Rent arrears checklist

Talk first, then write

When rent is in arrears, check your account first and talk to your tenant before you send a written reminder. Often the rent arrived under a different payment reference, or there is a temporary problem behind the gap that an instalment plan can solve.

If the money still does not come, a reminder and a dunning letter make the situation clear, and you have everything documented for any later step.

When your tenant is in default

Your tenant is in default as soon as the rent is not paid on the due date, even without a reminder: rent is usually due by the third working day of a month, and because the date is fixed, no demand is needed (§ 286 (2) no. 1 BGB). From then on you can claim default interest.

If a consumer is involved in the claim, as your tenant is for a flat, the interest is five percentage points above the base rate (§ 288 (1) BGB). You calculate the amount with the default interest calculator.

The order in which you proceed

You handle rent arrears in four stages: clear things up immediately, send written reminders, terminate if necessary and pursue unpaid amounts in court. The checklist works out the dates from the due date: reminder after one week, dunning letter after three weeks.

1. Check bank statements: has nothing arrived, or only under a different reference?
2. Talk to your tenant and agree an instalment plan if needed.
3. Send a friendly written reminder one week after the due date.
4. Send a dunning letter with a deadline, calculate default interest and document every payment and every letter.
5. Issue a warning if payments are repeatedly late.
6. Check the conditions for termination without notice, get legal advice and terminate.
7. Pursue open amounts by court payment order or lawsuit, and file an eviction claim if your tenant does not move out.

When a warning makes sense

A warning is the right step when your tenant pays but keeps paying late: it records that you do not accept the late payments and announces consequences. You create the letter with the warning for late rent payment.

When you may terminate without notice

For residential tenancies you may terminate without notice, among other cases, if your tenant is in arrears with more than one month's rent on two consecutive due dates, or if arrears of two months' rent have built up over a longer period (§ 543 (2) sentence 1 no. 3 BGB). No valid set-off may stand in the way.

Terminate without notice and, in the alternative, with notice, using the termination without notice template. Get legal advice first; mistakes in the termination cost months.

Mind the grace period: if your tenant pays the arrears no later than two months after the eviction claim is served, the termination without notice can become invalid (§ 569 (3) BGB).

Deposit, payment order and limitation

You should not hastily offset the deposit against unpaid rent during the tenancy, because you can only draw on it to a limited extent. You pursue unpaid amounts by court payment order or lawsuit.

Rent claims usually become time-barred after three years, counted from the end of the year in which they arose (§§ 195, 199 BGB). Arrears from March 2026 therefore become time-barred at the end of 2029.

How to prevent arrears

Prevention starts with selection: checking income and the Schufa report before signing the lease lowers the risk. The tenant selection checklist walks you through those steps. During the tenancy, check your account every month so that a gap does not go unnoticed for three months.