Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung: A Right? (2026)

What is a Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung?

A Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung (rent-debt clearance certificate) is a written confirmation from your former landlord that you paid the rent in full during the tenancy and that no unpaid rent remains. New landlords like to ask for it as proof that you are a reliable tenant.

The key point first: you have no legal right to one. The Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) ruled on 30.09.2009 (VIII ZR 238/08) that issuing it is neither standard commercial practice nor a contractual ancillary duty. The landlord may issue it – but is not obliged to.

Why is there no right to it? (BGH VIII ZR 238/08)

The BGH reasons as follows: with the certificate, the landlord would have to commit immediately and bindingly to the state of the tenancy. That is unreasonable, because when you move out not everything is settled yet – in particular, the Nebenkostenabrechnung (annual operating-cost statement) is often still pending and may produce a Nachzahlung (additional payment owed).

There is therefore only one situation in which the certificate is mandatory: when it was expressly agreed in the Mietvertrag (tenancy contract).

Achtung: When you change apartments, do not count on getting the certificate. Keep your own payment records from the start. Once a tenancy has soured, almost no landlord will issue it voluntarily.

What does the certificate state?

A proper Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung contains:

• The tenant's name and the address of the apartment
• The duration of the tenancy (from / to)
• Confirmation that the rent was paid in full and on time
• Confirmation that no unpaid rent remains
• Place, date, and the landlord's signature

What is the alternative? (§ 368 BGB)

Even though the certificate is voluntary, you are not left without proof. You do have a legal right to a Quittung (receipt) for rent paid under § 368 BGB. The landlord must issue it when you ask.

Bank statements showing the rent transfers work equally well as proof – and you usually have them anyway. For applying for a new apartment, these documents are almost always enough.

Bescheinigung vs. Quittung vs. bank statement

	Mietschuldenfreiheits­bescheinigung	Mietquittung (§ 368 BGB)	Bank statement
A right to it?	No (BGH VIII ZR 238/08)	Yes, § 368 BGB	You have it anyway
What it proves	No unpaid rent remains	One specific payment	All rent transfers
Cost	Up to ~50 € possible	Free	Free
With a new landlord	Welcome, not required	Accepted proof	Accepted proof

Can a new landlord demand it?

A new landlord may ask – but has no right to it, and you do not have to present the certificate. Refusing can look unfavourable to some landlords. So offer an alternative proactively: Mietquittungen (§ 368 BGB), bank statements, or a SCHUFA-Bonitätsauskunft (credit-score report).

You should not hand over a full SCHUFA data copy under Art. 15 DSGVO (GDPR), however – it contains far more data than necessary. The document intended for landlords is the (paid) SCHUFA-BonitätsAuskunft – for data-protection reasons it is better to hand over only this one.

Common mistakes

• Relying on the certificate instead of keeping your own records. There is no right to it – secure your own payment proof.
• Not knowing about the Quittung under § 368 BGB. You are entitled to it even if the landlord refuses the certificate.
• Confusing Bescheinigung and Quittung. The Quittung proves one payment; the Bescheinigung proves overall debt-freedom.
• Paying an inflated fee without objection. There is no statutory cap; in practice the fee is usually somewhere between around 15 and 30 euros, sometimes up to about 50 euros. When the landlord signs a ready-made form, the fee can often be avoided or kept small.
• Handing over the full SCHUFA self-disclosure (Art. 15 DSGVO) instead of only the Bonitätsauskunft intended for that purpose.

HausMaus makes this easier

Because there is no right to the certificate, your best proof is a complete payment history of your own. As a tenant in HausMaus you create Mietquittungen (receipts for rent paid under § 368 BGB) and keep every document in your digital Mietakte (rental file) – Mietvertrag, payments, and correspondence in one place. That lets you show a clean payment history to your next landlord, even with no Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung at all. The tenant features are free. Wohnen, geregelt. (Home, handled.)