#Moving Tips

Subletting only with consent (§ 540 BGB). If you stay registered elsewhere, you need not register for stays of up to six months (§ 27 BMG). Plus: storing furniture.

Check damp, windows, service charges and a parking spot for the removal van. The deposit may be at most three months' net basic rent (§ 551 BGB) – the checklist.

Report visible transport damage by the day after delivery, hidden damage within 14 days (§ 451f HGB) – plus the handover report and defects in your new flat.

Handover report template to copy: header details, meter readings, keys, room by room, defects, signatures. Why § 548 BGB determines how long to keep it.

Cosmetic repairs when moving out: rigid deadlines invalid (BGH 2004), no duty for flats taken over unrenovated without compensation (2015), quota clauses always invalid.

Renovating before moving out is only required with a valid clause: rigid schedules, quota clauses and duties despite an unrenovated handover are invalid. What to check.

Why double rent arises, how the notice period under § 573c BGB is calculated, what a replacement tenant really achieves and when storage shortens the overlap.

Meter readings, keys, defects with photos: what belongs in the handover report – and why the landlord's claims for damages become time-barred six months after the return.

A right to a replacement tenant usually only exists with a clause in the lease. How to propose candidates, what happens to the deposit and when a transfer fee is invalid.

Tenants give three months' notice: received by the third working day, ending at the close of the month after next, in writing signed by all tenants (§ 568 BGB).

No fixed deadline, but clear rules: what the Federal Court of Justice says about the review period, when part may be kept for service charges and how to avoid deductions.

Registering online: in Berlin with the online ID function, PIN, BundID and an uploaded landlord confirmation – no appointment, free of charge, two-week deadline.