Get your deposit back

Three rules that decide your case

• Maximum three months' rent. The deposit may not exceed three times the monthly rent excluding service charges (§ 551 para. 1 BGB), and you were entitled to pay it in three instalments. Anything above that limit can be reclaimed immediately, even during the tenancy.
• It must earn interest. Your landlord has to keep the money separate from their own assets and invest it; the interest belongs to you (§ 551 para. 3 BGB). A clause saying otherwise is void. Ask for the deposit plus accrued interest, or you will simply not get it.
• No fixed repayment date. The law names none. Courts grant a reasonable review period, and about six months is the accepted rule of thumb. Longer only for a part of the money, and only for a reason the landlord names and quantifies.

Work out your own dates

The six-month mark is a rule of thumb from case law, not a date in the statute. The limitation date is the hard one: after it, the money is gone.

The one hard deadline: limitation

Your claim is subject to the standard limitation period: three years, counted from the end of the year in which the claim became due (§§ 195, 199 BGB), not from the day you moved out.

Example: the tenancy ended on 31 March 2024, the deposit became due around 30 September 2024. The clock starts on 31 December 2024 and runs out on 31 December 2027. After that the money is gone, however justified your claim was.

Note the mirror image: claims of the landlord for damage to the flat become time-barred much faster, six months after they get the flat back (§ 548 BGB). Do not read that as safety, though. Against a cash deposit (Barkaution) the landlord may as a rule still set such claims off after those six months: the Federal Court of Justice reads the usual deposit agreement that way (BGH, judgment of 10 July 2024 – VIII ZR 184/23).

What the six months do give you: once you invoke the limitation he can no longer sue you for the damage. He can only reach what he already holds, so never more than the deposit, and he still has to name and quantify the damage.

If the flat was sold while you lived there

The new owner steps into the deposit relationship and owes you the money (§ 566a BGB). If you cannot get it from them, the old landlord remains liable. In other words, you have two debtors. Address the current owner first and mention the previous one.

What to write, and how

1. A demand, not a request. State clearly that you are demanding repayment.
2. The amount, plus interest. Name the sum you paid and ask for the accrued interest expressly (§ 551 para. 3 BGB).
3. A concrete date. Around 14 days is reasonable. A date can be checked; "soon" cannot. When it passes, the landlord is in default and owes interest on top.
4. Your IBAN and your new address. The most common reason for delay is banal: they no longer have your bank details.
5. Proof of delivery. Hand it over against signature on a copy, or send it as Einwurf-Einschreiben (registered mail, delivery to the letterbox). Keep the receipt.

If you want the German demand letter

The calculator above is free and needs nothing from you but dates. The next step, the ready-to-sign letter, runs in our German tool (Kaution zurückfordern, 19.90 EUR). It is in German because the letter is, and because the wording is what a German landlord, employer or court reads.

Have these details ready. The tool asks for them one at a time, in this order:

• Your name and address, and the address of the flat
• Name and address of the landlord (or the new owner, if it was sold)
• The deposit amount and the date the tenancy ended
• Your IBAN, so they cannot claim they lack your bank details
• Optional: a deadline of your choice, otherwise we set about 14 days

Frequently asked questions