Limited term longer than 1 year
Legal Notice
If a tenancy agreement for residential space is to be set for a fixed term, written form is mandatory according to § 550 BGB, if the duration exceeds one year. A contract that does not meet this requirement is not void according to § 125 BGB, but the agreement on the fixed term is invalid. This means that an open-ended contract has been concluded. A mere electronic transmission andsignature of the tenancy agreement as a PDF file or a simple digital signature in Immodio do not suffice for this.
Procedure
If you create a fixed-term tenancy agreement with a term of more than one year via Immodio, please note the following procedure:
Create the fixed-term tenancy agreement using the Immodio tenancy agreement generator.
Download the completed tenancy agreement and print it out.
Have the printed tenancy agreement signed by hand by all parties mentioned in the tenancy agreement; only in this way can the written form be ensured.
ZIn the future, Immodio will offer the possibility to digitally sign contracts with a qualified electronic signature (QES), thereby fulfilling the written form requirement even without paper. Until then, printing and signing by hand is mandatory.
What is a QES?
The qualified electronic signature (QES) is the highest level of electronic signatures according to the EU eIDAS regulation. It is largely legally equivalent to a handwritten signature (§ 126a BGB) and meets all requirements for written form in German rental law.
With the QES, the identity of the signing person is verified in a preliminary identification procedure (e.g., via video identification or eID). Only then can the contract be digitally signed. This ensures that the signing person is your contractual partner.