Service for Tenants
Do you have questions regarding your lease or the house in which you are living? In our FAQ for tenants we have answered your most common questions so that you can easily access information outside our office hours or withouth waiting on the phone. The answers provided are a guide and may not hold true for your individual case. Therefore, we do not assume any legal responsibility for the correctness of the answers. Furthermore, we provide the most common forms that you may need during your tenancy in our download area.
If your questions were not answered, please contact us using our contact form or by phone during our office hours: Monday and Friday 9-12am and Wednesday 2-5pm phone: 030-895966 31.
What do I do if I detect damage in my house?
If it is an emergency, such as a burst pipe or escaping gas, please call us directly. If you notice the damage outside our office hours, please call the emergency numbers on the poster in your building. If it is not an acute emergency, you can report the problem through our contact form for damage reports. Please describe the damage and send clear photos. Do not forget to enter your tenant number so that we can call you back.
What should I do in an emergency?
If you need assistance in an emergency outside our office hours, please call the emergency numbers on the poster in your building. It can be found in the entrance area of your house.
When do I have to pay the rent?
Generally, rent has to be paid monthly in advance and is due on the first day of the calendar month (and no later than 3 business days thereafter). The pay day of the rent is regulated by law and is determined in our tenancy agreement. To ensure that this deadline is met, you can grant us a SEPA direct debit mandate and we can debit it from your account automatically on this date.
How can I grant the SEPA direct debit mandate?
Fill out the form for the SEPA direct debit mandate in our download section and send us a signed copy by email or by post. For the cancellation of a mandate, please send us a note via email with a request for cancellation of the debit authorization. Your bank details and the mandate will be deleted immediately.
What do I do if my name has changed?
Please fill out the name change form in our download section and return it to us signed together with the relevant certificate or your scanned ID card via email.
What do I do if my bank details have changed?
Please enter your new bank account details on the appropriate form in our download section and send us a signed copy by email. If you want to participate with a new account number in the SEPA direct debit you need to send us a new SEPA mandate showing your changed details.
What do I have to do if I want to sublet parts of my flat?
Please fill out the appropriate form in our download area and send it to us together with the scanned ID card of the future subtenant so we can refer the decision to the owner. We will do our best to quickly respond. Please note that by subletting, additional costs may occur that will be charged in addition to your regular rent. Despite any subletting, you alone stay the main tenant and are responsible for the upkeep of the leased property as well as the timely payment of rent. You are authorized to sublet only after approval of your request.
When do I get the utility bill?
Our payroll period for the heating and operating costs is the calendar year. As the representatives of your landlords we are required by law to settle the yearly utility bill within the following year. Since the bills we receive for utilities often arrive very late we cannot finish the utility bill before the summer of the following year. However, the tenant's payroll for a calendar year must be received by you no later than 31.12. of the following year.
Can I terminate the lease early?
A lease has usually an indefinite period. Without exceptional agreements the lease has to be terminated with the statutory notice period of 3 months. The tenancy can only be terminated earlier when the next tenant takes over the lease. You are free to suggest a new tenant. The candidates will have to fill in the application form in our download area and send us an email with the necessary documents (scan of their passport, Schufa-information, last 3 pay checks).
How do I cancel the contract?
The termination of the tenancy must be in writing and must be signed by hand by all tenants of the rental agreement. Usually this means that a termination cannot be done via email. The paper form can only be replaced by electronic form if a qualified electronic signature is provided. For this you need a qualified certificate and a clearly identifiable signature that is not included in normal emails in the legal sense. As template, you can use the form in our download area.
What do I do if I want to cancel the tenancy agreement but am not the only tenant?
If you have rented your home or office together with other tenants the contract has to be cancelled by all parties. In this case the tenancy agreement cannot be terminated by one tenant alone. However, it is possible to apply to leave the lease. We have to forward this request to the owner so please fill out the appropriate form in our download section and send us a signed copy.
When do I get my deposit back?
The deposit will usually be returned 3 months after the return of the flat. Usually the landlord keeps a part of the deposit to pay any interest on the utility bill. We ask you to send us your current bank details after you move out so that we can transfer the deposit to your account directly.
What do I do if our rubbish bins have not been emptied?
If the rubbish or recycling has not been collected, please inform us so we can contact the appropriate disposal service. Often we can subsequently obtain a free emptying.
What if the meter reader is coming but I cannot be home?
Upon notification of the date for the reading a telephone number for enquiries is provided. Contact the number of the heating service and ask for a new appointment. If the heating service cannot enter the flat on the agreed date additional costs will be incurred.
What do I have to do to submit a tenant complaint?
If you want to submit complaints, such as ongoing noise disturbance, we ask you to write a noise protocol and send us a signed copy – ideally find witnesses to verify your complaint. Templates can be found in our download area.
Mietendeckel/MietenWoG Bln - And now?
What happens now?
Until 23.04.2020
Information on the calculation of the rent : With our information letter we have fulfilled our legal obligation and informed you about the circumstances relevant for the calculation of the rent for your apartment.
Until 22.11.2020
Reduction of the net or gross cold rent when the rent levels defined by law are exceeded. (see rent table): Do you as a tenant have to do anything? No. If you are affected by the reduction, you will be informed without being asked before 22.11.2020. This letter will then explain all further steps to you.
In order to check in advance whether your net or gross cold rent is possibly affected by a reduction, the following points are decisive:
- the upper limits specified in § 6 MietenWoG Bln,
- the location of the apartment you live in,
- the existence of a modern standard according to § 6 MietemWoG Bln,
- whether modernisation measures have been carried out in accordance with § 7 MietenWoG Bln and
- whether the apartment is located in a building with more than two apartments
The rent thus determined may be exceeded by up to 20 percent. Only what exceeds this is considered excessive and may have to be temporarily reduced.
Downloadlist (Documents are only in German)
