Securing Your Rental Deposit (Kaution): A Guide to Your Rights

A German rental deposit (Mietkaution or Kaution) is capped by law at three months' net cold rent (Kaltmiete). You can pay it in three monthly instalments. The landlord must keep it separate from their own money, in an account earning the usual savings interest, and that interest belongs to you.

There is no fixed legal deadline for getting it back. The landlord may take a reasonable time to check for claims. If an operating-cost statement is still outstanding, they may keep back a reasonable part of the deposit.

The rules come from § 551 BGB. Any lease clause that puts you in a worse position than the statute is void.

The legal rules in one table

Example: Kaltmiete €900, Nebenkosten advance €220. The maximum deposit is 3 × €900 = €2,700, not 3 × €1,120. You may pay €900 with the first rent, then €900 with each of the next two rents.

Asking for "a deposit plus a separate guarantee" or an extra cash amount on top of three months is also capped. In total, the security cannot exceed the legal maximum.

Ways to provide the deposit

1. Cash deposit in a deposit account (Mietkautionskonto)

This is the standard option. The landlord opens a dedicated deposit account, or you open a savings account and pledge it to the landlord (verpfändetes Sparbuch). Both protect the money if the landlord becomes insolvent, because it is kept apart from their assets. Ask for written confirmation of where the deposit is held.

2. Deposit guarantee or deposit insurance (Mietkautionsbürgschaft / Kautionsversicherung)

An insurer or bank gives the landlord a guarantee in place of cash, and you pay an annual premium.

• You need the landlord's agreement. You have no right to replace a cash deposit with a guarantee.
• Cost: the German Insurance Association (GDV) cites premiums of roughly 5% of the deposit per year. On a €2,700 deposit that is about €135 a year, and you never get it back.
• Claims come back to you. If the landlord claims against the guarantee, the insurer pays and then recovers the money from you.

Over a five-year tenancy, premiums of about 5% a year add up to roughly a quarter of the deposit, paid as fees. Stiftung Warentest generally advises against this option. It makes sense mainly as a short bridge when cash is tight at move-in.

3. Bank guarantee (Bankbürgschaft)

Your bank guarantees the amount, typically for a fee and with the amount blocked against your credit line. As with insurance, the landlord must accept it.

Protect the deposit at move-in

Most deposit disputes are about the flat's condition. The evidence you collect on day one decides most of them.

• Do a joint walk-through and sign a handover protocol (Übergabeprotokoll) listing every existing defect.
• Take dated photos and video of floors, walls, kitchen, bathroom and windows.
• Record all meter readings.
• Keep your copy of the signed protocol.

The handover protocol guide has a room-by-room checklist.

What the landlord can deduct

The landlord may offset legitimate, provable claims arising from the tenancy:

• Unpaid rent.
• Damage beyond normal wear and tear. Normal use (vertragsgemäßer Gebrauch), such as light furniture marks or faded paint, is not damage.
• A back-payment from an operating-cost statement that is still due.
• Cosmetic repairs (Schönheitsreparaturen) you were validly obliged to do. Many standard clauses are invalid. The Federal Court of Justice held in 2015 (VIII ZR 185/14) that a tenant who moved into an unrenovated flat without adequate compensation cannot be made to renovate it. Clauses with rigid fixed intervals are also invalid.

Ask for itemised deductions with invoices or quotes. A flat-rate "cleaning fee" with no basis in the lease or in the flat's actual condition is open to challenge.

How long the landlord can take to return it

No statute sets a deadline. The Federal Court of Justice decided in 2006 (VIII ZR 71/05) that:

• The landlord gets a reasonable period to check whether they have claims. How long depends on the case and can exceed six months.
• If an operating-cost back-payment is expected, the landlord may keep a reasonable part of the deposit until that statement is due.

In practice, the deposit is not one block. If the only open item is the next Nebenkosten statement, the landlord may keep an amount that reasonably covers the expected back-payment, plus a margin, and should pay out the rest. A presentation by the Deutscher Mieterbund (PDF) sets out this reasoning.

The interest earned is paid out together with the deposit.

If your deposit is not returned

1. Ask in writing. Send an email or letter stating your bank details and requesting repayment of the deposit plus interest. Ask for an itemised account of any deductions.
2. Send a formal demand with a deadline. For example, give two weeks. Send it in a way you can prove, such as registered mail (Einschreiben).
3. Get advice. Tenants' associations (Mietervereine) advise members on deposit disputes. Some only cover problems that start after you join, so check the waiting rules before signing up. You can find your local association through the Deutscher Mieterbund.
4. Use the court dunning procedure (Mahnverfahren). This is an online procedure for undisputed money claims. If the landlord objects, the claim moves to an ordinary court case.

For your own dispute, especially one involving deductions for damage or renovation clauses, get advice from a tenants' association or a lawyer specialising in tenancy law.

Checklist

• Deposit no more than 3 × Kaltmiete.
• Pay in three instalments if that helps your cash flow.
• Get written confirmation of the separate deposit account.
• Do not pay any deposit before signing a lease and seeing the flat. See the apartment search guide for scam warning signs.
• Sign a detailed move-in protocol with photos.
• Check the lease's cosmetic-repair clause before move-out.
• At move-out, give the landlord your new address and bank details in writing.
• Track the next Nebenkostenabrechnung. Any retained amount should be settled with it.

Related: Kaltmiete vs. Warmmiete explained, [tenant rights in Germany](/blog/149/housing-rights-germany-what-every-tenant-should-know), and the move-out guide covering handover, deposit and closing accounts.