Landlord's payment reminder for unpaid rent (Germany)
Germany · in German · for landlords
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The reminder a landlord in Germany sends a tenant who is behind with the rent: the unpaid months and amounts, the total, a payment deadline and the account. Rent is due in advance by the third working day of the month (§ 556b of the German Civil Code, BGB); a tenant who does not pay is in default even without a reminder (§ 286(2) BGB) and owes default interest (§ 288 BGB). The letter states plainly from what level of arrears the lease can be ended without notice (§ 543(2), § 569(3) BGB), invites an instalment arrangement and points to the Jobcenter and social welfare office. No form is prescribed; deliver it so that you can prove it arrived. In German.
- Made for use in Germany
- Last updated October 27, 2026
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- Your tenant in Germany has not paid this month's rent.
- Your tenant has been paying only part of the rent for months and you want to demand the arrears in writing.
- The rent is missing again and you want to set a payment deadline before considering further steps.
- You want to remind your tenant politely but firmly about the unpaid rent.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Landlord
- Landlord's address
- Tenant
- Street and house number of the flat
- Postcode and town of the flat
- City
- Date
- Where the flat is in the building (e.g. 2nd floor left, flat 7)
- Date of the contract
- Amount of rent
- Months in arrears and the amount owed for each
- Amount of arrears
- Payment deadline
- IBAN
Common questions
- Must a landlord in Germany send a reminder before ending a lease for rent arrears?
- No. Ending the lease without notice for arrears needs neither a reminder nor a formal warning (§ 543(3), second sentence, no. 3 BGB), and because rent falls due on a fixed date, the tenant is in default without a reminder (§ 286(2) no. 1 BGB). A reminder still makes sense: it records the arrears, gives the tenant a chance to pay and clears up misunderstandings. If the tenant pays all the arrears before a notice reaches them, termination without notice on that ground is excluded (§ 543(2), second sentence, BGB).
- From what level of arrears can a lease in Germany be ended without notice, and what can the tenant still do?
- When the tenant is behind for two consecutive due dates with more than one month's rent, or over a period spanning more than two due dates with two months' rent (§ 543(2) no. 3 and § 569(3) no. 1 BGB); rent here means the basic rent plus the service-charge advances. If the tenant pays everything, or a public body such as the Jobcenter undertakes to pay, within two months of being served with the eviction claim, the termination without notice becomes ineffective (§ 569(3) no. 2 BGB) — but an ordinary notice given alongside it does not. The termination itself is a separate letter with both notices.
- How should a rent arrears reminder in Germany be delivered, and what interest is due?
- No form is prescribed; what matters is that you can prove it arrived (§ 130 BGB): hand it over and have receipt confirmed, or have a messenger who knows the contents put it in the letterbox. The tracking status of an Einwurf-Einschreiben (registered letter dropped in the letterbox) does not prove receipt (Federal Labour Court, 2 AZR 68/24). From default the landlord may charge interest at five percentage points above the base rate (§ 288(1) BGB); the Deutsche Bundesbank publishes the base rate each 1 January and 1 July.
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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