Glossary: German tenancy law terms
The German terms you will meet in a lease, a handover protocol and a deposit settlement, each explained briefly. They stay German on purpose, because they are the words on the documents in your hand.
A
- Abmahnung
- A formal written warning demanding that a breach stop, usually the step a landlord must take before terminating.
- Abnahme
- The landlord's formal inspection and acceptance of the flat at move-out.
- Abnutzung
- Wear from ordinary living, which the tenant does not have to pay for.
- Ankündigung
- The advance notice a landlord owes before entering the flat or starting works.
- Anmeldung
- Registering your address with the local authority after you move in.
B
- Bedarfsausweis
- An energy certificate based on the building's calculated demand rather than on what was actually used.
- besenrein
- Handed back broom-clean: emptied and roughly swept, with coarse dirt removed; not a deep clean.
- Besichtigung
- A viewing appointment at the flat.
- Bestellerprinzip
- "Whoever orders, pays", the side that hired the letting agent owes the commission.
- Betriebskosten
- The running costs of a building that a landlord may pass on to tenants.
- Betriebskostenabrechnung
- The annual statement of the building's running costs, set against what you paid in advance.
- Beweislast
- The burden of proof, which side has to prove the disputed point.
E
- Eigenbedarf
- The landlord's own need for the flat, for themselves, their family or their household.
- Eigenbedarfskündigung
- A termination given because the landlord needs the flat for themselves, their family or their household.
- Einwurf-Einschreiben
- Registered post dropped into the letterbox, with a delivery record you can produce later.
- Einzugsprotokoll
- The written record of the flat's condition taken at move-in.
- Energieausweis
- The building's energy certificate, which must be shown to prospective tenants.
- Erlaubnis
- The landlord's permission, needed for things like subletting or keeping a pet.
F
- Frist
- A deadline or period fixed by law or contract; miss it and the right behind it is usually gone.
G
- Gewährleistung
- The seller's or builder's liability for defects; for a building, claims run out five years after the Abnahme.
- Grundsteuer
- The annual property tax on land and buildings.
H
- Härtefall
- The circumstances that make moving out unreasonable, old age, serious illness or pregnancy, for instance.
- Hausgeld
- The monthly charge an owner in a condominium pays to the owners' association.
- Hausordnung
- The house rules that apply to everyone living in the building.
- Heizkostenabrechnung
- The annual heating-cost statement, split largely by metered use.
I
- Indexmiete
- A rent agreed to move with the consumer price index instead of by negotiation.
- Inventarliste
- The list of furniture and household items let with a furnished flat, ideally with quantity, age and condition.
K
- Kappungsgrenze
- The ceiling on how far the rent may rise within three years in an existing tenancy.
- Kaution
- The rental deposit, capped at three months' basic rent.
- Kleinreparaturklausel
- A clause making the tenant pay for small repairs up to a capped amount.
- Kündigung
- Termination of the tenancy by either side.
- Kündigungsfrist
- The notice period that has to run out before the tenancy actually ends.
M
- Mahnung
- A formal reminder that an amount is overdue.
- Makler
- The letting agent.
- Maklerprovision
- The letting agent's commission.
- Mangel
- A defect that makes the flat less usable than the contract promised.
- Mangelanzeige
- The tenant's formal notice to the landlord that a defect exists.
- Mieterhöhung
- A rent increase.
- Mietminderung
- A reduction of the rent the tenant may claim for as long as a defect lasts.
- Mietpreisbremse
- The rent brake, a cap on the starting rent in tight housing markets.
- Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung
- A landlord's written confirmation that the tenant left no rent unpaid.
- Mietspiegel
- The local rent index, used to judge what counts as a normal rent for a flat like yours.
- Mietvertrag
- The tenancy agreement.
- Möblierungszuschlag
- The extra rent charged for furniture let with the flat; it has to match the furniture's value.
- Modernisierung
- An improvement to the building, part of whose cost may be added to the rent.
N
- Nachmieter
- A replacement tenant proposed to take the tenancy over.
- Nachzahlung
- The extra amount owed when the annual statement lands above what you paid in advance.
- Nebenkosten
- The service charges billed on top of the basic rent.
- Nebenkostenabrechnung
- The annual statement of the service charges, set against the advance payments you made.
- Nebenkostenprivileg
- The now-abolished rule that let landlords bill cable TV through the service charges.
- Nettokaltmiete
- The basic rent on its own, before service charges and heating.
P
- Privaturkunde
- A private document, signed by both sides it carries real weight as evidence in court.
- Prüffrist
- The window a tenant has to check a statement and raise objections.
Q
- Quittung
- A receipt confirming money or keys changed hands.
R
- Räumungsklage
- The court action a landlord brings to have a tenant evicted.
- Ruhestörung
- A breach of the building's quiet hours.
S
- Schaden
- Damage, as opposed to ordinary wear, this is the part a tenant can be charged for.
- Schadensersatz
- Damages, compensation for a loss the other side caused.
- Schimmel
- Mould.
- Schönheitsreparaturen
- Decorative repairs such as painting and wallpapering, sometimes shifted onto the tenant.
- Schriftform
- Written form, a paper document signed by hand; an email does not satisfy it.
- Schuldanerkenntnis
- An acknowledgement of debt, sign one and you have admitted you owe the amount.
- Sozialklausel
- The provision that gives a tenant the right to object to a termination at all.
- Staffelmiete
- A rent agreed in advance to rise in fixed steps on set dates.
T
- Textform
- Text form, a readable declaration naming its sender. Email counts; a handwritten signature is not required.
U
- Übergabe
- The handover of the flat, when keys and condition pass from one side to the other.
- Übergabeprotokoll
- The handover record both sides sign, listing the flat's condition and the meter readings.
- Umlageschlüssel
- The key by which shared building costs are divided between the flats.
- Untermiete
- Subletting part or all of the flat to someone else.
- Untermietzuschlag
- A surcharge the landlord may add to the rent when you sublet.
V
- Verbraucherpreisindex
- The consumer price index, published by the federal statistical office.
- Verbrauchsausweis
- An energy certificate based on what the building actually consumed.
- Vergleichsmiete
- The customary local rent for comparable flats, the benchmark a rent increase is measured against.
- Verjährung
- The limitation period; once it runs out a claim can no longer be enforced.
- Verzug
- Default, being late with a payment or duty after it fell due.
- Vorbehalt
- A reservation: paying or accepting while expressly keeping the right to come back on it.
- Vormiete
- The rent the previous tenant was paying.
W
- Warmmiete
- The total monthly rent including service charges and heating.
- Werbungskosten
- Income-related expenses a landlord can set against rental income for tax.
- Widerspruch
- A formal objection raised against a notice or a statement.
- Wohnungsgeberbestätigung
- The landlord's confirmation that you moved in, you need it to register your address.
- Wohnungszustand
- The condition of the flat at a given moment.
Z
- Zählerstände
- Meter readings for electricity, gas, water and heating.
- Zeitmietvertrag
- A fixed-term lease; valid only with one of the reasons the law allows, stated in writing at signing.
- Zeitwert
- What an item is still worth today, as opposed to its price new; the measure for compensation.
- Zwischenmiete
- A temporary sublet while the main tenant is away; the main tenant stays liable to the landlord.
General information, not legal advice.