Akte DE · 03 Renting · stop 1/2 →
This one is a lynx. Miss a date, or do it in the wrong order, and it costs you real money. Easy once someone shows you how — and this is the kind Papertame was built for.
Rental application helper
You are about to apply for flats, and a German landlord expects a folder of papers rather than an email. Nobody tells a newcomer what goes in it. Worse, part of what you will be offered for money is something you already have a right to for free. This page lists the folder and shows you which parts cost nothing.
The things you cannot have yet
A German rental application asks for papers that assume you have lived here for years. If you have just arrived you will not have all of them. That is normal, and it is not a reason to hold off applying. Here is what each one is, and what the law actually says about it.
A SCHUFA credit copy
SCHUFA is a German credit record. If you have just moved here, you may not be able to produce one yet.
No landlord has a legal claim to your SCHUFA data — providing it is voluntary. Source ↗
You have the right to a free copy of the data SCHUFA holds on you — the 'Datenkopie nach Art. 15 DSGVO'. It is free of charge; do not be misled by paid offers that appear first when you search. Source ↗
A rent-payment certificate from your last landlord
It has to be written by a landlord you rented from. If you have never rented in Germany, there is nobody to write it.
The rent-payment certificate (Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung) confirms you have no rent arrears and is issued by your previous landlord; if you are still living in a refugee accommodation centre, the centre management can prepare one for you. Source ↗
Three months of payslips
If you have not started your German job yet, you do not have three months of German payslips.
Proof of income usually means your payslips from the last three months (for employees) or your most recent tax assessment (for the self-employed). Source ↗
Nobody official has published an answer to this one, so this page does not offer one. Landlords set their own rules here, and a substitute we guessed at is one you would only find out about at the viewing.
None of it is a reason not to apply. What you control is whether everything you can produce is complete, and laid out so a German landlord can read it without effort.
What goes in the folder
Landlords expect a folder: the form, a Schufa, proof of income.The official wording A German rental application (Bewerbermappe) usually contains: a completed tenant self-disclosure form (Mieterselbstauskunft) with your name, contact details, job title and current address; a Schufa credit copy; proof of income; and, if you receive Jobcentre or Sozialamt support, that office's confirmation it will cover the rent. Source ↗
These are the documents a landlord commonly asks for, and many will hand you their own self-disclosure form at the viewing. Tick each one off as you collect it. Build the folder once and you can reuse it at every viewing.
Progress is saved only in this browser — nothing leaves your device.
Proof of income
Employed? Three payslips. Self-employed? Your last tax assessment.The official wording Proof of income usually means your payslips from the last three months (for employees) or your most recent tax assessment (for the self-employed). Source ↗
Schufa, and the free copy you are entitled to
A credit record landlords use to decide about you.The official wording The Schufa is a credit bureau that collects data about consumers and produces a score. Landlords ask for a Schufa copy to gauge whether rent will be paid reliably. Source ↗
Your free Schufa data copy
Ask for the Datenkopie. Paid offers rank first.The official wording You have the right to a free copy of the data Schufa holds on you — the 'Datenkopie nach Art. 15 DSGVO'. It is free of charge; do not be misled by paid offers that appear first when you search. Source ↗
The free copy and the 30-euro one are different things.The official wording The free Datenkopie is a different product from the paid SCHUFA-BonitätsAuskunft (around 30 euros) that many landlords prefer, because the paid one is formatted to show to third parties. The free copy is your right; the paid certificate is optional and up to you. Source ↗
Two rights worth knowing
No landlord can force you to hand over Schufa data.The official wording No landlord has a legal claim to your Schufa data — providing it is voluntary. Source ↗
Wrong entry? They must fix it, and it costs nothing.The official wording If your Schufa record contains wrong or unlawfully stored data, the bureau must correct, delete, or restrict it free of charge. An informal letter stating exactly which data is incorrect is enough to request this. Source ↗
The deposit (Kaution) has a legal cap
Three months' cold rent, at most. Payable in three parts.The official wording The deposit (Kaution) may be at most three months' rent excluding operating costs (cold rent), and you are entitled by law to pay it in three equal monthly instalments — the first at the start of the tenancy. Source ↗
Rental terms, translated
The words you will meet in listings and on application forms, and what each one means. It does not tell you what your own numbers should be.
- Kaltmiete
- Cold rent — rent without operating/utility costs
- Warmmiete
- Warm rent — rent including operating costs
- Nebenkosten / Betriebskosten
- Operating / utility costs
- Kaution / Mietsicherheit
- Deposit (capped at three months' cold rent)
- Bonität
- Creditworthiness
- SCHUFA-BonitätsAuskunft
- The paid credit certificate (~30 €) some landlords prefer
- Datenkopie (Art. 15 DSGVO)
- Your free copy of your Schufa data
- Bürge / Bürgschaft
- Guarantor / a guarantee for the rent
- Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung
- A former landlord's certificate that you owe no rent
- WBS
- Wohnberechtigungsschein — entitlement certificate for subsidised housing
When this page isn't enough
Some problems are past the point where documents and rights help: a deposit that never comes back, an application you believe was rejected unfairly, or any dispute with a landlord. A tenants' association (Mieterverein) or the Verbraucherzentrale can take those on.
Working through the first-year paperwork? Related steps:
An automated assistant that organizes your information and applies publicly documented rules. Sources for each rule are cited.
This is not legal, tax, immigration, or financial advice, and not an official recognition, filing, or application. For decisions with legal or financial consequences, consult a qualified professional.
Rules last verified: 2026-07-14.