Berlin: additional rent payment? This tip can help you – guide

On Thursday (April 15) the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe declared the Berlin rent cap null and void. Now not only can the rent be increased again, but additional payments are also threatened.

Dr. Daniel Halmer, managing director of the legal service Conny Legal, knows what trick tenants can use to get their back payments back, at least in part.

When exactly are repayments threatened?

If the landlord has agreed a higher rent in the lease, which applies if the Constitutional Court overturns the law. To this end, the following addition “subject to the decision of the Constitutional Court” (or similar) must be included.

▶ ︎ This could also happen if the landlord had already announced a rent increase with this addition in the past few months.

What should tenants do?

Tenants must now immediately complain about the excessive rent to the landlord, before the landlord asks for additional payment. The complaint gives tenants a chance to claim back the additional payment from the rent cap.

Daniel Halmer: “The complaint attacks the old rent, which the landlord is referring to with his additional payment. In this way you initiate a procedure that lowers the rent with the rent brake. “

Here at Conny Legal you can create such a letter of complaint free of charge.

Tip: You can also send the letter by email, then you could be faster than your landlord.

Do I have to pay the higher rent then?

If a complaint is made, tenants should first pay the additional claim and the rent owed under the rental agreement with reservations in order not to risk termination.

Daniel Halmer: “You can inform the landlord in writing that future rent payments will be made with the proviso that the rent is reasonable. Alternatively, the reservation is simply declared in the purpose of the transfer. “