My first
flat as a young professional in Germany was shared with another girl who was
studying law. It was a conscious decision – I wanted to live with a German to
improve my German and coming straight from university, I was used to living in
shared accommodation. I knew I had to move out when over the course of several
weeks, the buzzer started ringing at all hours of the day and night. I heard
voices; lots of different male voices, giggling. One evening I got home around
5pm, tired after a hard day’s work. All I wanted was a cup of tea and to watch
some TV in peace. I turn the key and shut the door behind me. I see a pair of
shoes; male shoes. A pair of trousers. A shirt. I get to the entrance of my room and I
find underwear that I have to literally climb over in order to get into my room.
The trail continues all the way to her bedroom. Thank goodness they weren’t in
mine, I suppose.
So I handed
in my notice or “Kündigung”. In Germany, you have to give 3 months’ notice to
your landlord that you want to move out and do so by sending an official
letter. Otherwise you are still liable
to pay the rent or find someone else to move in after you – a so-called
“Nachmieter.” I wrote the letter, got a colleague to check my German and posted
it using good old Deutsche Post. I then moved out and the landlady (lawyer
student’s mother) verbally promised to transfer my deposit to my bank account.
Two months
later I received a threatening letter with lots of capital letters, exclamation
marks and bold print from said landlady stating that I still owed her rent,
money for bills, etc. because I hadn’t moved out the flat. Help! I am only 21
and this is my first really serious confrontation in German, in Germany and I
know nothing about the law here or my legal rights. Little did I know then that
it would not be my last …
I was
advised to go to the “Mieterverein” – a tenants’ protection union and learned
that problems with landlords are a common occurrence in Germany. They will
literally try anything on given half a chance. Surely there was no way she could get away
with this though? She was wrong – I was right! Is there no justice in Germany?
Put bluntly; no. Resistance is futile. I was essentially guilty until proven
innocent.
The
“Mieterverein” were very friendly and very sympathetic and once I paid my
yearly contribution of around 70 Euros, they wrote a few letters on my behalf. This
probably saved me from a court battle (I had no legal insurance anyway) and
meant that I ended up “only” losing my deposit and not having to pay her any additional
money.
Why did I lose?
Well, I learned that my beloved Deutsche Post provides not just one, but three
different registered post services:
“Rückschein”: someone has to sign on receipt –
this can be your neighbour, literally anyone, who picks up the letter on your
behalf
“Eigenhändig”:
the letter is only delivered to the addressee, who then also has to sign for it
“Einschreiben
Einwurf”: nobody has to sign – it is simply documented that the letter was
delivered to the addressee’s letter box
Apparently,
the only option that would have stood up in a court of law in my case was
registered post “Eigenhändig”. Otherwise I could say what I like; I had no
proof I had actually handed in my notice.
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