> 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/wissen/glossar.md). # Glossary This page explains all the important terms relating to letting with Immodio, from A to Z. ## Glossary A | [B](#b) | C | [D](#d) | [E](#e) | [F](#f) | [G](#g) | [H](#h) | [I](#i) | J | [K](#k) | L | [M](#m) | [N](#n) | [O](#o) | P | Q | R | [S](#s) | T | [U](#u) | [V](#v) | [W](#w) | X | Y | Z #### B **Beteiligte (parties)** In Immodio a party is a contact. A party can be either a private individual or a company. There are the following categories of party: owners, tenants and service providers. All contact details and, where necessary, relevant documents can be managed under a party. **Befristung (fixed term)** A fixed term in the rental agreement sets the end of the tenancy right at the start. When the fixed term expires the contract ends automatically, unless both parties agree an extension or the contractually agreed reason for the fixed term ceases to apply. **Betriebskosten (operating costs)** Operating costs are the ongoing costs incurred by the owner through owning a plot of land or a property. The German Operating Costs Ordinance determines which of these costs may be passed on to the tenant. You can find more information in the [help centre](https://help.immodio.app/en/wissen/neues-mietverhaltnis/betriebskosten). **Bürge (guarantor)** A guarantor is a person who undertakes towards the landlord to answer for the tenant's obligations under the rental agreement, in particular for payment of the rent. If the tenant does not meet their obligations, the guarantor assumes liability and is obliged to make the corresponding payments. Because of legal restrictions in Germany regarding excessive security, there are various aspects to bear in mind. You can find more information about this here. **Bürgschaft / Mietaval (guarantee / rent guarantee)** A guarantee, also known as a Mietaval, is a guarantee (usually issued by a bank or insurer) that the guarantor will cover unpaid damage or debts of the tenant towards the landlord when the tenancy ends. *** #### D **Dienstleister (service provider)** In Immodio a service provider is an external service provider (for example a property management company, cleaning service, tradesperson or notary). A service provider can be either an individual or a company. *** #### E **Eigentümer (owner)** In Immodio an owner is a party who owns a property (a property or a unit) and acts as the landlord. **Einheit (unit)** A **unit** is a single, lettable unit within a [property](#objekt). A tenancy can only be created for a unit. You therefore have to create a property first and then a unit, even for properties that have only one unit (for example a detached house). To make this easier to picture, a property can be seen as the entire building and a unit as the apartments within it that are to be let. **Einliegerwohnung (granny flat)** A granny flat in the sense of tenancy law is a residential unit within a property that is occupied by the landlord themselves and that contains two units in total. **Energieausweis (energy certificate)** An energy certificate provides information on the energy efficiency of a building. An energy certificate usually has to be presented when a property is let or sold. You can find more information in the [help centre](https://help.immodio.app/en/wissen/neues-mietverhaltnis/energieausweis). *** #### F **Fälligkeit der Miete (rent due date)** The rent due date describes the point by which the rent must have arrived in the landlord's account at the latest. *** #### G **Gesamtmiete (total rent)** The total rent is the amount the tenant has to pay each month. It consists of the net base rent, the operating costs and possibly further components such as garden rent or parking space rent. *** #### H **heykaution** heykaution is a digital provider of rental deposit accounts in Germany and a partner of Immodio. Such an account allows a tenant's rental deposit to be held in a legally sound way, separately from the landlord's assets. The rental deposit account is held with Vereinigte Volksbank Raiffeisenbank eG and is protected by the statutory deposit guarantee up to 100,000 euros per tenant. For landlords, a digital rental deposit account makes managing the deposit easier and ensures that the statutory obligation to invest the rental deposit separately and safe from insolvency under Section 551 BGB is met. *** #### I **IBAN** The IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is a standardised number that uniquely identifies every bank account and is used for international as well as domestic payments. **Indexmiete (index-linked rent)** An index-linked rent is a rental arrangement in which the rent is tied to an index, usually the consumer price index. The rent can be adjusted on the basis of this index. You can find more information [here](https://help.immodio.app/en/wissen/neues-mietverhaltnis/mietanpassung/indexmiete). **Individuelle Vereinbarung (individual agreement)** An individual agreement is a clause in the rental agreement worded by the user themselves and tailored to the specific needs and wishes of the landlord and tenant. Entering an individual agreement can cause the generated rental agreement to lose its legal validity, since Immodio does not check what is entered here. You can find more information [here](https://help.immodio.app/en/anleitung/mietverhaltnisse/zusatzvereinbarungen#individuelle-vereinbarungen). *** #### K **Kappungsgrenze (capping limit)** The capping limit (Section 558 (3) BGB) is a statutory rule limiting rent increases. It provides that the **rent may be increased by no more than 20% within three years**. In **areas with a strained housing market** a reduced limit of **15%** applies. You can check here whether such a reduced capping limit applies in your municipality. **Kaution / Mietsicherheit (deposit / rental security)** The deposit is a security payment the tenant makes to the landlord at the start of the tenancy. It serves as protection against possible damage or outstanding claims at the end of the tenancy. In the rental agreement assistant you can open a free deposit account through our partner heykaution. *** #### M **Mietbeginn (start of tenancy)** The start of the tenancy is the point at which the tenancy officially begins. From this date the tenant is obliged to pay the agreed rent and may use the unit or rented property. **Mieterportal (tenant portal)** A prospective tenant automatically receives an Immodio account, and with it access to the tenant portal, as soon as they request an appointment through the viewing management. In the tenant portal the prospective tenant can then upload their application documents, track the status of their application and receive the draft rental agreement, which they can sign digitally straight away. In addition, the house rules, landlord confirmation of residence and other important documents relating to the tenancy are provided to the tenant there automatically. You can also invite existing tenants or tenants from outside the Immodio process to the tenant portal afterwards; see the [help centre](https://help.immodio.app/en/wissen/mieterportal/einladung-in-das-mieterportal) for this. You can also use the tenant portal to communicate directly with your tenants and send digital notices to all residents of a property. **Mietverhältnis (tenancy)** A tenancy is an agreement between the owner (landlord) and the tenant on renting a unit. In Immodio a tenancy has to be created in order to produce a new rental agreement; it holds the essential contract components (for example rent, operating costs, rental period) as well as further arrangements. When creating the tenancy you can adjust various parameters and make individual agreements. At the end of the process you receive a draft rental agreement that can then be signed digitally by all parties. **Mietpreisbremse (rent control)** This statutory rule limits the level of rent when existing apartments are re-let. In these cases the rent charged may be no more than 10% above the local comparative rent. Exempt from rent control, however, are new builds let for the first time after 1 October 2014, as well as apartments let again for the first time after extensive modernisation. Rents already validly agreed may continue to be charged when a property is re-let. Important: Rent control does not apply nationwide, only in regions with a strained housing market that have been designated accordingly by the state governments. You can check whether your region is affected on the [website of the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development](https://www.bbsr.bund.de/BBSR/DE/forschung/fachbeitraege/wohnen-immobilien/mieten-preise/mietpreisbremse/01-start.html). **Mindestmietdauer (minimum rental period)** The minimum rental period states the period for which the rental agreement is binding as a minimum. Ordinary termination of the tenancy by the tenant or landlord is not possible within this period. **Miteigentumsanteile (MEA) (co-ownership shares)** Co-ownership shares (MEA) denote the arithmetical fraction by which an owner participates in the common property of a condominium owners' association (WEG). They are a central figure for allocating costs, for voting rights in the owners' meeting and for participation in reserves or maintenance expenditure. A co-ownership share is usually shown as a fraction consisting of a numerator and a denominator. For example: 180 (numerator) / 1,000 (denominator). The numerator states the share that the individual separate-property unit (for example an apartment or a parking space) holds in the overall property. The denominator represents the total number of all co-ownership shares in the WEG. In this example the unit would hold 180 of 1,000 shares. The co-ownership shares are set out in the declaration of division and the division plan, which are notarised and lodged with the land registry. They can also be viewed in the land register extract under the relevant apartment land register sheet. *** #### N **Nettokaltmiete (net base rent)** The net base rent is the amount the tenant pays for the use of a unit (apartment), excluding operating costs and heating costs. *** #### O **Objekt (property)** A property denotes the entire building, for example an apartment building, a mixed residential and commercial building or a detached house. The property serves as the overarching structure and holds all basic information about the property as a whole. A property always has to be created first in order to create a unit (for example the apartments within it). *** #### Q **QES** The qualified electronic signature (QES) is the **highest level of electronic signature** under the EU **eIDAS** Regulation. It is **largely equivalent in law to a handwritten signature** (Section 126a BGB) and meets all the requirements for written form in German tenancy law. With a QES the identity of the signing person is checked in a preceding identification procedure (for example by VideoIdent or eID). Only then can the contract be signed digitally. This ensures that the person signing really is your contracting party. #### S **Sonstige Vereinbarung (other agreement)** An “other agreement” is an additional provision in the rental agreement. At Immodio three "other agreements" are currently available to choose from. They can be selected in the "Additional agreements" step of the rental agreement assistant. **Staffelmiete (graduated rent)** With a graduated rent the rent is increased at regular intervals over an agreed period, with the increases having to be set out in advance in the rental agreement. You can find more information in the [help centre](https://help.immodio.app/en/wissen/neues-mietverhaltnis/mietanpassung/staffelmiete). **Stripe** Stripe is one of the world's leading online payment service providers and processes payments to Immodio. Stripe sends invoices for payment transactions on behalf of Immodio. *** #### U **Untermietverhältnis (sublease)** A sublease is an arrangement in which the main tenant sublets a unit in whole or in part to a third party. The subtenant assumes the main tenant's contractual obligations, while the main tenant remains responsible for the tenancy with the landlord. **Überbelegung (overcrowding)** Overcrowding exists when more people live in an apartment than the prescribed minimum living space per person allows. The exact requirements are governed differently in each federal state. As a guideline, around 9 to 10 m² per adult and around 6 m² for children under 6 often apply. Checking for overcrowding is the landlord's responsibility and should take place before move-in and whenever further people are taken in later. You can find more information here. *** #### V **Vergleichsmiete (comparative rent)** The comparative rent is the average rent for comparable apartments in the same region. It serves as the basis for setting the rent in new tenancies or for rent increases. You can find more information in the [help centre](https://help.immodio.app/en/wissen/neues-mietverhaltnis/mietanpassung/vergleichsmiete). **Verpfändetes Konto (pledged account)** A pledged account is an account whose balance serves as security for meeting a financial obligation, such as the rent. If payment is not made, the landlord can access the account. **Versorgerverträge (utility contracts)** Utility contracts are contracts that the landlord or tenant concludes with various utility companies, for example for the supply of electricity, water or gas. You can find more information in the [help centre](https://help.immodio.app/en/wissen/neues-mietverhaltnis/betriebskosten/versorgervertraege). **Verwendungszweck Zahlung (payment reference)** The payment reference states what a payment is intended for. Immodio generates a payment reference for the user automatically in the rental agreement assistant. The payment reference can be changed by clicking the tenancy you have created and going to "Adjust payment reference" in the "Changes" tab at the top. If you want to use the automatic rent receipt monitoring function, it is important that the payment reference in Immodio matches the actual payment reference of the tenant's transfer. **Vorlagen (templates)** Immodio provides users with templates on various topics for communicating with tenants. These templates are available as DOCX files and cover topics such as warnings, notices, termination, rent increases, letting and management. Unlike the digital Immodio rental agreement, these documents have not been reviewed by a lawyer. They are merely samples that have to be checked by you as the user before you use them. *** #### W **Weitere einziehende Personen (additional people moving in)** Additional people moving in are all those who move into the rented unit in addition to the tenant or tenants but are not intended to become parties to the rental agreement (for example the tenant's minor children). **WG-Vermietung (shared apartment letting)** With shared apartment letting, one unit is let to several people who share living areas (for example the kitchen and bathroom). With the Immodio shared apartment rental agreement you let one or more rooms of a unit to different tenants, and each tenant receives their own rental agreement for their room. The shared areas, for example the kitchen, bathroom or hallway, are covered in the contract as communal rooms with a right of shared use for all tenants.