A landlord kept a €1.850 deposit. Five steps got it back.
The tenant moved out in early February. Two months later the deposit still hadn’t arrived and emails were going unanswered. This is what was sent, in what order, and what finally made the landlord pay.
The plan we used
- 01 A formal demand citing the deposit-return rule
Two pages in German, naming the statute, the amount and the interest owed, and giving a specific date to pay by. Written in German because the landlord’s own letters were.
Day 1 - 02 Sent in the tenant’s name, with a 14-day deadline
From the tenant’s own address, with a read receipt, so the date it was received was not in dispute later.
Day 1 - 03 One check-in: did they reply?
A single question on WhatsApp on day eight. The answer was no.
Day 8 - 04 A complaint filed with the tenants’ association
The Mieterbund takes deposit complaints directly and writes to landlords on headed paper. The file was opened in the tenant’s name.
Day 16 - 05 Paid in full, with interest
The full deposit plus statutory interest arrived in the account named in the original demand.
Day 26
The Mieterbund complaint. The landlord ignored two letters from the tenant but answered the tenants’ association within four days, and paid the full amount plus interest a week after that.
Where this comes from
Published with the person’s consent. Names, addresses, dates of birth and account details have been removed; the amount and the timeline are real.