Termination of apartment
Termination terminates the contractual relationship between the two contracting parties. With regard to termination, a distinction must be made between ordinary termination and extraordinary termination. There are also differences in who terminates the rental agreement: the tenant or the landlord.
Ordinary termination by the tenant
If you cancel your apartment/room, you must take into account a three-month notice period. The termination must be received by the landlord in writing by the end of the month and requires the signature of all tenants in the apartment. (As long as all tenants are mentioned in the rental agreement.) There is no need to provide reasons for the termination.
If the current month is to be taken into account in the notice period, the notice of termination must be received by the landlord by the 3rd of the corresponding month. If the letter does not reach the landlord until after the 3rd of the month, this will only take effect from the following month.
TIP:
To avoid a rude awakening when the apartment is handed over and the landlord refuses to accept the apartment in question, it is advisable to arrange a pre-acceptance appointment with the landlord in advance. At this meeting it can be determined which cosmetic repairs the tenant may have to make before handover.
ATTENTION: There are sometimes separate notice periods for student halls of residence!
Exceptions to the statutory protection against dismissal apply to student halls of residence, which provide for a time limit on the rental period and a rotation of tenants. This regulation is intended to enable as many students as possible to live in a dormitory.
Ordinary termination by the landlord
The residential unit can be terminated on time if the landlord has a legitimate interest. This applies in particular to breaches of contractual obligations, to the landlord's claim to use the property for his own use and to the prevention of the landlord from appropriate economic exploitation. The letter of termination must provide information on the exact reasons for termination as well as information on the tenant's ability to object.
Staggered notice periods apply for termination by the landlord. For a rental period of less than five years, the notice period is three months; after a rental period of 5 years, the notice period is extended to 6 months and from eight years to 9 months.
If you receive notice of termination from your landlord, it is important to remain calm for the time being. First, you should file an objection and demand that the rental agreement be continued, otherwise this will cause unjustifiable hardship for you and your family. You should then discuss all other interests with the tenants' association or with your lawyer.
Extraordinary termination without notice
In exceptional cases, the landlord can terminate the contract extraordinarily. However, this can only be done if there is an important reason and the tenant has already received a warning in advance with a threat of termination. Important reasons can be: gross insult to the landlord, constant harassment of other residents, constant noise pollution, unauthorized subletting, persistent late payment of rent, significant risk to the rented property.
The tenant also has the option to terminate the contract extraordinarily if continuing the rental agreement would be unreasonable. This occurs, for example, if the rental property is significantly impaired (unreasonable room temperature due to heating failure in winter).
