Tenant's reply to a rent increase request (Germany)
Germany · in German · for tenants
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A tenant's reply in Germany to the landlord's request for consent to a rent increase under § 558 of the German Civil Code (BGB): full consent, consent to part of the increase, or refusal, with reasons if you wish. You have until the end of the second calendar month after the request arrives; if you consent, the new rent is owed from the third month (§ 558b BGB). Points to check are the local comparative rent in the rent index (Mietspiegel), the cap, the 15-month wait and the reasons given (§§ 558, 558a BGB). After a refusal the landlord may sue for consent within a further three months. In German, to print, have every tenant sign and deliver with proof.
- Made for use in Germany
- Last updated October 27, 2026
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- Your landlord in Germany is asking you to agree to a higher rent.
- The rent increase seems too high and you only want to agree to part of it.
- The time to answer the landlord's rent increase letter is running out.
- You want to accept the rent increase in writing or refuse it with reasons.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Tenant
- Tenant's address
- Landlord
- Landlord's postal address (street, then postcode and town on the next line)
- City
- Date
- Date of the landlord's rent increase request
- Address of the property
- Date of the contract
- Date the rent increase request reached you
- Your answer: full consent, partial consent or refusal
- Previous rent
- New rent
- Net rent you agree to, in euros (partial consent only)
- Increased rent from (start of the third calendar month after receipt)
- Reasons for refusing or agreeing only in part, e.g. rent index, cap, waiting period (optional)
Common questions
- By when must I answer a rent increase request in Germany?
- By the end of the second calendar month after the request reaches you: if it arrives in October, the deadline is 31 December (§ 558b(2) BGB). If you consent, the higher rent is owed from the start of the third calendar month after receipt (§ 558b(1) BGB) — in the example, from 1 January. Silence is not consent; the landlord may then sue for consent within a further three months. Instead of answering you may also give special notice to end the lease (§ 561 BGB) — that is a separate letter, the tenant's notice.
- When can a tenant in Germany refuse a rent increase, wholly or in part?
- When the conditions of § 558 BGB are not, or not fully, met: the new rent exceeds the local comparative rent, for example in the rent index (Mietspiegel); the rent will not have been unchanged for 15 months when the increase takes effect; the increase exceeds 20 per cent in three years, or 15 per cent where a Land ordinance says so (the cap); or the request gives no reasons or leaves out the figures of a qualified rent index (§ 558a BGB). With a graduated or index-linked rent, a § 558 increase is excluded. You may consent to the justified part and refuse the rest.
- How do I consent to a rent increase in Germany, and what if there are several tenants?
- The law prescribes no form for consent; even paying the new rent several times without reservation can count as consent. For proof, answer in writing: print, sign and deliver so that you can show it arrived, for example by hand against a receipt or through a messenger. If several people signed the lease, all must consent, and each signs the reply. Consent with conditions attached can count as a refusal — so consent clearly to a stated amount.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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