Translators get to see a lot of rental aparment contracts. Big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones, vague ones, long ones and terribly restrictive ones. From outrageous airing policies to old-fashioned peaceful time stipulations, from cold rent to hot water, here's what to expect when you're presented with a tenancy contract for a flat in Germany. We're also happy to assist in more information if you truly would like to know what you're entering before you sign on the dotted line.

Almost half of the population in German rents, and until just recently, it's been easy to see why. Rental prices have been reasonably low-cost and conditions extremely beneficial for lessees. Yet as lease rates soar in the huge cities and as clever residential or commercial property designers get wind of the altering conditions, Bureaucracy Translation has seen rental agreements getting longer, stricter and scarier (not unlike the rental prices themselves!).

The elements of a rental agreement

The contract

The Mietvertrag (agreement/ rental agreement/ lease) itself contains some crucial info such as

- the cost of your lease monthly

• whether boosts are permitted, and if so, how they are managed
• the duration of the agreement
• the deposit quantity
• description of the space and any extra fittings or pieces of furnishings that might be consisted of
• who is accountable for repair work and damages
• how to cancel or extend it
• remodelling work
• how to leave the house when you abandon
• your house rules
• the handover report
  
  Typical stipulations in German leases
  
  The cost of your rent
  
  There will be a Kaltmiete (cold lease - the easy cost of having the roof over your head) and after that there will be Nebenkosten (additional charges) such as Betriebskosten (operating expense for the structure like waste disposal, stairwell cleansing) and Strom- und Heizkosten (heating and electricity expenses). Both the lease and the extra charges are typically calculated or approximated according to the size of your apartment - the bigger it is, the more you pay. Gas, electrical energy and telephone contracts are normally the renter's service, and it may be possible to select your own service providers.
  
  Something to bear in mind: the property manager will often approximate the charges in advance and deduct them monthly. At the end of the year, you get a yearly declaration for running expenses which works out just how much everything really DID expense. If you have actually paid excessive, you'll get the distinction back. Utility agreements frequently work similarly: they approximate what you'll pay, deduct it monthly, and after that refund or charge the difference at the end of a certain duration.
  
  Rent increases
  
  There was a law presented in 2015 called the Mietpreisbremse to stop lease increases from leaving control. It was adopted in more than 300 German cities. One of the guidelines is that a brand-new rental agreement can't demand rent of more than 10% of the typical cost for a leased home in the location. But recently built houses are not covered under this guideline, and modernisation procedures also provide landlords wiggle space to increase the cost. Tip: Discover how much the previous occupant paid, even if you've currently signed the rental contract. A property owner can't increase the rate by more than 10% of what the previous renter was paying (unless they do some modernisation that increases the worth of the flat). If required, you could sign the agreement to secure the flat and after that go after up the property manager to get your lease lowered (possibly with some legal help).
  
  Staffelmiete (stepped lease) suggests that the rent increases every year in line with inflation and the increases are secured for the next couple of years. There is no particular limit here - the boosts may be secured for the next 3 or 5 or 10 years. If you're signing one of these, watch out for the length of time your commitment is before you can cancel - approximately 4 years is legally acceptable. They can't increase your rent for a minimum of one year from finalizing.
  
  The period of the lease
  
  It might be a fixed-term agreement or it will be concluded for an endless period. You may get a fixed-term agreement if the proprietor is planning to utilize the house themselves later on down the track, or if it is provided. Fixed-term agreements can be tough to break early, so you'll be liable to occupy the place for the whole term, even if you want to leave early, unless you can discover a suitable replacement renter and your property manager agrees to this.
  
  The Kaution (Deposit)
  
  can ask you for 3 months cold lease as a down payment. The property owner has to save this money securely in an escrow account separated from his/her individual finances. If the cash accumulates interest, the interest comes from the occupant and should be paid when they abandon. It's not unusual to hear expats questioning how to get their deposit back as soon as they've left the home, and being surprised that it takes months. The proprietor has six months to return the deposit to you after you abandon, plus any interest the amount accumulated, minus any outstanding financial obligations for which you may be accountable, state for damages to the residential or commercial property or due to lease arrears. As tempting as it might be, you can enter into trouble if you just keep your last 2 warm rental payments and inform your property owner to "keep the deposit".
  
  You'll find a great and very thorough guide to rental deposits at All About Berlin.
  
  Kündigung (Termination)
  
  The statutory notification period for ending rental agreements as a tenant is three months. The longer you have actually resided in the apartment or condo, the more notice your property manager has to offer you if they need you to leave: three months if you've been there for less than five years, 6 months if you have actually been there for less than 8 years, approximately an optimum of 9 months notification.
  
  Provision (Commission)
  
  You don't have to pay the broker, property representative or person offering you a rental flat a commission any longer - considering that 2015, this has actually been prohibited. Since the need for rental residential or commercial properties is so high in big cities, plenty of people are prepared to turn a blind eye and pay a commission anyway to be favoured as a tenant.
  
  Housing regulations
  
  These govern the behaviour within the structure and treatment of the residential or commercial property. You'll usually find them stuck up on the wall inside the building somewhere. Typical guidelines to be discovered in your home rules: whether you are permitted to have a clothing dryer in the apartment, when you are not permitted to make sounds, whether you can keep family pets, how to air and heat your home effectively, how to use the bins properly etc. They are notorious for being stringent and pedantic to the point of ludicrous, however you're expected to follow them. Whether you get away with vacuuming on a Sunday regardless of the statutory "quiet time" might depend upon how unwinded your neighbours are and whether they complain to the Hausverwaltung (housing administration).
  
  Operational expenses regulation
  
  You might get some excerpts from the Operational Costs Ordinance connected to your rental agreement - these govern how property managers can charge renters for all the things required to make the building function.
  
  Übergabeprotokoll (Handover report)
  
  You and the representative/ landlord will examine the apartment, and they will make notes of preexisting damages, repairs and the condition of the residential or commercial property. If you see a little hole in the wall, point it out, and they'll take down it. This is likewise a good time to inspect that the heating works, even in summer season. If the proprietor has actually assured you repair work, make certain they were done or there's a visit reserved to have them done and get them noted in the handover report.
  
  How can I get assist with the small print?
  
  I 'd more than happy to send you a quote to equate your whole rental contract. A 5-page rental contract might cost 200 Euros, a 20-page lease is likely to set you back around 800-1000 Euros, depending upon how complex it is. If this is not realistic and you're under time pressure, send me the contract and I'll send you a quote for a consultation to go through the main points face to face or over Skype, for around half the rate of a written translation.
  
  Filed Under: Relocating To Germany, Doing Business in Berlin, Transferring to Berlin, Relocating To Munich Tagged With: agreements, guide, leasing
  
  Reader Interactions
  
  Comments
  
  1. Andreas Moser states
  
  January 25, 2019 at 11:32 pm
  
  I feel like this is the major and more beneficial variation to my tirade about renting in Germany: https://andreasmoser.blog/2018/05/28/rental-contracts/
  
  January 26, 2019 at 9:07 am
  
  Yes! Yes! Thanks for connecting. I simply translated two rental agreements recently, one had its own annex specifically for airing that specified airing 4 times a day for no longer than 5-10 minutes, highlighted that tilting wasn't sufficient, the window needed to be open entirely. It went on and on about not enabling the walls to get cold. There were even exclamation marks and even a "wie gesagt" occasionally.
  
  
  2. Heike Wheatly states
  
  June 21, 2020 at 10:03 pm
  
  Thank You for all of the great details. How would you tackle adding a stipulation for Lifelong Living rights to the Rental Agreement? I own a home in Germany and my Stepmom currently lives there. Her agreement will be up next year however I would like to provide her lifelong living right.
  
  Thank You
  
  June 30, 2020 at 1:21 pm
  
  I am unsure, but here's a directory site of English-speaking lawyers, in case you're in Berlin. Even if you're not, they might be delighted to speak with by phone. Cheers, Kathleen.
  
  
  3. Brian Pendergast says
  
  September 1, 2020 at 3:23 pm
  
  Thank you for the details. Do you understand if it is legal to consist of furniture in the expense calculator of the Nebenkosten?
  
  September 9, 2020 at 10:40 pm
  
  I just did a fast check - property managers can include an additional cost for furnishings, but there are limitations - you can charge 2% of the worth of the furnishings but it assumes complete depreciation after 10 years. So it depends upon how much the furniture cost and also how old the furnishings is. E.g if the furnishings cost 5,000 EUR and was new at the time of the occupancy, the property owner could charge 100 EUR per month. There is a formula but it's late and my brain harms. Here's the website I used.
  
  
  4. Jasper states
  
  March 7, 2021 at 10:00 pm
  
  Hi Kathleen! Thank you for your efforts. I was wondering if there's a template for the Mietvertrag?
  
  April 28, 2021 at 9:19 pm
  
  Oh you can discover them all over the location. Just Google "Mietvertrag Vorlage".
  
  
  5. Christina G states
  
  March 15, 2021 at 1:57 pm
  
  We have a one year agreement/ lease with our flat. We are required in the lease to offer a 2 month notice to terminate. My concern is, if we were to provide the 2 month notification and move out before completion of the contract term, are we still entitled to get our deposit back? And are we not required to pay the staying months rent? We are preparing to leave two months early, so 10 months of the 12 month agreement to offer context.
  
  April 28, 2021 at 9:15 pm
  
  If you provide two months notice, you can vacate faster, however youll still have to pay the 2 months in complete. This is unless you can work out with your property manager and get something in composing, e.g. by discovering a "Nachmieter" (new tenant) to take control of those two months for you. You'll get your deposit back eventually as long as everything is done contractually and you don't owe any money, but do not anticipate it to happen quickly. It can take 6 months in many cases to see the money.
  
  
  6. Jody says
  
  June 21, 2021 at 6:29 am
  
  If the residential or commercial property land tax and residential or commercial property insurance coverage are not stipulated on the operating expense in the rental contract, are we obliged to pay for them?
  
  September 10, 2021 at 7:08 am
  
  It's uncommon to hear of a renter being charged residential or commercial property tax and residential or commercial property insurance. Those are costs that the owner normally covers. Whether the owner then thinks about those two costs when calculating the rental expense per square metre is another story, obviously. I don't understand whether the owner is entitled to consist of those things particularly in the operating expense or not. And if they are neither specified in the operating expense nor consisted of in your cold rent, I would discover it odd for you as the tenant to then get those expenses. I 'd advise that you join the Mieterverein in your city and ask. Do not hesitate to report back, that is an odd one!
  
  
  7. Eunice says
  
  January 13, 2022 at 10:19 am
  
  Hi, my name is Eunice, I need a little aid, we found an apartment that we like however the agent informed us that the landlord will give us your home if we accept live there for the minimum of 3 years, so we asked them to decrease it the 3 years the representative stated is the brand-new law and if we need to break it, they will take our deposit. My concern now is, which law is that or is the representative attempting to require to sign to a long lease.
  
  Reply
  
  - Kathleen Parker says
  
  February 23, 2022 at 4:13 pm
  
  Much to my surprise, this is acceptable. Minimum rental terms can be up to 4 years. Here's more info.