The legally sound German lease: a 10-point checklist
From rent structure to deposit clause: what no residential lease should lack – and which clauses to strike.
Guides
Guides on German rental law, utility costs, maintenance and shared living – practical and precise.
★ Article of the weekIndividual vs. common property in German condos: who pays for what?
Windows, pipes, balconies, heating: the dividing line under §§ 5, 13, 14 WEG – with the classic disputes.
Read now →Terminating for rent arrears in Germany
When arrears justify summary termination, how the cure payment works, and why the auxiliary ordinary termination is decisive.
Eviction proceedings in Germany: process, duration, cost
From the failed demand to enforced eviction: a realistic timeline and budget for a German eviction case, including the cost-saving "Berlin model".
Rent increases to the comparative rent: § 558 BGB step by step
Justification tools, the consent procedure and the claim deadline: making a German rent-increase demand formally watertight.
Caretaker costs in German service charges
Which caretaker duties are recoverable, how repair and admin shares must be carved out, and what documentation courts expect.
Organising winter service for German properties
Clearing and gritting duties, valid delegation to tenants or contractors, and the documentation that holds up in court.
The German property tax reform and your service charges
New assessment values, state-level variants and pass-through to tenants: what the Grundsteuer reform changes in practice.
Maintenance reserves in German condominium associations
How much reserve is adequate, when special levies apply, and how withdrawals are approved in a WEG.
Legionella testing under the German Drinking Water Ordinance
Testing duties, intervals, thresholds – and the immediate steps required after a positive result.
Premises safety duties (Verkehrssicherungspflicht) for landlords
Snow clearing, tree checks, playgrounds: what German courts expect owners to inspect, and how duties can be delegated.
Subletting and Airbnb in Germany: what needs permission
Partial subletting under § 553 BGB, short-term rentals and municipal misuse bans – the legal framework.
Rent caps in Germany: Mietpreisbremse and Kappungsgrenze explained
Where the German rent brake applies, how the increase cap works, and the exemptions landlords should know. (No clean English equivalents exist – we keep the German terms.)
Terminating a lease for personal use (Eigenbedarfskündigung)
When a German landlord may reclaim a flat for own use, the notice periods involved, and how hardship objections work.
Rent reduction for defects under German law
Mould, heating failure, construction noise: how much reduction is reasonable and the procedure both sides should follow.
Schönheitsreparaturen: which decoration clauses still hold up
Rigid schedules, quota clauses and unrenovated handovers – where Germany's Federal Court of Justice stands today on decoration duties.
The German modernisation levy: passing on 8% correctly
What counts as modernisation, how the § 559 BGB levy is calculated, and the caps that protect tenants.
Recoverable service charges: the 17 categories of the BetrKV
From property tax to garden maintenance – which operating costs German landlords may pass on, and which never qualify.
Umlageschlüssel: choosing the right cost allocation key
Area, headcount, consumption or equal shares – how German buildings allocate operating costs and when the key can change.
Germany's CO2 cost-sharing act: the ten-tier model
Since 2023, carbon costs are split between landlord and tenant based on building efficiency – how the tier model appears in statements.
Mould in rental flats: causes, evidence and who pays
Ventilation habits or construction defect? How causation is established and how remediation costs are assigned.
House rules and quiet hours in German buildings
Midday rest, night-time quiet, Sunday laundry: which rules bind residents and how they are enforced.
Hausgeld and the WEG budget: what owners pay and why
How the annual budget under § 28 WEG is set, what the monthly Hausgeld covers, and when adjustments are allowed. ("Hausgeld" has no clean English equivalent – we keep the German term.)
Understanding and checking the WEG annual accounts
Income, expenses, reserve movements: how to read the German condo annual statement and which errors justify an objection.
EV charging in German condo garages: your § 20 WEG right
Since 2020, owners can demand permission for charging infrastructure – how to enforce the claim and who pays.
Balcony solar in German condos: privileged since 2024
Plug-in solar is now a privileged structural change under § 20 (2) WEG – the community only decides the how, not the whether.
The German apartment handover protocol
Meter readings, defects, keys: what belongs in the protocol and its evidentiary weight in court.
Energy certificates for German properties
Demand vs. consumption certificate, mandatory listing disclosures and fines: §§ 79 ff. GEG in brief.
Preparing the owners' meeting properly
Invitation deadlines, agenda, proxies and quorum rules: the § 24 WEG checklist.
The German Heating Costs Ordinance (HeizkostenV) in practice
Consumption share, base costs and mid-year tenant changes: how heating costs must be split between 50/50 and 70/30.
The 12-month deadline for German utility statements
Miss the deadline, lose the balance: how the strict cut-off in § 556 (3) BGB works and how to never miss it.
Handling security deposits correctly under § 551 BGB
The three-month cap, insolvency-protected escrow, instalment rights and returning the deposit – a complete guide.
Smoke detector requirements across German states
Installation duties, maintenance responsibility and liability – the state-by-state rules for rental homes.