When our team of MyHelpBuddy started surveying so called 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 (a 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 my cooking style when I told him that I will cook at least once a day in the WG. For me, personally I would prefer to eat home food once 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 room mates did not cook so often and even if they did 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 e-mail from him stating “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 inappropriate and I want you to leave my house within one week (translated from German).

I was shocked. I checked the hot plate again and found out that someone has removed the plug and when I tried it again, it worked. I mailed the landlord stating the situation but he replied that he wanted to kick me out as soon as possible belonging to “bad behaviour and notice free termination”. I haven’t 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 at least. He hasn’t given that and he told me to move out immediately.

I asked my room mates whether I have created any inconvenience to them in any way. Others said they are ok with me living with them together. I thought it’s 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 at least 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 got 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 a few days as well. This was so stressful and I couldn’t concentrate on my work neither. Finally, after many harsh mails from the landlord, I decided to move out within a few days and if I did not get one apartment immediately, I could have stayed in a hostel for a month”.