Paying Rent? Know Your Rights.
Housing in Munich is expensive, and the market is highly competitive. That’s exactly why it pays to know your rights. If you pay rent, you have rights when searching for a flat, regarding the amount of rent, when there are defects, and when it comes to termination.
This overview is no substitute for professional advice. But it shows you where to look and who to turn to.
Your rights depend on who your rental agreement is with.
▸ Your own flat, or main tenant in a shared flat
How to tell: Your name is on the contract with the landlord.
What this means: All the rights on this page apply to you. If several of you in a shared flat are named on the contract, you are jointly liable for the full rent. If someone moves out, you need the landlord’s consent to replace them.
▸ Subtenant in a shared flat
How to tell: Your contract is with a flatmate, not with the owner.
What this means: Your rights are held against that person. They need the landlord’s permission to sublet (Section 540 BGB). If their main tenancy ends, you will usually have to move out as well.
Important: If that person lives in the flat themselves and has furnished your room, the same restrictions apply to you as for a “room in the landlord’s home” (see below). If the room is unfurnished, you have full protection.
▸ Room in the landlord’s home
How to tell: The person renting to you lives in the flat themselves and has mostly furnished your room.
What this means: No rent brake, very little protection against termination, and short notice periods (Section 549 (2) No. 2 BGB). Rules on deposits, rights regarding defects and the requirement that notice be given in writing still apply.
Protection against termination is similarly weak for a granny flat in the landlord’s house (Section 573a BGB).
▸ Student dormitory
How to tell: It is run by, for example, the Studierendenwerk or another dormitory operator, often with a limited maximum stay and rooms allocated according to fixed rules.
What this means: No rent brake, less protection against termination, and no obligation to pay interest on your deposit (Section 549 (3), Section 551 (3) BGB). Rights regarding defects, deposit rules and the written-form requirement for termination still apply here too.
Watch out: Not every “student apartment” is legally a dormitory. Private providers often use the label without actually being one. In that case, you have significantly more rights.
▸ Short-term sublet
How to tell: The contract is limited to a few weeks or months, e.g. over the semester break.
What this means: If the use is genuinely “temporary”, the rent brake and protection against termination do not apply (Section 549 (2) No. 1 BGB). If the sublet keeps getting extended, the situation may be different.
Not sure which applies to you? Have your contract checked by one of the advice centres.
▸ Beware of scams: Never transfer a deposit or any “fees” before you have seen the flat and have a contract. Don’t send copies of your ID beforehand either. Fake listings are very common in Munich.
▸ Agent’s commission: If the landlord hired the estate agent, you pay nothing (“whoever orders, pays” principle, Section 2 (1a) WoVermittG).
▸ Payment for furniture or a kitchen: If the price is more than roughly 50% above the actual value, the agreement is invalid to that extent. You can reclaim the amount you overpaid (Section 4a (2) WoVermittG).
▸ Tenant self-disclosure form: Questions about pregnancy, religion, ethnic origin or party membership, for example, are not allowed. You don’t have to answer them truthfully. Questions about your income and occupation, on the other hand, are permitted.
▸ Discrimination: Being turned down because of your ethnic origin or your name is prohibited under the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG). Get support – see Help & Advice.
▸ Deposit: No more than 3 months’ net basic rent (excluding utilities), payable in 3 monthly instalments. The first instalment is due when the tenancy begins. Landlords must keep the deposit separate from their own assets (Section 551 BGB). When you move out, you get it back with interest (except in student dormitories). However, landlords may take a few months to check the flat and may hold back part of it to cover the next utility bill.
▸ Handover report: When you move in, record all existing damage in writing and with photos, and have the report signed by both sides. That way, no one can blame you for old damage later.
▸ Registering your address: To register at the Bürgerbüro (citizens’ office), you need a landlord’s confirmation of residence (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung). Landlords are required to issue it to you (Section 19 BMG). If you are subletting, the main tenant issues it.
Munich has a rent brake (Mietpreisbremse). If you’re paying too much, you can claim money back. This does not apply to student dormitories, rooms in the landlord’s home or short-term sublets – see How do you live?
▸ Rent brake: At the start of a tenancy, the rent may be no more than 10% above the local comparative rent. The Munich rent index (Mietspiegel) gives you a guide. In Munich, the rule applies until the end of 2029 [check: final Bavarian Tenant Protection Ordinance] and also covers furnished flats. Only a reasonable surcharge is allowed for the furniture (Sections 556d et seq. BGB).
▸ Paid too much? Raise a complaint about the breach in text form – an email is enough. If you complain within 30 months of the start of your tenancy and still live in the flat, you get back everything you overpaid from the start of the contract. After that, you can only reclaim overpayments from the date of your complaint onwards (Section 556g BGB).
▸ Further exceptions: New builds (first let after 1 October 2014), the first letting after extensive modernisation, and cases where the previous tenant already paid a higher rent.
▸ Utility bill (Nebenkostenabrechnung): You must receive it no later than 12 months after the end of the billing period. If it arrives later, you don’t have to pay any additional amount. You are entitled to inspect the receipts, and you have 12 months after receiving the bill to raise objections (Section 556 (3) BGB). It’s worth checking: many bills contain errors.
Applies to all types of housing.
Report defects immediately in writing – an email is enough – and take photos. Set a deadline for the repair. From the moment you report it, you may reduce your rent until the defect has been fixed (Section 536 BGB).
How much depends on the individual case. If you withhold too much, you could in the worst case be given notice. So get advice before paying less, or keep paying the full rent “under reservation” for now.
Landlords generally need a legal reason to end your tenancy. For exceptions, see How do you live?.
Don’t let threats intimidate you.
▸ On paper only: A notice of termination is only valid on paper with a handwritten signature – not by WhatsApp, text message or email (Section 568 BGB). This applies to both sides, including when you give notice yourself. Applies to all types of housing.
▸ Fixed-term contracts: A fixed term is only valid if the contract states a specific reason for it (Section 575 BGB). Otherwise, your contract is usually treated as open-ended. In a standard-form contract, a waiver of the right to give notice is permitted for no more than 4 years.
▸ If you give notice: The notice period is 3 months (Section 573c BGB). You have no automatic right to end your tenancy early by finding a replacement tenant.
▸ Semester abroad? If you have a legitimate interest, such as a semester abroad, you are usually entitled to sublet part of your flat (Section 553 BGB). So you don’t have to give notice straight away.
▸ If your landlord gives notice: Only with a reason, for example needing the flat for themselves or a family member (Eigenbedarf). If moving out would cause you particular hardship, you can object. You must do so in writing, no later than 2 months before the end of the tenancy (Sections 574, 574b BGB).
▸ Rent arrears: If you pay everything you owe within 2 months of being served with an eviction lawsuit, the termination without notice becomes invalid (Section 569 (3) No. 2 BGB). This only works once within 2 years.
Watch out: an ordinary termination issued at the same time often remains valid. If you’re behind on rent, get advice immediately.
▸ No taking the law into their own hands: Changing the locks, cutting off the electricity or putting your belongings out on the street is prohibited (Section 858 BGB). An eviction can only take place with a court order. Applies to all types of housing, including student dormitories and sublets.
These organisations can advise you on your specific case:
▸ DMB Mieterverein München e.V.: Advice for members, annual membership fee.
▸ Law&Legal e.V.: Student-run legal advice
▸ MhM – Mieter helfen Mietern Münchner Mieterverein e.V.: Advice for members, annual membership fee.
▸ Tenancy advice service of the City of Munich (Mietberatung der Landeshauptstadt München)
▸ Legal advice service of the Studierendenwerk München (Rechtsberatung des Studierendenwerks München)
Further reading:
▸ mieterbund.de: Information from the German Tenants’ Association (Deutscher Mieterbund)
▸ gesetze-im-internet.de: Full text of all the laws mentioned (in German)
Last updated: October 2026. This page provides general information and is no substitute for individual legal advice.