Guides / Lease
Lease
Clauses, duties and what may validly be agreed in the Mietvertrag.
Not everything written in a Mietvertrag actually applies. Decoration clauses, small-repair caps, deposit amounts – many standard clauses are wholly or partly void, and then the statute applies instead. Whoever drafts the lease should know which clauses hold; whoever signs it, which ones don't bind them.
These guides explain the required contents, the limits of permissible clauses and the special forms Staffelmiete and Indexmiete – step by step, with the statutes to read alongside.
Guides for landlords
- Pets in a German Rental: What Landlords May Do in 2026
Can landlords ban pets in Germany? What's allowed for dogs, cats and small animals, and why a blanket ban is void (§ 535 BGB, BGH).
- Drafting a Valid Kleinreparaturklausel (2026)
Draft a watertight Kleinreparaturklausel: the valid per-repair and annual caps, which repairs count, and when the whole clause becomes void and you pay it all.
- Maklerprovision & Bestellerprinzip: Who Pays? (2026)
Bestellerprinzip for rentals: the landlord pays the Makler (§ 2 WoVermRG). Capped at 2 net cold rents plus VAT; passing it to the tenant is void.
- Creating a Mietvertrag as a landlord (2026, §§ 535 ff. BGB)
Draft a legally sound Mietvertrag: required details, fixed-term or open-ended, Staffelmiete or Indexmiete, Kaution limits and invalid clauses.
- Staffelmiete or Indexmiete: how to agree it (2026)
Staffelmiete (§ 557a BGB) or Indexmiete (§ 557b BGB)? How landlords agree a predictable Mieterhöhung, rules, limits and comparison.
Guides for tenants
- Renting in Germany as a foreigner (2026)
Can a foreigner rent in Germany? Yes, tenancy law protects every tenant regardless of nationality. Documents, renting without SCHUFA and your rights.
- Pets in a German Rental: Your Rights as a Tenant (2026)
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: When Is It Valid? (2026)
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.
- Maklerprovision as a Tenant: When You Have to Pay (2026)
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 (2026)
Check your Mietvertrag before signing: Kaution capped at 3 Nettokaltmieten (§ 551 BGB); Schönheitsreparatur and Kleinreparatur clauses are often void.
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