The Eviction and Termination Process in Lower Saxony: Landlord Guide

The termination of a tenancy by the landlord is subject to strict BGB regulations in Germany, designed to protect tenants from arbitrary terminations. In Lower Saxony, the same high hurdles apply as in the rest of the country.

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Legitimate Interest (Ordinary Termination)

If a landlord in Lower Saxony wishes to ordinarily terminate an open-ended lease, they need a legally recognized legitimate interest ("berechtigtes Interesse", § 573 BGB). Without such a lawful reason, an ordinary termination is invalid.

The three most common reasons for termination:

1. Personal Need (Eigenbedarf): The landlord needs the rented rooms for themselves, their family members (e.g., children, grandchildren, parents), or members of their household for residential purposes.
2. Significant Breach of Contractual Duties: Repeated unpunctual rent payments despite warnings, unauthorized subletting, or disturbances of the peace.
3. Economic Exploitation (Wirtschaftliche Verwertung): The continuation of the lease would prevent the landlord from an appropriate and necessary economic exploitation of the property, causing them significant disadvantages (Example: demolition and new construction of more profitable residential complexes). A mere sale is not a sufficient reason ("Purchase does not break rent").

Statutory Notice Periods

The landlord's notice period depends on the tenant's length of residence:

: The termination must be received by the tenant no later than the 3rd working day of a month for the current month to be counted.

Termination Block Period in Lower Saxony

If rented living space is converted into a condominium and sold during a tenancy, the tenant enjoys a protection period against termination for personal need after the new purchase (§ 577a BGB). This is 3 years nationwide. Through the Tenant Protection Ordinance, municipalities in Lower Saxony (e.g., Hanover, Göttingen, Braunschweig) can increase this blocking period to up to five years.

Termination Without Notice (Extraordinary Termination)

In the event of severe misconduct by the tenant, a termination without notice according to § 543 BGB is permissible. Most common reasons:

• Default of Payment: The tenant is in arrears for two consecutive months with the payment of the rent or a not insignificant part. Alternatively: The tenant is in arrears over more than two dates with an amount that reaches two months' rent.
• Neglect of the Rented Property: The tenant significantly endangers the apartment through insufficient care.
• Disturbance of the Peace: Massive criminal offenses, insults against the landlord, or extreme noise despite previous warnings.

Attention: In the case of termination due to rent arrears, the tenant can invalidate the termination by paying the debts in full (including a grace period of up to 2 months after the eviction lawsuit is pending) ("Healing").

The Eviction Lawsuit (The Judicial Route)

If the tenant does not move out by the end of the deadline despite a valid and delivered notice of termination, the landlord may not arbitrarily change the locks (prohibited self-help). Instead, legal action must be taken:

1. File an Eviction Lawsuit: This is filed with the locally competent local court (Amtsgericht, e.g., in Lower Saxony, Amtsgericht Hanover or Amtsgericht Lüneburg).
2. Court Proceedings: The court examines the validity of the termination (e.g., formal errors, actual existence of personal need).
3. Obtaining the Eviction Title: After a positive verdict, a bailiff can be commissioned.
4. Forced Eviction: The bailiff announces the eviction and, if necessary, carries it out with the help of the police and moving companies (Berlin model or regular eviction).

Eviction lawsuits in Germany can take between 6 and 18 months and cause high advance costs (court and attorney fees).

Formal Requirements for Termination

A landlord's termination must imperatively:

• Be in writing (exclusion of email, SMS, or WhatsApp) and personally signed (§ 568 BGB).
• Justify the reason for termination sufficiently and in comprehensible detail.
• Contain a reference to the tenant's statutory "right of objection" (social clause according to § 574 BGB) as well as the form and deadline for the objection.

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