My bad experience with a landlord
This article is made anonymous by the request of the user. The article involves the statements from the user with no modification.
This article describes the story of a newbie who is from one of the most diverse countries in the world and faced a difficult situation with the new landlord in Germany.
When the team of myhelpbuddy.com started surveying newbies (newcomers to Germany) regarding the issues faced in the room search process, we came across a shocking story from one working professional, who has recently moved to the largest city in Germany.
” I came to Germany to kick start my work in the tech sector and before I came, I started searching for appropriate accommodation options. I got few appointments as soon as I came here, and in the initial days, I opted a hostel temporarily. I visited few houses and finally confirmed one which best suited me. It was a WG (shared apartment with 3 other people). I explained the landlord about my background, hobbies, cooking style and how i could easily adopt to a WG living. He was very kind and nice (or at-least seemed to be in the beginning). He accepted to my cooking style when I said that I will cook at-least once a day in the WG. For me, personally I would prefer to eat home food at-least once a day because it is not so easy to adapt to the European cuisine if you are from a country where home food is a very important part of people’s lives.
The first week went smooth and I did not cook much. The landlord had routine visits to the WG to check everything, which I felt a bit strange. One of my WG mate told me to be very careful with the landlord as he might also visit the individual rooms even when they are not there. I did not take it much seriously because I believed that they will not do such unprofessional activities.
In the second week, I started cooking everyday and on one particular day, the aroma of the spices which I used were strong and it stayed in the WG for quite sometime. The kitchen was designed poorly without proper ventilation, so we had to open the doors to let the aroma go out. This is very usual in that WG. The other three WG mates did not cook so often and even if they do so, they microwave some frozen foods which is fast and does not spread a strong aroma.
I did not ever think that this day will one of the worst in my initial days of German life. The next day, when I switched on my hotplate, it did not work. So, I have mailed the landlord stating that it was working fine until the previous day and on that day it did not work. I went to work and when I came back, I got an Email from him which stated “As soon as you came in, you have started creating problems. You have used the hotplate so frequently and you overloaded it. Your behavior in the WG was not good and I wanted to terminate the contract immediately. You have to move out within a week” (translated from German)
I was shocked. I checked the hot plate again and found that someone has removed the plug and when I tried again, it worked. I mailed the landlord stating this but he replied that he wanted to kick me out as soon as possible under “bad behaviour and notice free termination”. I have not come across such a clause in my contract. If the landlord has to kick me out, then he had to provide a written notice before 4 weeks atleast. He hasn’t given that and he told me to move out immediately.
I asked my WG mates whether I have created any inconvenience to them in any way. Others said they are ok with me being their WG mate. I found it so weird now, thinking why the landlord has to kick me out for something that I haven’t done at all. We had several email conversations and finally, I asked him to atleast give me one month time as I find it difficult to get new appointments because of the festive period. The conversation was so polite from my end but it wasn’t from the other side.
Now, I have 2 options, either fight or leave the WG asap so that I don’t lose focus on why I came to Germany. At the same time, it is not easy to get a room within few days as well. This has created me a lot of stress and I couldn’t concentrate on my work as well. Finally, after many harsh mails from the landlord, I decided to move within few days and if I did not get one, then I could stay in a hostel for a month” said the newbie
The newbie made us think many aspects in the process of room search and how one could avoid such bad situations very early.
Some of our inferences:
- It is strongly advisable to speak clearly with the landlord before moving in, about your lifestyle. If possible, get a written statement on the same
- Read the contract line by line. Since many of the contracts are in German, it is advisable to get inputs from someone who knows the language well
- If you are in a WG, it is advisable to open the windows while cooking to let the aroma go out
- In a WG, it is very important to have the chemistry with the mates, be open for discussions, issues and activities
- Ask for help well in advance, with people who have come across similar issues
- Notice period, termination notice and all other information has to be given in written (a letter handed over to them personally or by post, with your signature). If you send it by post, please have a copy or send registered letters (Einschreiben or Einschreiben Eigenhändig)
This story made our myhelpbuddy team think about all possible supports that we should offer to the newbies to avoid such situations. So, we have created a platform which connects newbies and buddies (mentors) who are willing to support others in aspects like room search, city orientation, legal advice, contract translation and many more. If you require support in such activities, connect with buddies who are ready to support newbies by posting your request at myhelpbuddy.com
If you are someone who would like to support newbies, give advice and help them avoid such situations, do join us in our mission and BE A BUDDY.
Additionally, if you like to get tips and tricks for “Life in Germany”, sign up with myhelpbuddy and get interesting articles, tips, experiences from buddies and more..