Rent increase: graduated rent
Please note the legal requirements according to § 557a of the German Civil Code (BGB):
First increase Enter here the date on which the first rent increase is to take effect. The rent must remain unchanged for at least 12 months (§ 557a para. 2), therefore the first increase is only permissible after 12 months + 1 day. If a graduated rent is agreed upon with a step of less than one year (even if the shortfall is only one day), the entire graduated rent agreement may become invalid (LG Berlin, Case No. 63 S 179/03).
End of Graduated Rent Enter the date of the last graduated rent. The graduated rent can only be agreed upon for a period of 10 years in the Immodio tenancy agreement. An end to the graduated rent is therefore mandatory because it is legally necessary to list each individual increase in the tenancy agreement – thus, infinitely long terms cannot be agreed upon.
Interval in months Enter the desired increase interval in months here. Also note here: The rent must remain unchanged for at least 12 months (§ 557a para. 2), therefore the interval must be at least 12 months each time. A shorter period can lead to the invalidity of the graduated rent agreement, which is why Immodio automatically points this out in case of a shorter period.
Amount of the increase For each individual step, the rent control (if available), i.e. the new rent must not be more than 10% above the local comparative rent (§ 557a para. 4 BGB).
Unit of Exaltation World whether you want the rent per season to increase in euros or percent.
With Euro you enter a fixed euro amount.
In the case of percent, Immodio automatically calculates the corresponding euro amount.
In the tenancy agreement itself, only absolute amounts (Euro) may be used, which is why Immodio automatically converts the percentage figures and lists the absolute amounts in the tenancy agreement.
After the expiration of the step rent Specify how the rent can be adjusted in the future after the end of the step rent agreement:
Comparative rent: Adjustment to the customary local rent according to § 558 BGB.
Index rent: Adjustment according to the consumer price index (CPI) pursuant to § 557b BGB.
A phasing out of the graduated rent is therefore mandatory because it is legally necessary to list each individual increase in the lease agreement – insofar, infinitely long terms cannot be agreed upon.
Within the framework of a graduated rent contract, the so-called cap limit according to § 558 para. 3 BGB does not apply to the agreed-upon rent steps. The cap limit limits rent increases to a maximum of 15% (or 20% depending on the region) within three years, but applies exclusively to rent increases according to § 558 BGB (rent increase up to the local comparative rent).
However, when setting the tiers, you should note that exceeding the local comparative rent (OVM) by more than 20% can constitute rent overcharging under § 5 of the Economic Criminal Act (WiStrG). If the rent is even more than 50% above the OVM, this can fulfill the criminal offense of usurious rent under § 291 of the Criminal Code (StGB). In such cases, the rent increase is invalid and can be legallychallenged.