Last year was generally a good year for renters. First came the rent cap, then the Federal Court of Justice ruled in favor of tenants in the disputed issue of apartment handover and on June 1, 2015, the so-called buyer principle for brokerage contracts came into force. Anyone who wants to rent an apartment today can look forward to a number of advantages.
Tip for renting an apartment – judgment on apartment renovations
The renovation of rental apartments after the end of the tenancy agreement often leads to disputes between tenants and landlords. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled in favor of the tenants in mid-March 2015. If an apartment is handed over unrenovated, clauses regarding cosmetic repairs are per se invalid. “The renovation clause puts the tenant at an unreasonable disadvantage. Because he has to remove the traces left by the previous tenant. “In addition, he may have to return the apartment to the landlord in a better condition than he received it,” says Dietlind Weinland, spokeswoman for the Federal Court of Justice. This means that if the apartment is not handed over to a freshly renovated apartment, you only have to leave it in a “broom-clean” condition and do not have to freshly paint the apartment. Millions of rental contracts are affected and millions of tenants breathed a sigh of relief when the Federal Court of Justice announced the verdict.
Bundestag decides on rent control
The rent cap protects tenants in metropolitan areas from large price jumps when changing apartments and overpriced rental contracts. The new decision: For new rentals, the rental price may in future be no more than ten percent above the local reference rent. Justice Minister Maas sees the rent cap as a benefit for 400,000 tenants and a total of five million apartments. However, the rent control is temporary and limited to certain regions. Critics therefore fear that the new law will have little effect.
Renting an apartment with an agent – the buyer principle
The new law stipulates that when renting the property, the person who commissioned it must pay the agent. “The current practice of the agent looking for a tenant for the landlord and then passing the costs on to the tenant will no longer be possible,” says Justice Minister Maas.
Since the beginning of June last year, a tenant has only had to pay an agent if he has asked him in writing to explicitly look for an apartment for him and he then rents this apartment. A broker can charge a tenant up to two net rent plus VAT if he has successfully brokered a rental apartment. Tenants can now save this amount.
Pay the rental deposit with a bank guarantee
There are other benefits for renters that many renters probably don't even know exist. This means that tenants do not have to pay the depositdefinitely at oncepay yourself. Some banks offer oneBank guarantee for the deposit: The tenant does not have to pay the deposit to the landlord, but keeps his cash for himself. The respective bank takes over the deposit obligation towards the landlord instead of the tenant. The tenant pays for this annually, for example: B. 3.5% of the rental deposit amount to the bank as interest. “A bank guarantee is generally possible for all people who have their main residence in Germany and are at least 18 years old – provided they have a good credit rating,” explains Ulf Meyer from SWK Bank. If the landlord makes use of the guarantee after the end of the rental, the bank usually pays out on first request and the customer receives information requesting payment of the guarantee amount within a certain period of time. Alternatively, a loan can be taken out using the guarantee amount.
Save taxes with operating costs
What very few tenants also know: Even if you haven't hired a cleaning lady or a craftsman, you can get money back with your next tax return. These services do not have to be booked yourself; it is sufficient if the landlord takes care of this. The tax authorities have been involved in household-related services since 2003 - and since 2006, taxes can also be recovered using tradesmen's invoices.20% of labor costscan be deducted directly from tax - the upper limit for household-related services is 4,000 euros and for craftsmen's services it is 1,200 euros. So if costs for caretaker, property management, building cleaning, winter service, pest control, meter reading or landscape gardening arise in the operating cost statement, these can be deducted at 20 percent.
