Germany: renting a flat, deposit, agent and registration

The deposit

If the landlord asks for security, it may be at most three times the monthly rent, not counting the operating costs shown as a flat rate or advance payment (BGB § 551 para. 1): with €900 of net rent, therefore, €2,700. As a sum of money you may pay it in three equal monthly installments; the first is due at the start of the tenancy, the others together with the rent payments that follow (para. 2). On moving in, only €900 of deposit and the first rent are then due.

The landlord must invest the deposit at a bank separately from his assets, at the usual rate for savings deposits with three months’ notice, unless otherwise agreed; the income is yours and increases the deposit (para. 3). An agreement to the tenant’s detriment is void (para. 4).

Who pays the agent

A housing agent is only entitled to a fee if his brokerage leads to a lease, and the brokerage contract needs text form (WoVermRG § 2 para. 1). He may not demand, have promised or accept a fee from the flat seeker, unless he obtains the instruction to offer the flat from the landlord solely because of the brokerage contract with you (para. 1a). Whoever orders the agent pays him. Advance payments may not be demanded (para. 4), and a deviating agreement is void (para. 5).

There is also no right to a fee if the contract merely continues, extends or renews a tenancy of the same rooms, if the agent is himself the owner, manager, tenant or landlord of the flat (para. 2) and for publicly subsidized or otherwise price-controlled flats (para. 3). Sign an agent’s contract only if you want to hire the agent yourself, and read it first.

Rent and utility costs in the lease

You bear operating costs only if the lease provides for it, and advance payments may only be agreed at a reasonable level (BGB § 556 paras. 1 and 2). Whether the rent requested is allowed in a tight housing market is shown by the rent brake calculator and the rent brake guide; later you check the first statement with the utility costs statement checklist.

Moving in, registration and confirmation

Anyone who moves into a flat must register at the registration office within two weeks of moving in (BMG § 17 para. 1). The landlord must cooperate and confirm the move-in within that period: with the landlord’s name and address, the move-in date, the flat’s address and the names of the people required to register (BMG § 19 paras. 1 and 3). If he refuses the confirmation or you do not get it in time, tell the registration office without delay (para. 2). Offering an address for registration when nobody lives there is forbidden (para. 6).

Anyone who does not register, registers wrongly or too late commits an administrative offense, as does the landlord who does not confirm the move-in, or not in time (BMG § 54 para. 2). When you move in, record defects, meter readings and keys in a record: the landlord’s claims for damages for changes to the flat expire six months after return (BGB § 548 para. 1).

Notice and deadlines

As a tenant you give notice at the latest on the third working day of a calendar month, effective at the end of the month after next, that is, three months’ notice (BGB § 573c para. 1). For the landlord the period is extended by three months each after five and eight years since the flat was handed over. A deviation to the tenant’s detriment is void (para. 4).