Required Disclosures in Lower Saxony: Obligations for Landlords

Landlords in Lower Saxony have various education, disclosure, and information obligations towards potential and existing tenants, which are shaped both nationwide (GEG) and by Lower Saxony state law. Failure to comply with these obligations can result in fines or rent reductions.

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1. Energy Performance Certificate (GEG)

According to the Building Energy Act (GEG), landlords have a strict nationwide obligation to present the Energy Performance Certificate (Energieausweis):

• During Viewing: The prospective tenant must be given access to a valid energy certificate (unprompted or on a clearly visible notice) no later than at the viewing appointment.
• Contract Conclusion: After signing the contract, a copy or the original of the energy certificate (or at least an extract from it) must be handed over.
• In Real Estate Ads: required mandatory information (e.g., energy efficiency class, energy source) from the energy certificate must already be included in commercial rental advertisements (newspapers, online portals).

A violation of the obligation to present the certificate is an administrative offense and can be punished with fines of up to 10,000 euros.

2. Disclosure Obligation for the Rent Brake

In many cities in Lower Saxony (e.g., Hanover, Braunschweig, Oldenburg), the rent brake (Mietpreisbremse) applies. Landlords must provide information in text form unprompted (!) before concluding a contract if they demand a rent that is more than 10% above the local comparative rent:

• Explanation of the Exception: The landlord must state why the rent brake does not apply or may be exceeded.
• Previous Rent: If the landlord refers to grandfathering, they must inform the tenant how high the rent of the direct previous tenant was (excluding any rent increases in the past year).
• Modernizations: If exceptional circumstances exist due to detailed modernization measures, corresponding costs and measures must be listed in detail.
• New Construction: Proof that the apartment was first used and rented after October 1, 2014.

If the landlord does not provide this information before signing, they lose the right to the exception rent (which is above the rent brake), even if objective reasons existed.

3. Lower Saxony Building Code: Smoke Detectors

According to § 44 of the Lower Saxony Building Code (NBauO), there is a strict obligation to install smoke detectors.

• Obligation for Landlords: The owner of an apartment must equip bedrooms, children's rooms, and hallways through which escape routes from lounges lead with at least one functional smoke detector.
• Maintenance Obligation: In Lower Saxony, the landlord is generally also responsible for ensuring operational readiness (maintenance, annual inspection, battery change). Exception: The landlord has legally transferred this obligation to the tenant by contract.
• Landlords must ensure and document that smoke detectors are installed in all properties; otherwise, the landlord is civilly and criminally liable in the event of damage.

4. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Landlords process sensitive personal data and act as controllers within the meaning of the GDPR.

• When collecting data (self-disclosure, credit check), prospective tenants must be informed transparently according to Art. 13 GDPR, inter alia, about the purpose, the recipients, and the storage duration.
• All data protection information must be presented in writing in the model lease agreement or an enclosure.

5. Defects and Hidden Dangers

According to good faith, landlords are obliged to inform tenants upon or before the conclusion of the contract about extraordinary, externally unrecognizable, and severe defects in the rented property. These include, for example:

• Significant moisture or proven mold problems in the past
• Pollutant loads in walls or floors (asbestos in older buildings)
• Extreme planned noise pollution (e.g., neighboring major construction site, if the landlord knows this for sure)

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