Ending a Tenancy in Germany: Notice Periods, Berechtigtes Interesse, and Kündigung wegen Zahlungsverzugs

German residential tenancy law starts from a position that surprises many people moving from an anglo rental market: a landlord cannot simply decline to renew a lease at the end of a term, because most German residential tenancies run for an indefinite period and a landlord needs a recognised legal reason, a berechtigtes Interesse, to end one at all. A tenant, by contrast, can end an unlimited tenancy at any time for any reason, on a notice period that never changes no matter how long they have lived there.

This page works through both sides of that asymmetry: the fixed three month notice a tenant gives, the notice period that extends with tenure on the landlord's side only, the grounds a landlord needs under § 573 BGB, the separate and faster route for serious breaches like rent arrears, and the tenant's hardship objection. It also covers the 2024 Bundesgerichtshof ruling on what a late arrears payment does and does not fix.

Information last verified on 20 July 2026. This page provides general legal information and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.

The asymmetry that shapes everything else

Most German residential leases run unbefristet, for an indefinite term, and an indefinite lease does not simply expire. Ending one requires an active Kündigung, a termination, from one side or the other, and the two sides do not stand on equal footing.

A tenant can terminate for any reason or no reason at all, on notice, and does not have to justify the decision. A landlord cannot. § 573 Abs. 1 BGB states the rule directly: the landlord may only terminate where the landlord has a berechtigtes Interesse, a legally recognised interest, in ending the tenancy, and a wish to simply charge a new tenant more rent is expressly not one of those interests.

The tenant's notice period: fixed at three months

§ 573c Abs. 1 BGB sets the ordinary notice period, and its first sentence applies to both sides identically: notice given by the third working day of a calendar month ends the tenancy at the close of the month after next. For a tenant, that is the whole rule. It does not lengthen with how long the tenant has lived in the dwelling, whether that is one year or twenty.

A tenant giving notice on the third working day of March, for example, ends the tenancy at the close of May. Giving notice even one day later pushes the effective end date out by a further calendar month, since the notice period runs from full calendar months and there is no partial credit for an almost timely letter.

The landlord's notice period: it scales, and only it scales

The second sentence of § 573c Abs. 1 BGB is where the two sides diverge, and it applies to the landlord alone. The landlord's notice period extends by three months once the tenant has occupied the dwelling for more than five years, and by a further three months once the tenant has occupied it for more than eight years.

That produces a three tier scale for the landlord only:

A tenant of any tenure, by contrast, always gives three months. A calculator or a guide that scales the tenant's own notice period by how long they have lived somewhere has the statute backwards. The extension in § 573c Abs. 1 exists to protect a long settled tenant from a sudden landlord termination, not to make a long settled tenant harder to release from their own lease.

Worked example

A tenant who moved in seven years ago gives notice on the third working day of April. Because the tenant's own period is always three months regardless of tenure, the tenancy ends at the close of June, the same as it would for a tenant of one year's standing.

If instead the landlord serves notice on that same tenant on the third working day of April, the calculation is different. Seven years of occupation falls in the more than five, up to eight year band, so the landlord's notice period is six months, and the tenancy would not end until the close of October, a full four months later than if the tenant had given the notice.

What the landlord actually needs: § 573 BGB grounds

§ 573 Abs. 2 BGB lists the recognised grounds, and an ordinary landlord termination has to fit one of them:

• Nr. 1, breach of contract: the tenant has materially and culpably violated a contractual obligation, not a trivial or one off lapse.
• Nr. 2, Eigenbedarf: the landlord genuinely needs the dwelling for themselves, a family member, or a member of their household.
• Nr. 3, economic block: continuing the tenancy would prevent a reasonable economic use of the property and cause the landlord substantial disadvantage, though the statute specifically excludes simply wanting to charge more rent to a new tenant, and excludes converting the units to sell as condominiums as a qualifying reason on its own.

§ 573 Abs. 3 BGB then requires the grounds to be stated in the termination letter itself. A ground that existed but was not disclosed at the time can generally only be added later if it arose afterward, not used as an afterthought to patch a defective notice.

Form: writing, always

§ 568 Abs. 1 BGB requires every termination of a tenancy, from either side, to be in writing (Schriftform), a stricter standard than the Textform that suffices for some other tenancy notices. § 568 Abs. 2 also obliges the landlord to tell the tenant, in good time, about the possibility, form and deadline for a hardship objection under §§ 574 to 574b, discussed below.

The fast route: immediate termination for serious cause

Separately from the ordinary notice periods above, § 543 BGB allows either side to end a tenancy immediately, without any notice period at all, where a serious reason (wichtiger Grund) makes continuing the tenancy unreasonable. For residential tenancies specifically, § 569 BGB fills in what that means for the most common triggers.

The most frequent trigger is rent arrears. § 543 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 BGB defines the threshold: the tenant is in default for two consecutive payment periods with an amount that reaches one month's rent, or is in default over a longer stretch of more than two periods for an amount reaching two months' rent. § 569 Abs. 3 Nr. 1 BGB adds that, for arrears purposes specifically, the relevant threshold is more than one month's rent outstanding, except for short term lettings.

§ 569 Abs. 2a BGB adds a separate trigger tied to the deposit itself: if the tenant falls behind on the security deposit by an amount reaching twice the monthly rent, that alone can support immediate termination, without any warning or cure period first being required. Beyond arrears, § 569 Abs. 1 BGB covers a serious health hazard in the dwelling, and § 569 Abs. 2 BGB covers persistent, serious disturbance of the domestic peace by either side.

An immediate termination for cause also has to state its reasons, under § 569 Abs. 4 BGB, and § 569 Abs. 5 BGB voids any agreement that tries to shrink these tenant protections or invent additional grounds not in the statute.

The Schonfristzahlung, and the 2024 ruling on what it does not fix

Where a landlord terminates immediately for rent arrears, § 569 Abs. 3 Nr. 2 BGB gives the tenant one further chance. If the tenant pays off the outstanding arrears, or a public authority commits to covering them, within two months of the eviction claim becoming pending in court, the immediate termination becomes ineffective. This grace period payment, the Schonfristzahlung, is only available once every two years to the same tenant on the same tenancy.

Landlords facing serious arrears commonly serve two terminations in the same letter: an immediate termination under §§ 543 and 569, and, as a fallback, an ordinary termination under § 573 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 for the same underlying breach. That combination raised a real question about what a Schonfristzahlung actually cures, and the Bundesgerichtshof answered it in a decision dated 23 October 2024, case VIII ZR 106/23: a Schonfristzahlung heals only the immediate termination. It has no effect on an ordinary termination served alongside it for the same arrears, even though both were triggered by the identical missed payments. A tenant who pays off the arrears in time under this rule can still lose the tenancy on the ordinary notice track, on the ordinary notice period, unless a separate defence applies to that termination too.

The tenant's hardship objection: § 574 BGB

Even where a landlord's ordinary termination is otherwise valid, a tenant is not automatically without a defence. § 574 BGB lets the tenant object and ask for the tenancy to continue where ending it would mean a hardship, for the tenant, their family, or their household, that cannot be justified even weighing the landlord's own legitimate interest in ending the tenancy. A hardship can also exist simply because no reasonable substitute housing is available on acceptable terms.

This hardship route is not available at all against a valid immediate termination for serious cause, only against an ordinary termination. When a court weighs the landlord's side of the balance, § 574 restricts it to the grounds actually stated in the original termination letter, unless a new ground genuinely arose afterward.

§ 574b BGB sets the procedure: the objection must be in text form, and the landlord can ask the tenant to give reasons for it promptly. The tenant generally has to raise the objection at least two months before the tenancy would end. If the landlord failed to tell the tenant about this right, its form and its deadline as § 568 Abs. 2 requires, the tenant can still raise the objection later, at the first hearing if the matter reaches an eviction case in court.

For what happens if a landlord terminates specifically to move into the dwelling themselves, see the separate rules on owner move-in eviction. For what happens to a deposit once a tenancy actually ends, see the security deposit. General background on German tenancy law is at German law explained.

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