Rent nomads – nothing works without a certificate from the previous tenant

With the search for a new renting dwelling tenants must reveal many private details. There are even cases when the previous landlord is questioned about the tenant's behavior.

Rent fraud: when the rent is transferred irregularly or not at all

For landlords, a problematic and damaging situation arises when the monthly rent is paid irregularly or never, and the tenant cannot be found or spoken to. This type of tenant is called a rent nomad and these "tenants" are known to every landlord – even if they have never had any experience with them themselves. Nomadic tenants are characterized by unreliable or non-payment of rent, they dirty the apartment, let it fall down and like to leave it overnight in a correspondingly gruesome condition. In such a case, landlords* often do not know what to do. What can they do against Mietnomaden, so that they are not affected by it and in the connection even a professional clearing out must take place in Essen at the fixed price.

There are tips and tricks that landlords*innen can use to protect themselves in advance against Mietnomaden and how it is possible to legally claim the rent if Mietbetruger already live in the apartment.

Rent nomads bring financial ruin

In Germany, the annual damage caused by rental nomads is estimated at 200 million euros. A rental nomad can quickly plunge a landlord into financial ruin. The costs for lawyer and court with eviction action, execution and renovation can quickly 25.000 Euro and more. Especially for private landlords, the rent nomads represent an enormous risk, because the damage not infrequently adds up to five-figure amounts and is quickly an existential threat.

Finally, the dream apartment is found..

…but apartment hunters face many hurdles

Most landlords ask prospective tenants for pay slips, proof of creditworthiness and a copy of their passport – especially if the apartment is not rented by a private individual but by a real estate agent. Even so-called motivation letters are no longer a rarity today, in which the prospective tenant may explain more or less flowery, why it is with him / her around the ideal tenant.

Meanwhile, also a so-called landlord information resp. Previous landlord certificate required.

The tenant self-disclosure – the first security seal

Every apartment or. House prospective customer can I with the inspection trustworthy and responsibly show up. But as is well known, a landlord or. a real estate agent is even looking at the prospective tenant in front of his head. The tenant self-disclosure provides here as a safeguard. In such a "tenant self-disclosure" all information about the interested party is summarized.

Through this self-disclosure, it is possible to check whether the interested party has a Schufa entry or even whether insolvency proceedings are pending. Even identity card and pay stub are essential documents, which the landlord should be sure to ask for.

In addition, landlords* should obtain information on the prospective client, whether there is a history of affidavit or has one in the past. If this is the case, then the interested party has been able to pay certain bills in the past.

Worth knowing: If it is subsequently found that the tenant has provided false information in the tenant self-disclosure, the landlord may terminate the lease without notice.

The information of the previous tenant

So that the landlord can get a concrete picture of the rental behavior of the prospective tenant, it helps as a reference or a rent debt-free certificate to be issued by the previous landlord. It is also possible to obtain a tenant self-disclosure the name and address of the landlord to contact him personally. However it is left to the latter itself whether information is given or not.

Back-up: rental deposit

Landlords should demand a deposit from the new tenant for every new tenancy agreement. Either the money will be handed over to the landlord in cash or. transferred or handed over in the form of a bank guarantee.

Worth knowing: The landlord may only invest the deposit separately from his private assets!

How to collect the rent from rent cheats?

If, with all the safety precautions in place, a rental nomad has crept in, then the following are legally correct measures to take against them:

Arrears of one month's rent: send a warning to the tenant with a 10-day payment deadline. Provided that the warning is ignored, an ordinary termination may occur. A summary dismissal can be issued if there is an arrears of two months of rent. As a rule, eviction must take place within 14 days.

If the notice is ignored, only an eviction action helps. The duration of these measures usually stretches over four to five months – which, however, depends on the court and the behavior of the tenant.

Untraceable or personal bankruptcy

If the case has occurred and the rent nomad is in the apartment, the termination without notice must be issued as soon as possible. If the notice is delivered by messenger, then the landlord is on the safe side, although it is important that the receipt is acknowledged, by the tenant. But the case will eventually end up in court, which means that the landlord must file a lawsuit for eviction. This means that the tenant will remain in the apartment for a few more months and even if the landlord wins, the landlord will still suffer a loss. This is because the tenants are often no longer to be found or have filed for personal bankruptcy – it is not uncommon for the rent nomads to leave behind a cluttered and devastated apartment. Then the landlord must even pay the eviction squad.