All questions & answers

A rent reduction (Mietminderung) means that as a tenant you are allowed to pay less rent if your apartment has defects that impair your quality of living. This right follows automatically from Section 536 of the German Civil Code (BGB) — you do not need to apply for approval. The rent is reduced by operation of law for as long as the defect exists.

No! The rent reduction takes effect by operation of law (automatically) as soon as a significant defect exists. You need neither consent nor a declaration. The defect notice is not a precondition for the reduction to arise — but it is what allows you to enforce and prove it.

The rent reduction is calculated from the gross warm rent — that is, the base rent plus all service charges. The amount depends on the type and severity of the defect. Example: with a gross warm rent of €1,000 and a reduction rate of 20%, you only pay €800. The rate is derived from court rulings in comparable cases.

The defect notice (Mängelanzeige) is a written notification to your landlord describing the defect and requesting its removal. Section 536c (1) BGB obliges you to report defects without delay. If you fail to do so, you lose the right to reduce only in so far as the landlord could not remedy the defect precisely because of the missing notice. If they knew about it anyway, the duty to notify falls away. We help you draft the notice in a legally sound way.

Careful — the risk starts earlier than most people think. The landlord may terminate without notice if you are in arrears with a not insignificant part of the rent on two consecutive dates (Section 543 (2) sentence 1 no. 3 (a) BGB). Under Section 569 (3) no. 1 BGB, 'not insignificant' already means more than one month's rent. Only over a longer period does the two-months threshold apply. Our recommendation: initially pay the full rent under reservation of rights and reclaim the difference later.

No. For residential tenancies, the right to a rent reduction cannot be waived (Section 536 (4) BGB). Clauses in the tenancy agreement that exclude the right to reduce are invalid.

The reduction takes effect when the defect arises, not only when you report it. If you paid the full rent in the meantime, you can reclaim the excess under Section 812 BGB. That only fails if you positively knew you were not obliged to pay in full (Section 814 BGB). Anyone who assumed a reduction required the landlord's consent did not have that knowledge.

Not necessarily. If the mould was caused by your own behaviour (incorrect airing or heating), the right to reduce does not apply. The burden of proof lies first with the landlord, who must rule out structural causes. There is, however, no defect where the mould stems from thermal bridges and the building complied with the rules in force when it was built.

The rent reduction applies for the entire period during which the defect exists. As soon as the defect has been remedied, you must pay the full rent again. There is no upper time limit.

If you pay the rent 'under reservation of rights', you reserve the right to reclaim overpaid rent. Note in the payment reference: 'Payment under reservation due to defect [description]'. This protects you from termination without notice and lets you reclaim the difference later. The Federal Court of Justice itself points tenants to this route.

The once-common rule that the right to reduce is forfeited after around six months of unreserved payment was based on Section 539 BGB in its pre-2001 wording and no longer applies in that form. Forfeiture under Section 242 BGB is an exception and requires both a time element and a conduct element. You should still act promptly — because of the evidence and the three-year limitation period.

During energy-efficiency modernisation works (e.g. thermal insulation), the rent reduction is excluded for 3 months (Section 536 (1a) BGB). After that you may reduce the rent. This only applies to energy-related measures, not to general modernisation.

There is no statutory deadline for the landlord to reply. What counts is the deadline you set for the repair: 14 days is usual, 3 to 7 days for urgent defects such as heating failure in winter, and immediately for emergencies such as a burst pipe. The deadline starts when the letter is delivered, not when you post it, so allow one or two working days. If it expires without the defect being fixed, your landlord is in default: you can reduce the rent, send a second letter with a final deadline, and claim damages or self-remedy under § 536a BGB. Pay the rent under reservation from the notice onwards and you can reclaim any overpayment later.

Only halfway. If you pay the arrears in full within two months of being served with the eviction claim, the termination without notice becomes ineffective (Section 569 (3) no. 2 BGB). An ordinary termination declared in the alternative is, however, unaffected. In practice landlords regularly terminate both without notice and, in the alternative, ordinarily — so you can still lose the apartment despite paying in full.