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Lease termination letter template for Germany

Tenant's notice to end the leaseKündigung des Mietverhältnisses durch den Mieter

The tenant's letter that ends an open-ended residential lease. The tenant needs no reason. Notice given by the third working day of a month ends the lease at the end of the month after next, about three months later. The letter must be signed by hand.

Use it when you rent a home under an open-ended lease and want to leave. Check the lease first: a stepped-rent lease can exclude notice for up to four years, and a valid fixed-term lease ends only on its date. The landlord's own notice follows different rules: it needs a legitimate interest, such as own use, stated in the letter, and a period of three to nine months depending on how long you have lived there.

Reviewed October 28, 2026. Not legal advice. Have a notary or lawyer check your case before you sign.

Key facts

Applies to
Whole country
Tenant's notice period
Received by the 3rd working day of a month: lease ends at the end of the month after next (BGB § 573c(1)).
Reason
None needed from the tenant. A landlord needs a legitimate interest and must state it (§ 573).
Form
Written form, signed by hand (§ 568(1), § 126(1)). Email is not enough.
Landlord's notice period
3 months, 6 after 5 years, 9 after 8 years since the handover (§ 573c(1)).
Stepped rent
The tenant's right to give notice can be excluded for at most 4 years from the agreement (§ 557a(3)).
Arrears cure
Paying all arrears within 2 months after an eviction claim is served cures the landlord's termination without notice (§ 569(3) no. 2).
Arrears cure, how often
Once in 2 years (§ 569(3) no. 2).
Landlord's damage claims
Time-barred 6 months after the landlord gets the home back (§ 548(1)).

The document

Text shown

You sign the German version. The English version helps you understand it. Your answers fill both.

Tenant's notice to end the lease

  1. 1.Sender and recipient

    1. 1.1

      Tenant or tenants, Address of the let flat. To Landlord or property manager, Landlord's or manager's address. Place of writing, Date of writing.

      Name every tenant in the lease. Address the letter to every landlord named in the lease, or to the manager who acts for them.

    2. 1.2

      Subject: Notice terminating the lease of Date of the lease for the flat at Address of the let flat.

  2. 2.Notice

    1. 2.1

      Dear Sir or Madam, I / we hereby give notice to terminate the above tenancy with due notice on Date the lease ends, or alternatively on the next possible date.

      See key facts for the end date. The words "hilfsweise zum nächstmöglichen Termin" keep the notice valid if you count wrong. It then ends on the next date.

  3. 3.Confirmation

    1. 3.1

      Please confirm in writing that you have received this notice and the date the tenancy ends.

      The notice is valid without the landlord's confirmation. The confirmation only helps as proof.

  4. 4.Handover of the flat

    1. 4.1

      For the joint handover of the flat with a handover report and the return of all keys, I / we propose the following dates: Proposed dates for the move-out handover.

      Hand over on or before the last day of the lease. Bring the entry report to compare each line.

    2. 4.2

      Optional

      I am / We are willing to let prospective tenants view the flat by prior arrangement.

      Delete this clause if you do not want to offer viewings now. Offering them helps if you ask the landlord to release you early.

  5. 5.Deposit and operating costs

    1. 5.1

      After the end of the tenancy, please account for the deposit with interest and transfer the amount to the following account: Account for the deposit return.

      The law sets no fixed deadline. The landlord may keep a reasonable part until the last operating cost statement is done.

    2. 5.2

      My / Our new address for the operating cost statement and further correspondence is: Your new address.

  6. 6.Signatures

    1. 6.1

      Yours faithfully, Tenant or tenants (handwritten signature of every tenant).

      Every tenant named in the lease signs by hand. A notice signed by only one of several tenants does not end the lease.

Formalities

  1. Use written form: a paper letter signed by hand by every tenant named in the lease, addressed to every landlord.
  2. An email, fax, text message or scanned copy is not valid.
  3. The day the landlord receives the notice counts, not the day you send it.
  4. Deliver it by hand with a witness who knows the content and gets a signed receipt, or by a courier or postal service that proves delivery.
  5. Keep a copy.
  6. The notice period does not depend on the reason, and you do not need to give one.

Common mistakes

  • Sending the notice by email or as a scan. It does not meet the written form, and the lease continues.
  • Posting the letter at the end of the month. If it reaches the landlord after the third working day, the lease runs one month longer.
  • Letting only one of several tenants sign. A notice must come from all tenants named in the lease.
  • Not checking the lease for a notice exclusion. With a stepped rent, notice can be excluded for up to four years.
  • Stopping rent early or setting it off against the deposit. Rent is due until the lease ends, and the deposit secures the landlord's claims until then.
  • Leaving the flat without a joint move-out report. Without one, disputes about damage and the deposit are hard to settle.

Legal basis

Sources

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