Guides for tenants

Understand the Mietspiegel: simple (§ 558c BGB) and qualified (§ 558d BGB), the ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete, and how to check a rent increase.

Check your Indexmiete increase yourself: the VPI formula, the minimum one-year gap, Textform with index figures (§ 557b BGB), and what to do if it's wrong.

Check your Mieterhöhung against the Kappungsgrenze, the ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete and the consent deadline under § 558 BGB, and learn exactly how to respond.

Mietpreisbremse check: in designated areas rent may exceed the ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete by at most 10%. How to challenge and reclaim an overcharge.

Modernisation: the landlord may add 8 % of costs (§ 559 BGB), capped at 3 €/m². Duldungspflicht, Härteeinwand and your Sonderkündigungsrecht.

Check a Staffelmiete or Indexmiete: fixed amounts and 12 months per step (§ 557a BGB), VPI link and Textform (§ 557b BGB). Is the increase legal?

Since 2023 tenants and landlords share heating CO₂ costs under a 10-step model (CO2KostAufG). How to check your share, and cut it when it's wrong.

Since 1 July 2024 cable-TV fees can no longer be passed on via the Nebenkosten (end of the Nebenkostenprivileg). How to check your statement, and save money.

Check your Heizkostenabrechnung: the 50–70% consumption rule (§ 7 HeizkostenV), the 15% Kürzungsrecht (§ 12), 12-month deadlines and Belegeinsicht.

Check your Nebenkostenabrechnung: the two 12-month deadlines (§ 556 BGB), which costs are umlagefähig, and how to object to errors.

Most deposits are not lost to damage but to avoidable mistakes at move-in and move-out. The most expensive ones, and how to avoid them.

Your Mietkaution under § 551 BGB: at most three Nettokaltmieten, payable in three instalments. Where it must be held and who gets the interest.

Reclaiming your Kaution (security deposit) under § 551 BGB: landlords get a review period of usually 3–6 months. How to get your deposit back with interest.

Can a foreigner rent in Germany? Yes, tenancy law protects every tenant regardless of nationality. Documents, renting without SCHUFA and your rights.

Can your landlord ban pets? Which animals you may keep without permission, why a blanket ban is void (§ 535 BGB, BGH), and how to get consent.

Kleinreparaturklausel in your Mietvertrag: when do you as a tenant have to pay, and when not? Limits, the 4 requirements, and when the clause is void.

Under the Bestellerprinzip, whoever orders the broker pays (§ 2 Abs. 1a WoVermRG). As a tenant you usually pay nothing, when you do, and how to push back.

Check your Mietvertrag before signing: Kaution capped at 3 Nettokaltmieten (§ 551 BGB); Schönheitsreparatur and Kleinreparatur clauses are often void.

You are not liable for normal wear (§ 538 BGB), but you are for real damage. The dividing line with examples, and why only current value counts.

Photos prove the condition, not the date. A file's date can be edited. What photos are really worth in court (§ 371 ZPO) and how to make them tamper-evident.

How much is your record worth in a dispute? Private document (§ 416 ZPO), photos as visual inspection (§ 371 ZPO), and what “no defects” means.

What to photograph at move-in, room by room, plus the 12 spots almost everyone forgets. The checklist that protects your Kaution.

The Einzugsprotokoll protects your Kaution at move-out. How to document every defect and meter reading at move-in in Germany, and what goes wrong without it.

The Übergabeprotokoll documents the handover. The Wohnungszustand is what the flat actually looked like. Why the difference decides your Kaution.

Wohnungsbesichtigung for sale or re-letting: how often, how long and with what notice must you allow viewings? Your rights as a tenant, clearly explained.

Wohnungsübergabe at move-out: what tenants put in the Übergabeprotokoll, what they are liable for, when they need not renovate, and how to protect the Kaution.

Got an Eigenbedarfskündigung? A valid notice needs a concrete reason (§ 573 BGB). You can object (§ 574 BGB) up to 2 months before the Frist ends.

As a tenant you give three months' notice (§ 573c BGB). Arriving by the 3rd working day, signed on paper. How to do it right.

Want out of your lease early? You have no automatic right to a Nachmieter, but a clause or a special interest can free you. How to do it right.

Splitting rent and Nebenkosten in a WG: joint liability (§ 421 BGB), internal settlement (§ 426 BGB) and fair keys, per head, per m² or by use.

Taking in a subtenant: for part of your flat you have a right to permission (§ 553 BGB). How to request it, and when the landlord may refuse.

When tenants may sublet: § 553 BGB gives a claim to permission for part of the dwelling. How to handle a WG (shared flat) and Untermiete (subletting) correctly.

Energieausweis when renting: the landlord must show it to you unprompted (§ 80 GEG). What your rights as a tenant are, explained in plain English.

Ruhestörung in a German rental: quiet hours, when noise is a defect, how much Mietminderung is allowed, and when a tenant can be evicted.

Landlord won't repair? How to report a Mangel correctly, set a deadline and reduce the rent (§ 536, § 536c BGB), with a template and reduction rates.

Mietminderung for mould, no heating or noise: how much you may reduce, how to report the defect, and why to keep paying under Vorbehalt.

Mould is a Mangel: you may reduce the rent (§ 536 BGB) unless you caused it. Report it in writing at once (§ 536c BGB) and document everything.

Schönheitsreparaturen on move-out: only a valid clause in your Mietvertrag obliges you. Many are void under BGH case law, then you paint nothing.

Can your landlord enter your apartment in Germany? Your rights as a tenant: no general right of access, only with a concrete reason and advance notice.

After moving you must register within 14 days (§ 17 BMG). How the Anmeldung works, what the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung is, and the fine you risk.

No legal right to a Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung (BGH VIII ZR 238/08). What it states, what it costs, and the alternative that works.