Berlin-Wilmersdorf (Mainzer Straße) – Furnished Sublet: €1,200 → €615, ~€3,000 Repayment Claimed (Pending)
Date Published
An approximately 65 m² furnished two-room period apartment in Berlin-Wilmersdorf was sublet at a warm rent of €1,440 – without a separately stated net cold rent. Our review against the Berlin rent index 2024 revealed a very significant exceedance of the rent permitted under the rent cap.
Does the rent cap also apply to furnished subletting? Yes. In relation to the subtenant, the sublandlord is the "landlord" within the meaning of §§ 556d ff. BGB and is therefore bound by the permissible rent level. Berlin – including Wilmersdorf – is throughout designated as an area with a strained housing market.
Does furnishing justify a higher rent? Only to a very limited extent. What is permitted is solely a surcharge oriented to the time value of the furniture (in Berlin typically 2% of the time value per month). With used furnishings, that is often only a few euros.
As is often the case – including here – only a warm rent is agreed, without disclosing the net cold rent and furnishing surcharge. That makes control more difficult, but does not change the legal position: the tenant has a right to information (§ 556g para. 3 BGB), and the permissible rent can nevertheless be determined. In the result, the permissible net cold rent was around €614 – the amount paid was around €1,200, almost double.
We raised the exceedance and demanded a reduction to the permissible rent, repayment of amounts overpaid from receipt of the objection, and release of the deposit paid in excess of the statutory limit (§ 551 BGB). The proceedings are ongoing; we will report on the outcome once the out-of-court clarification is complete.
Anyone who objects within the first 30 months after the start of the tenancy can usually reclaim overpaid rent since the tenancy began (§ 556g para. 2 BGB). But even after that, a review is worthwhile: the rent can at least be reduced for the future, and overpaid amounts from receipt of the objection must be repaid.
Any repayments flow in full to the tenants – without assignment and without commission.
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