Obligations to repaint an apartment on moving out

Hi all
Does anyone know what the rules are for having to paint your house/apartment (internally) when you leave after being in the place for over 3 years?

I have been told some conflicting information from some German friends. One saying the house has to be in the same state when you lease as it was when you came in (in terms of decorative order and any damages being fixed). The other said that there was a law passed a couple of years ago that basically says, if you have lived in the place for over 3 years, you only have to fix any specific damages i.e. holes in the wall or broken bits. But you are no longer responsible for painting the whole place, as long as the landlord can't say that every wall has been damaged etc and needs repair.

Anyone know which is the real story? I always thought it was the first one, however I don't want to spend a fortune on paint/decorators if I don't have too.

Any help appreciated.

did you look in your contract? If it doesn't say anything you don't have to paint anything.

In most rental contracts it says something about having to do "Schönheitsreperaturen" when moving out and it is already renovated when you moved in, in that case:

that is correct


The court case was about having to paint your rooms every couple of years (e.g. at least every 3 years no matter what your room looks like) which was quite common in rental contracts. So now everybody seems to be quite confused about it and thinks you don't have to paint anything anymore which is not true.

If your lease says something along the lines of "Bei Auszug sind bei Bedarf Wände, Decken sowie Tür- und Fensterrahmen zu streichen" then you are under the obligation to paint walls, ceilings and door and window frames if it's necessary when you move out. So if you moved into a pigsty and signed a lease with that provision you're stuck.

Tip for future leases: If you move into an unrenovated apartment/house get the landlord's signature under a bit of paper stating that you either do not have to renovate when you move out (except puttying any drill holes and repairing damages caused by you/your family/your guests), or that the landlord will carry 50+x% of the renovation costs (within reasonable limits).

Bugger! It would seem I have to fork out then.
It is what I expected; it was just that my German friend was adamant it wasn't necessary anymore.

The house was in "tip top" condition when we moved in, but after 3.5 years and the help of two small children and their messy little hands, I think the landlord will push for a full top to bottom paint job. Which is a pain in the arse!

Anybody know any painters who will work beer and haribo (both commodities I seem to be flush with at the moment)

Try MyHammer.de. Bound to be somewone on there with a Gummibear Jones.

andy M

German law is complex and ignorance of the latest legal twists and turns amongst
Germans themselves is common.
There has been a recent decision about the effect of a particular clause in rental contracts.
It's probably that that your German friend is referring to.
I don't think it's relevant to you
SaraByrd is correct as far as I know.
Hint - moving into new rented property make extensive photographs.