Cancellation

Termination of the flat by the landlord

If the landlord wishes to terminate the lease, he must – unlike the tenant – have a reason for termination. The landlord must also comply with staggered notice periods depending on the tenant's length of residence. The initial notice period of 3 months is extended to 6 months after a tenancy period of more than 5 years and to 9 months after a tenancy period of more than 8 years.

The tenant can invoke reasons of hardship, the social clause, against the landlord's cancellation.

Social clause: The most important reason for hardship is ‘lack of alternative accommodation’. These are cases in which the terminated tenants cannot find a new flat under reasonable conditions. Other reasons for hardship include old age, invalidity, infirmity, pregnancy, children, difficulties changing schools or kindergartens, upcoming exams, low income, serious illness or long tenancy. There are often several of these reasons for hardship at the same time. This increases the chances of success of an objection to the cancellation.

Special right of termination: Tenants who move into a granny flat or live under the same roof as the landlord in a two-family house have practically no protection against termination. The landlord can terminate the tenancy without having to invoke a statutory reason for termination, such as personal use. However, in these cases the notice period for the tenant is extended by three months.

Life partner moving in: The landlord is not entitled to terminate without notice, nor with the statutory notice period, if the tenant takes his life partner into the rented flat without first obtaining permission from the landlord or notifying the landlord of the partner's move (LG Berlin 67 S 119/17).

Tenant loyal to contract enjoys protection against dismissal

A notice of termination may only be issued if there is a demonstrably legally recognised reason, e.g. personal use. However, if the landlord merely feigns a reason for termination, he is liable for damages.

Special protection when converting to owner-occupied flats

When converting to owner-occupied flats, the new owner can terminate the contract for personal use no earlier than three years after acquisition. Under certain conditions, the purchaser must even observe a waiting period (cancellation blocking period) of five to ten years. The period runs from the date of entry in the land register. In the case of converted social housing, this blocking period can last up to eight years. Point out to potential buyers that you are well aware of your property rights.

Partial cancellation

Partial cancellation, i.e. the cancellation of individual parts of the rental property in parts, is excluded by law. This means that if a garage has been rented together with the flat, it is not possible to terminate the garage separately. The flat and garage can only be terminated together; the cancellation protection provisions for residential premises apply. However, there is an exception: if the landlord wishes to use rooms or parts of the property to create new rental flats, he may terminate ‘non-residential ancillary rooms’ individually. This refers to attics, cellar rooms, storage rooms, gardens, parking spaces, etc.

Clauses in the tenancy agreement

Not everything in the tenancy agreement is legal. Caution is advised if the landlord insists on the tenancy agreement and demands money for repairs or administration costs, for example.

Termination of the flat by the tenant

Tenants can always terminate open-ended tenancy agreements with a notice period of 3 months. There is no longer a statutory extension of the notice period to up to 12 months, depending on the length of residence.

However, the tenancy agreement may deviate from the statutory notice period of 3 months in favour of the tenant. This means that if it is agreed in the tenancy agreement that a notice period of one month or just 14 days should apply for tenants, for example, this is effective. However, this only applies to ‘normal’, open-ended tenancy agreements. In the case of qualified or ‘genuine’ fixed-term tenancy agreements with reasons, it is not possible to terminate the agreement during the term of the contract. The same applies if a waiver or exclusion of cancellation has been agreed in the tenancy agreement. However, this may only apply for a maximum of four years.

However, anyone who concludes an open-ended tenancy agreement cannot always terminate and move out with three months' notice – if the word ‘waiver of termination’ or ‘exclusion of termination’ appears: Tenants and landlords can agree that cancellation is excluded for a period of up to 4 years. This means that tenants cannot get out of the tenancy agreement for up to 4 years.

If you rent a flat together with a partner or friends, you can only terminate the tenancy agreement together with your partner or friends if they have all signed it. Regardless of whether they are living together or sharing a flat, a tenant alone cannot effectively terminate and cancel the tenancy agreement. Even after moving out, they remain jointly responsible for rent payments in relation to their landlord.

Receipt of the cancellation

The written notice of cancellation must be received by the contractual partner on the third working day of a month at the latest if this is to count towards the expiry of the respective notice period. Saturday also counts as a working day, even if it is the third day of the notice period.

If the letter of cancellation is received later, the cancellation is not invalid, but the termination of the tenancy is postponed by one month.

Cancellation agreement

If tenants have to move to another city at short notice for professional or personal reasons, they should try to agree an early termination of the tenancy with the landlord. In some cases, the three-month period that tenants have to observe when giving notice of termination is too long. If the landlord agrees to draw up a so-called tenancy termination agreement, a date should be set in writing on which the tenancy ends. The landlord may require the tenant to provide a new tenant. It is generally advisable to record all agreements in a contract. Both tenant and landlord must sign the cancellation agreement.

Particularly important

Always check first, then pay.
And always ask in good time.

So:
before signing a tenancy agreement,
before moving house,
before paying a rent increase or service charge bill:

Come and see us. You'll save yourself trouble and money.
We know your rights inside out.

Print page

back to overview