This article is a personal experience of an Expat in Germany and the article has been made anonymous by the request of the user.

About me – I am an international student from India, studying in Berlin. I was living In shared accommodation for a year. I had to change my accommodation because of my sister, she was coming to live with me as she joined a university in Berlin as well. So, I had to inform my landlord that I would like to leave the apartment. The landlord was not so young and I believe she owns the entire building.

When I told my landlord about me moving out she started to find some random reasons to blame me for some damages in the apartment. I have also heard from my friends that most of the landlords try to deduct some money from caution claiming for damages caused. I was very careful that I did not create any issues during my stay in the apartment.

In my room, when it rains, the windows used to leak and the water ruins the walls. There was some damp in the room. Although it wasn’t my fault as I always closed the windows, the landlord said it is because of me and I need to pay for the damages. The damage cost was around €4000, predicted by the landlord. I was really shocked and scared as I didn’t know what to do.  All the documents and my contract was in German and I couldn’t understand it properly. Even before signing it did not read it fully, which was my fault. 

As an international student who doesn’t know all the laws, I needed some legal help in this matter and some direction as well. I came to know about MyHelpBuddy and thankfully, I got a Buddy who could translate and explain me the contract in English. They gave me a solution to ask her to call the insurance inspector to come and check the house. To be sure whose fault was that and if I am accountable in any way. I asked her to do that. The landlord said no to it and said the inspector will take the money and the landlord will not pay for it. But I was in contact with the Buddy already he said they can help me in scheduling the appointment for the inspection and if she doesn’t agree to it I don’t have to pay anything anyways. But finally, the landlord agrees and on the day of inspection, my Buddy also came to help me with all the translation and to help understand what is going on. 

After the inspection, the inspector said it was not my fault. And even if it was in any way: there is no proof to that and he gave me a copy of the report as well. My landlord didn’t have a choice as now I was with a native speaker assisting me, who knows the legal aspects and tried to defend if something was not appropriate. Finally, I did not have to pay for the damage and everything was settled.

 Some of my key learnings from the experience are

– Always read the contract and try to understand it before signing. The contract will be mostly in German, so it is always better to ask for help in such cases.

– Discuss with the landlord clearly about the damages which are already present when you move in. It is always better to take pictures and mail the landlord while moving in, so that it is recorded somewhere.

– Get awareness on damages for which you have to pay and for which you do not. Especially, if it is in the contract it will be good but try to discuss with the landlord about this as early as possible. For example, if you have “Schimmel” (mould), if there is an issue with heater or windows and so on.

– In case of any in depth discussion/arguments about deduction in caution, always try to have a native speaker who knows the laws in Germany.

– If you end up with some issues, you can also go to the Mietverein and get legal support and advice from them. They might speak only German, but you can ask a friend or get an interpreter for such visits.

I hope my experience and learnings would create at least some awareness for the newcomers!

If you would like to know about Mietverein, you can check the article here. Also, you can check out the topics that you must definitely discuss with your landlord before signing the contract here.