> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.immodio.app/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.immodio.app/en/anleitung/mietverhaltnisse/mietverhaltnis-anlegen/zeitraum/mindestmietdauer.md).

# Minimum rental period

This page explains the conditions under which a waiver of termination can be validly agreed.

## Minimum rental period

The **minimum rental period** is the period for which a rental agreement between tenant and landlord is valid before it can be terminated by ordinary notice.

#### Period

* A minimum rental period of between 12 and 48 months is usual. In principle a mutual waiver of termination can be agreed for a period of up to four years.
* For students the minimum rental period should be less than two years, based on the case law of the Federal Court of Justice, since a greater need for flexibility in life has to be assumed here (BGH judgment of 15/07/2009, VIII ZR 307/08 [link](http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh\&Art=en\&sid=482398664ec554ec3f80a0616d180881\&nr=49404\&pos=0\&anz=1)). Immodio points this out automatically in the rental agreement assistant if you have selected "student" as the type of employment in your tenant's basic data.
* Where a graduated rent is agreed, under Section 557a BGB the minimum rental period may be no more than 4 years.

#### General

* While the minimum rental period is running, ordinary termination of the contract is excluded for **both parties**. Termination for personal use, for example, would therefore no longer be possible.
* Both parties' rights to extraordinary termination, for example due to serious breaches of contract, remain in place under Sections 543 and 569 BGB.
* For the agreement on the minimum rental period to be legally effective, it has to apply equally to both parties to the contract, the tenant and the landlord. It is only effective, however, if it has been expressly agreed in the rental agreement.
* **Important**: If a minimum rental period of more than one year is agreed, it should be recorded in written form. To do so you have to print out the rental agreement and have the tenant sign it by hand. Immodio points this out automatically in the rental agreement assistant if you want to set a minimum rental period of that length.

{% hint style="info" %}
**There is no obligation on you as the landlord to give a reason for the minimum rental period.**
{% endhint %}

### Minimum rental period - the normal case <a href="#mindestmietdauer-zeitraum-regelfall" id="mindestmietdauer-zeitraum-regelfall"></a>

According to the case law of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH judgment of 23/08/2016; ref. VIII ZR 23/16 [link](https://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh\&Art=en\&nr=76210\&pos=0\&anz=1)), ordinary termination by the tenant can generally be excluded for a maximum period of 4 years. The following should be noted:

* If the tenancy begins after the contract is concluded (the point at which the contract is signed), the maximum period of 4 years begins not with the start of the tenancy but with the date the contract was concluded.
* Termination by the tenant has to be possible at the latest at the end of the 4-year period. A rental agreement may not provide that termination is only possible after 4 years have elapsed.

An illustrative example: if the rental agreement is signed on **1 July 2025** and the tenancy is set to begin on **1 August 2025**, the 4-year period begins on **1 July 2025** and ends on **30 June 2029**. Termination by the tenant then has to be possible for the first time as at 31 May 2029.

{% hint style="info" %}
In principle a minimum rental period (waiver of termination) can be agreed without a time limit in individually negotiated rental agreements. With a standard-form rental agreement, as is the case with the Immodio rental agreement (that is, a contract intended by the landlord for repeated use), stricter statutory requirements apply. Here a waiver of termination may only be agreed **for a maximum of 4 years**. Any arrangement going beyond that would be invalid under Section 307 BGB.
{% endhint %}

### Minimum rental period - with a graduated rental agreement <a href="#mindestmietdauer-zeitraum-bei-staffelmietvertrag" id="mindestmietdauer-zeitraum-bei-staffelmietvertrag"></a>

If a graduated rent is agreed in the rental agreement, the minimum rental period may be no more than 4 years. This is set out accordingly in Section 557a BGB:

**Section 557a (3) BGB Graduated rent**\
***"**&#x54;he tenant's right of termination may be excluded for a maximum of four years from the conclusion of the graduated rent agreement. Termination is permissible at the earliest at the end of this period."*

### Minimum rental period - when letting to students, trainees or pupils <a href="#mindestmietdauer-zeitraum-bei-vermietung-an-studenten-auszubildende-schuler" id="mindestmietdauer-zeitraum-bei-vermietung-an-studenten-auszubildende-schuler"></a>

For students, pupils and trainees the minimum rental period has to be less than two years according to the case law of the Federal Court of Justice, since a greater need for flexibility is assumed. (BGH judgment of 15/07/2009, VIII ZR 307/08 [link](http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh\&Art=en\&sid=482398664ec554ec3f80a0616d180881\&nr=49404\&pos=0\&anz=1)).\
\
Whether a minimum rental period can be validly agreed at all when letting to students, pupils and trainees for the purposes of study or (school) training is legally questionable. A contractual commitment may not be structured unilaterally to the tenant's detriment without appropriately taking their legitimate interests into account.

Students, pupils and trainees in particular regularly have a legitimate interest in flexibility, for example because they may change where they study, undertake practical placements or experience changes in the course of their studies. A long-term waiver of termination can be regarded as an unreasonable disadvantage in such cases and is therefore **possibly invalid** under Section 307 BGB.\
\
When letting to students, pupils or trainees it is therefore generally advisable to agree either no minimum rental period or only a short one. To date there is no court judgment expressly confirming a particular minimum rental period as lawful in tenancies with students, pupils or trainees for the purposes of study.