- A few individual animals are not a defect, an infestation is: what counts is the number, the duration and whether you can still use the rooms.
- The landlord removes the pests, not you. Only once a deadline you set has passed do you hire the pest controller (Kammerjäger) at his expense.
- Caused it yourself, pay yourself: open food, rubbish on the balcony or feeding pigeons rule out a reduction.
- Reduce from the day you report (§ 536c BGB), the rate by extent; if in doubt, pay under reservation (unter Vorbehalt).
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When are pests a defect?
The flat must be fit to live in (§ 535 Abs. 1 BGB). A few ants in summer or a spider in the cellar are part of that, more so in ground-floor flats and in the countryside than on the fifth floor in the city. It is a defect when the infestation goes beyond the usual: large numbers of animals, nests, gnaw marks, a health risk, or rooms you can no longer use normally because of it.
Whether the landlord is at fault does not matter. Whether you are does: if you leave food out, let rubbish pile up or feed pigeons, you cannot reduce.
Which pests, how much reduction?
| Infestation | A defect from | Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| Silverfish | an infestation across several rooms, not a few in the bathroom | up to 20 % |
| Food or clothes moths | a persistent infestation that survives cleaning | up to 25 % |
| Mice and rats | several animals, droppings, noises, gnaw marks | depends on the extent; more likely a defect in the city than in the countryside |
| Pigeons | a nest at the bedroom window, balcony unusable because of droppings | up to 35 % |
| Wasps, hornets, bees | an occupied nest on or in the flat, not in winter | depends on the danger, higher for allergy sufferers |
| Treatment by the landlord | rooms sealed off or fumigated, unusable | up to 80 % |
Spiders and ants count as normal for the area in flats near ground level; only an extreme infestation is a defect. With cockroaches or bedbugs the defect is usually undisputed because of the health risk; the rate depends on how many rooms are affected.
Who has to remove the infestation?
The landlord. He owes you a flat free of defects and has to hire and pay the pest controller. If you book one yourself too early, you may be left with the bill. The law gives the landlord the first chance to remedy the defect.
Set a deadline, then act yourself
If the landlord does not act within the deadline you set in writing, you may hire the pest controller and claim the bill from him (§ 536a Abs. 2 BGB). Where there is a health risk, bedbugs for instance, a few days is enough.
If your own behaviour caused the infestation, the duty flips: then you pay for the treatment, and the landlord can demand that you do.
What you have to do as a tenant
Report the infestation at once, in writing and with photos (§ 536c Abs. 1 BGB). There is no reduction before you report. If you stay silent for weeks, you lose the reduction for that time and are liable for damage the landlord could have prevented had you reported in time (§ 536c Abs. 2 BGB).
Cooperate with the treatment. That means letting the pest controller in, making appointments possible, emptying cupboards and following his instructions on hygiene and food storage. If you refuse an offered appointment, the reduction lapses for the time the infestation remains because of it.
Do not act at your own expense before a deadline has passed. Without a written deadline the landlord reimburses neither a pest controller you hired yourself nor traps and sprays from the DIY shop (§ 536a Abs. 2 Nr. 1 BGB). The exception is an emergency: with bedbugs or a wasp nest next to the cot a deadline of a few days is enough, and in acute danger you may act straight away (§ 536a Abs. 2 Nr. 2 BGB).
Reduce with a sense of proportion. If you reduce too much, you fall into arrears; once the arrears reach two months' rent, you risk termination without notice (§ 543 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 BGB). If in doubt, pay the full rent under reservation and claim the amount back once the pests are gone.
How to proceed
- 1. Document: photos of the animals, nests and droppings, with dates; one note per sighting.
- 2. Report in writing: type of infestation, rooms affected, request for removal by a set date. The reduction runs from this day.
- 3. Set the rate: by the table and the extent; if in doubt, pay under reservation and claim it back later.
- 4. After the deadline, hire your own: book the pest controller, send the bill to the landlord.
- 5. Reduce for the treatment period: as long as rooms are sealed off, that counts as a defect in its own right.
How the rate works out in euros is shown in Calculating rent reduction.
Common questions about pests
How much rent reduction for cockroaches?
For cockroaches in the kitchen, courts usually award 20 to 30 per cent, more if several rooms are affected. The reduction runs from your written report until the pest controller has finished.
How much rent reduction for bedbugs?
Bedbugs in the bedroom make the room unusable; courts have awarded up to 100 per cent for as long as the flat is uninhabitable. Report the infestation the same day and, because of the health risk, set a deadline of a few days.
May I lay poison myself and claim the cost?
Only after a deadline the landlord has let pass. Until then the treatment is his job; otherwise you pay for your own products.
Does the infestation count if it comes from the neighbouring flat?
Yes. As far as you are concerned, the landlord is responsible; he has to tackle the cause, even if it lies with another tenant.
Can the landlord blame me?
He has to prove it. Hygienic conditions in your flat, documented with photos, counter the accusation.
Do I have to report pests already there when I move in?
Yes, at once and in writing. What you record at move-in cannot be held against you later.
Is your rent above the limit?
CONNY checks for free whether the rent brake (Mietpreisbremse) applies to your flat and enforces the reduction. You pay only if we succeed.