficult due to the fact that she was very old and her daughter was severely disabled. In order not to become homeless, they had no choice but to stay in their apartment.
