Rent grace period brandenburg, germany

When residential tenants in Brandenburg fall into arrears, landlords must navigate the specific protections provided by the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch – BGB), which originally came into force on 1 January 1900. Under German residential tenancy law, interest rates are lower and consumer protections are significantly stronger than in commercial transactions.

Occurrence of Payment Default

Residential rent is generally (unless defined otherwise in the contract) to be paid in advance in accordance with § 556b BGB, no later than the third working day of the respective time period (mostly the month).

If the tenant does not pay on time, they automatically fall into payment default on the following day (without the need for a reminder from the landlord).

The Statutory Default Interest Rate

The BGB provides a specific interest rate for defaults involving consumers (residential tenants):

According to § 288 Para. 1 BGB, the statutory default interest rate for legal transactions in which a consumer is involved is five percentage points above the respective base interest rate.

The base interest rate is newly determined by the German Bundesbank semi-annually (on January 1st and July 1st). If this is, for example, 3.12% (as of late 2023), the landlord may demand 8.12% interest (p.a.) on the outstanding amount, calculated to the exact day.

The €40 Default Flat Rate (Non-Applicability)

A special feature in business transactions is § 288 Para. 5 BGB, which allows for a flat rate of 40 euros upon default. However, this explicitly does not apply to residential lease agreements.

• This flat rate is only applicable if the debtor is not a consumer.
• Since residential tenants are classified as consumers under German law, landlords cannot claim this €40 fee for late rent payments.
• Any attempt to include this fee in a residential lease agreement is generally invalid.

Immediate Termination and the Right to "Heal"

If rent payments repeatedly fail to materialize, this entitles the landlord to an extraordinary termination without notice in accordance with § 543 Para. 2 BGB.

The landlord may terminate without notice if:

1. The tenant is in default with the payment of the rent (or a not insubstantial part) for two consecutive dates,
2. or accumulates a payment backlog over a longer period that reaches two full months' rent.

Healing in Residential Leases: The essential difference to commercial law is the right to "heal" the termination. In residential tenancy law, an extraordinary termination due to payment default becomes invalid if the landlord is satisfied with respect to the outstanding rent claims within a court-granted grace period after receiving the immediate termination. If the tenant settles the debt completely within this period, the termination is "healed" and the lease continues. Legal actions for eviction are handled by the Amtsgericht (for values up to €5,000) or the Landgericht (for values exceeding €5,000) within the Brandenburg court system.

Landlord's Lien

If the outstanding payment cannot be collected, the landlord is entitled to the Landlord's Lien (Vermieterpfandrecht) for residential properties under § 562 BGB. They may retain seizable items that the tenant has brought into the rooms as security and satisfy their claims from the proceeds of their sale. This right applies to residential properties just as it does to commercial ones.

How Landager Helps

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