Apartment rental deposit release form - Munich

I really thought this was over but..

We moved out of our old flat , the flat was inspected by the landlady and her husband in our presence, everything was deemed to be fine (they even thanked us for leaving it in such good condition) keys handed over, the release form for the kaution was signed and all paperwork completed to end the contract.

When we took the release form to the bank they said they couldn't transfer the money back to us without the last bank statement which had been sent to the landlady, or a letter from her saying that she had lost it. so we phoned her and left a message asking for it.

NINE DAYS after the handover, the landlady's husband rang back and said that we could not have the statement as he was now not happy with the paintwork in the flat (he said he could see patches where holes had been filled in one room) and that we needed to meet again to discuss it. A meeting has been arranged for tomorrow.

Surely once the contract is over and all the paperwork is signed you can't keep quiet for nine days and when asked for an additional piece of paper then say 'I've changed my mind about the condition of the place now and it isn't good enough' Our contract was with the landlady only, not her husband, who now says there is a problem.

It seems to me that there are many reasons that this is not right, but does anyone know where we really stand on this? Thanks all.

Once again a "you're being screwed" situation. They can't take it back and they really can't make you paint. There is a new law in town and outside of normal wear and tear, they need to shut up and hand over the cash.

As long as he does not show you a written proxy from her as your landlady, he is talking through his arse. Talk to her and her only. The release form signed by both parties should be recognized by the bank, take another look at the lease for the exact wording.
edit: I also think the bank had been tipped off to procrastinate, I have never heard of the bank needing the last statement back from a landlord.

What exactly do you need in order to get the deposit released by the bank? Is it just a copy of the Übergabeprotokol, or is there a specific form that you have to fill in?

I would suggest that you do not meet with him tomorrow. There are some tenant protection unions/agencies in Munich such as Mieterverein Muenchen Give them a call on Monday before talking to these people again.

We have the release form for the money signed, the contract signed off and ended and the übergabeprotokoll signed to say everything is fine. I don't see how they can go back on any of it nine days after the fact, (and only after we contacted them) and keep the deposit simply by refusing to give us the last statement for the kaution konto.

I forgot to ask how fluent you are in German. If you need translating help I will gladly step in, feel free to PM me.

A very good lawyer who deals in these kinds of things is Thorsten Siefarth who has his office in the Tal.
I think no. 25, but you can google him and he has a cool website.

The Mieterverein will do nothing for you if you are not already a member...

Mr. Siefarth has helped American friends of mine who had a similar problem and to top it off
he speaks English!

Thanks for the advice and offers of help - The meeting was, as we knew it would be, a waste of time. The landlady and her husband said straight away that legally it seems it is too late for them to make a deduction but they have now decided that the paint on one wall is slightly patchy and they will be having the whole place repainted, and it would be the moral thing for us to offer to pay for it (!) They didn't bring the statement that the bank needs.

We looked at the paint and said we didn't think there was anything to discuss so if they don't send the thing in the post within the next few days as we asked it looks as though we'll be seeking legal advice. The thing I don't understand is why the bank can't proceed without it.

So no change really. We'll see what happens.

I have since found that this depends on the conditions of the deposit account that you have.

In my case, the contract for the account (signed when I couldn't speak German) stated that the landlord could take the entire amount without my authorisation after proving that the rental contract was terminated. Strangely my bank (Dresdner) didn't tell me any of this, and I only found out that the landlord was attempting to do it when I called them about an unrelated matter.

In the end I had to let the landlord take the cash and then pay me back the balance after deductions. But because he was claiming 100% of the deposit I had to get a lawyer onto him before I got the majority back.

So, if you have a deposit account maybe it's a good idea to check what the conditions for withdrawal are. Specially if it's with the Dresdner. I've since opened an account at another bank and will be closing my Dresdner account as soon as I'm sure all the Lastschriften and Dauerüberweisungen have been changed correctly.