Tenant Water Damage Claim Dismissed for Failure to Exhaust Conciliation Proceedings

The court dismissed an appeal challenging the non-entry into the merits of a landlord's claim for damages against a tenant, stemming from water damage caused by the tenant's improper use of a washing machine within the rented property. The lower court correctly determined the dispute was governed by tenancy law (Art. 274 ff. OR), requiring a mandatory conciliation attempt before the tenancy board, because the damage arose from the use of the rented object, making the claim subject to mandatory procedural prerequisites; the appellate court reasoned that a claim of substantive legal error is only established through the arbitrary interpretation of a declaration of intent or the arbitrary application of a legal norm, and since the lower court relied on established precedent classifying such damage claims as falling under tenancy law jurisdiction, no such arbitrariness or substantive error was committed.