How to sign a rental contract

A rental contract is the single document that decides what you pay, for how long, and what happens when you leave. Most of it is standard — but the handful of clauses that are not standard are exactly the ones that cost people money years later. Here is what to read carefully, in the order you will meet it.

1. Check the parties and the flat

The contract has to name the actual landlord, not just the agency. If you are renting from a company or a property manager, the owner should still be identifiable. Ask for a Vollmacht (power of attorney) if someone signs on the owner’s behalf.

Then check the flat itself is described correctly:

• Full address including floor and flat number — not just the building.
• Square metres. A stated size that is more than 10 % smaller than reality can be grounds for a rent reduction, so it is worth knowing the number you agreed to.
• Which rooms, cellar compartments, parking spaces, garden or bike storage are included.
• Whether the flat is let furnished, and if so, an inventory list as an annex.

If everyone who lives there should be a tenant, everyone signs. A partner who is not on the contract has no right to stay if you move out.

2. Understand what “rent” means in your contract

German contracts split rent into parts, and the number in the ad is rarely the number that leaves your account.

• Kaltmiete — the cold rent. This is the base figure everything else is calculated from, including the deposit cap.
• Nebenkosten / Betriebskosten — a monthly advance payment towards running costs (heating, water, waste, building insurance, caretaker, and so on).
• Warmmiete — cold rent plus that advance. It is not a fixed price: the advance is reconciled once a year.

Two things to check here. First, the contract should list which cost types are passed on — a blanket “all operating costs” reference to the Betriebskostenverordnung is normal and fine. Second, the annual statement (Nebenkostenabrechnung) has to reach you within twelve months of the end of the billing period. If it arrives later, the landlord generally cannot claim a back payment from you — though you can still claim a refund if you overpaid.

Rent that changes on a schedule

Look for one of these:

• Staffelmiete — rent steps written into the contract, each amount and each date named. A step must stay in place for at least twelve months.
• Indexmiete — rent tied to the consumer price index. Increases are predictable in method but not in size.
• Neither — in which case increases follow the ordinary rules, based on the local comparative rent.

In areas with a Mietpreisbremse, a new rent may generally not exceed the local comparative rent by more than 10 %. There are real exceptions — new builds, flats after a comprehensive modernisation, and cases where the previous tenant already paid more — and the landlord has to disclose which exception they are relying on. If the rent looks high for the street, ask which one applies.

3. Read the deposit clause on its own

The deposit (Kaution) is capped at three months’ cold rent. You are entitled to pay it in three equal monthly instalments, the first due when the tenancy starts — a clause demanding the whole sum up front does not override that right.

The money is yours; the landlord only holds it. It has to sit separately from their own assets and earn interest, which belongs to you. We go into deductions and refunds in Tenant deposit: rules and refunds.

4. Term and notice

Most contracts are open-ended (unbefristet). If yours has a fixed end date, the landlord must state a valid statutory reason for the limit in the contract itself — otherwise the tenancy counts as open-ended.

For an open-ended contract:

• You can give notice with three months’ notice, no reason needed, however long you have lived there.
• The landlord needs a legally recognised reason, and their notice period grows with your tenure — longer after five years, longer again after eight.

Watch for a Kündigungsverzicht, a clause where both sides waive the right to give notice for a period (often up to two years). It is common and can be valid — but it means you are committed for that whole time.

Note also that a lease agreed for more than a year must be in writing. If the written form is defective, the contract is generally treated as open-ended rather than void, which can work for you or against you.

5. Cosmetic repairs and the state you receive the flat in

Schönheitsreparaturen clauses shift painting and decorating onto the tenant. Courts have struck down a lot of them. Two patterns to recognise:

• A rigid schedule (“kitchen every three years, living room every five”) with no allowance for actual condition is generally invalid.
• If you receive the flat unrenovated and the contract still makes you responsible for cosmetic repairs, the clause is generally invalid without adequate compensation — you cannot be made to hand back a better flat than you got.

An invalid clause does not void the contract; it just means the obligation falls back to the landlord. Which is another reason to document the condition on day one.

6. House rules, pets, and subletting

• Hausordnung — usually an annex. Quiet hours, bin days, stairwell cleaning rota. Read it; it is part of the contract.
• Pets — a blanket ban on all animals is generally not enforceable. Small caged animals normally need no permission at all. Dogs and cats usually require consent, which cannot be refused arbitrarily.
• Subletting — letting a room to someone else needs the landlord’s permission, but if you have a legitimate interest that arose after signing, they generally cannot unreasonably refuse. Short-term holiday letting is a different matter and is usually prohibited outright.

7. Have your documents ready

You will normally be asked for some or all of the following. Prepare them as one PDF before you start viewing flats — the first complete application often wins.

1. Photo ID.
2. Proof of income — usually the last three payslips, or tax assessments if you are self-employed.
3. A SCHUFA-BonitätsAuskunft (credit report). Order it early; it is not instant.
4. Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung — confirmation from your previous landlord that you left no rent unpaid.
5. A WBS certificate, if the flat is subsidised housing.

A landlord may ask about your income and whether you can pay. Questions about pregnancy, religion, political affiliation or plans to have children are not fair game, and you are not obliged to answer them truthfully.

8. The handover is part of the deal

Do not sign the keys over without a written Übergabeprotokoll. It is not legally mandatory, and it is the single most useful document you will ever have as a tenant.

• Note every existing defect — scratched parquet, a chipped tile, a window that does not close. Photograph each one, with a timestamp.
• Record all meter readings (electricity, gas, water, heat) with the meter numbers.
• Count the keys, including cellar, letterbox and building keys, and write the number down.
• Both parties sign, and you keep a copy.

Ask for the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung at the same time. The landlord has to give you this confirmation, and you need it to register your address at the Bürgeramt — which you are required to do within two weeks of moving in.

Signing checklist

1. Landlord and all tenants correctly named; flat, floor and extras fully described.
2. Kaltmiete, Nebenkosten advance and Warmmiete each stated separately.
3. Any Staffel- or Indexmiete clause understood, with dates and amounts.
4. Deposit at most three cold rents, payable in three instalments.
5. Term and notice periods clear; any Kündigungsverzicht period acceptable to you.
6. Cosmetic-repair clause read against the actual condition of the flat.
7. Hausordnung, pet and subletting rules read.
8. Übergabeprotokoll signed, with photos and meter readings.
9. Wohnungsgeberbestätigung received; registration booked.
10. You hold a signed copy of everything, including all annexes.

If something in the contract was promised verbally — a repainted bedroom, a parking space, permission for a cat — get it written into the contract or an annex before you sign. A verbal promise is very hard to prove later.

This guide explains common practice in the German rental market and is meant as orientation, not legal advice. For a decision that costs you money, check your own contract and, if in doubt, ask a lawyer or a local tenants’ association (Mieterverein).