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German registration law · §§ 17, 19 BMG

The landlord confirmation for your Anmeldung

It is a short form your landlord must sign. Without it most registration offices will turn you away in practice – but the law has an answer: § 19 (2) BMG tells you to notify the office yourself. You have to register within two weeks of moving in (§ 17 BMG), and your landlord is legally obliged to confirm the move within two weeks too (§ 19 BMG). Refusing is an administrative offence and can cost them up to 1,000 euros.

Calculate it now, free↓

Why this piece of paper blocks everything

Without the Anmeldung (registration at your local Bürgeramt) you have no Meldebescheinigung, and without that most of daily life in Germany stalls: bank account, tax ID, health insurance paperwork, child benefit, sometimes even a phone contract. And the Anmeldung in turn needs the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung, a one-page confirmation signed by whoever provides the flat.

Who signs it: the person or company that lets the flat to you. If you sublet, that is your main tenant. Your own rental contract is not a substitute; the confirmation is a separate document required by law.

Two deadlines, both two weeks

A delay caused by the landlord is not your fault

If you cannot register in time because the confirmation is missing, say so at the Bürgeramt and put it in writing. The offence requires fault on your side, and documented chasing is exactly the proof that the fault is not yours. Ask for the appointment to be recorded anyway.

Work out your own deadline

Both two-week deadlines

Free

The day you actually moved into the flat.

Register by

…

Enter the day you moved in.

Book the appointment as early as you can. In Berlin, Munich or Hamburg the waiting time for a Bürgeramt slot is regularly longer than the two weeks themselves; what protects you is having booked in time.

What the form must contain

Most cities publish a free template as a PDF; search for the name of your city plus Wohnungsgeberbestätigung. The form is the same everywhere in substance, because it follows § 19 BMG.

If the landlord does not react

  1. Ask in writing, with a deadline. Refer to § 19 para. 1 BMG and set a short, concrete date. Verbal reminders leave no trace.
  2. Mention the fine, factually. Failing to confirm is an administrative offence under § 54 BMG and can be fined up to 1,000 euros. State it as information, not as a threat.
  3. Notify the registration office. § 19 para. 2 BMG expressly allows you to inform the authority that the confirmation is missing. That usually moves things, and it protects you.

The letter itself is in German. On purpose.

Our tools calculate your deadline under German law and produce a ready-to-sign letter in German, plus instructions in plain language. A landlord, employer or authority in Germany answers a German letter faster, and in a dispute only the German wording counts. You stay in control: every figure in the letter comes from what you entered.

If you want the German letters

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 (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung anfordern, 6.90 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:

What you get, and what stays German

You get a PDF and a Word file with the letter, plus a calculation annex and instructions for sending it. The letter and the annex are German. Payment runs through Stripe; the checkout, our terms and the right of withdrawal are in German too, and German law applies. If you would rather have someone handle the whole matter in English, a local tenants' association (Mieterverein) or a lawyer is the better address, and we would rather say that plainly than sell you something half-suited.

Two letters that unblock the registration

Our tool produces the German request to your landlord with a deadline and the § 19 para. 2 BMG notification to the registration office, both ready to sign.

Open the tool

Frequently asked questions

Can I register with my rental contract instead?

Usually not. Some offices accept a contract as additional evidence, but the law asks for the confirmation under § 19 BMG, and most Bürgerämter insist on it. Bring both if you have them.

What if I live in a shared flat and sublet from a main tenant?

Then your main tenant is the housing provider (Wohnungsgeber) and signs the confirmation. They do not need the owner's permission to confirm the factual move, although subletting itself may need the landlord's consent.

I missed the two-week deadline. What happens now?

Register as soon as possible. A fine is possible but far from automatic, especially if the delay was not your fault. If the landlord kept you waiting, bring your written requests: they show where the delay came from.

Is the confirmation needed when I move out?

Only in special cases. Since 2015 you generally deregister (Abmeldung) only when you leave Germany or give up a secondary residence. Moving within Germany is handled by registering at the new address.

Read the law yourself

Alle Fundstellen führen zu gesetze-im-internet.de, dem amtlichen Angebot des Bundesministeriums der Justiz.

Not legal advice. This page explains German law in general terms and does not replace advice on your individual case. We are not lawyers, not a public authority and not an advice service. Every provision we cite is linked so you can read it yourself. Registration practice differs slightly between cities; the legal basis (§§ 17, 19 BMG) is federal and the same everywhere.