notice to quit

noun · Kündigung des Mietverhältnisses

A German residential landlord cannot simply give notice: § 573 BGB lets him terminate only where he has a legitimate interest, and the grounds must be stated in the notice letter itself. Even a valid notice does not end matters, since the tenant may object on hardship grounds, and nothing happens automatically because eviction needs a court order.

Which translation, when

berechtigtes Interessethe landlord’s hurdle: under § 573 Abs. 1 BGB the landlord may give ordinary notice only if he has a legitimate interest in ending the tenancy, and Abs. 2 names the typical cases, a culpable and not insignificant breach of duty by the tenant, the landlord’s own need of the flat for himself, his family or his household, and the case where continuing the tenancy would prevent an appropriate economic exploitation of the property and thereby cause the landlord substantial disadvantages, a ground the courts handle restrictively; the prospect of higher rent from a new letting is expressly excluded as a ground, and Abs. 3 requires the reasons to be stated in the notice letter.

Fristenthe periods: the ordinary notice period is three months and lengthens with the duration of the tenancy under § 573c BGB, so a long-standing tenant enjoys a markedly longer period than a recent one; that ladder is the residential answer to the general Kündigungsfrist vocabulary the notice entry holds.

Widerspruch und Räumungwhat follows: even against an effective notice the tenant may object under § 574 BGB where ending the tenancy would mean a hardship not justifiable on a weighing of interests, though § 574b BGB requires the objection in text form, written form until the end of 2024, and at the latest two months before the tenancy ends, the tenant being able to raise it as late as the first hearing of the possession action where the landlord failed to point out that possibility in time; a tenant who stays put is not removed by the notice, the landlord must bring an action for possession and enforce the judgment, so the notice is the opening of a process rather than its end.

Wortfeldthe terms: German says Kündigung for the declaration, Eigenbedarfskündigung for the notice grounded on the landlord’s own need, Räumungsklage for the possession action and Räumung for the eviction itself, while the general distinction between Kündigung, Rücktritt and Aufhebung belongs to the termination entry.

Why

Notice to quit meets a German residential regime built to make notice difficult. Under § 573 Abs. 1 BGB the landlord may give ordinary notice only where he has a legitimate interest in ending the tenancy, and the statute spells out the typical cases in Abs. 2: a culpable and not insignificant breach of duty by the tenant, the landlord’s own need of the rooms as a dwelling for himself, members of his family or of his household, and the case where continuing the tenancy would prevent an appropriate economic exploitation of the property and cause the landlord substantial disadvantages. That third ground is hedged about: the possibility of obtaining a higher rent by letting to someone else is expressly left out of account, and the landlord may not rely on wanting to sell the flat in connection with converting it into a condominium. Abs. 3 adds a formal requirement that decides many cases, since the reasons for the legitimate interest must be stated in the notice letter, and general phrases do not satisfy it. Notice periods run from three months and lengthen with the duration of the tenancy under § 573c BGB. Then comes the layer that surprises readers used to English practice. A tenant faced with an effective notice may object under § 574 BGB where the ending would constitute a hardship not justifiable even weighing the landlord’s interests, age, illness, long residence and the absence of alternative accommodation being the familiar factors, and the court may order the tenancy to continue, provided the objection reaches the landlord in text form and at the latest two months before the tenancy ends, § 574b BGB, a period that only bites where the landlord drew attention to the possibility in time. And a notice, however sound, removes nobody: the landlord who wants the flat back from a tenant who stays must sue for possession and enforce the judgment. The general vocabulary of ending contracts is held by the termination entry, so this entry keeps to the residential specialities.

Typical mistakes

A residential landlord needs a legitimate interest under § 573 BGB, so a translation that presents notice as freely available describes commercial or foreign practice.
The grounds must appear in the notice letter itself, § 573 Abs. 3 BGB, so a notice reciting no reasons fails however genuine the motive.
An effective notice does not remove the tenant, since possession requires an action and enforcement, so wording that treats the notice as the end of the tenancy overstates it.

What matters

Translating a German notice letter for a foreign landlord: the text should name the ground under § 573 BGB explicitly, state the period from § 573c BGB, and make clear that the tenant may object and that eviction needs a court.

Authority

§ 573 BGB
§ 573c BGB
§ 574 BGB
§ 574b BGB

What the machine misses

A machine rendering of notice to quit produces Räumungsaufforderung or a bare Kündigung without its residential frame, and § 573 BGB allows ordinary notice only on a legitimate interest stated in the letter, with the tenant able to object on hardship grounds; the loose wording hides both the justification requirement and the fact that eviction needs a court.

See what the machine does with this clause →

Examples

notice to quit	Kündigung des Mietverhältnisses
notice on the ground of the landlord’s own need	Eigenbedarfskündigung
the tenant objected to the notice	der Mieter hat der Kündigung widersprochen
an action for possession	eine Räumungsklage