blueballade

In case anyone is curious about what the lawyer from the Mieterverein told me, he basically confirmed what many people have said here. The landlord has no evidence to prove that I caused the damage, so he can't do anything. He is not allowed to take it out of my Kaution either because it's outside of my apartment. He hasn't bothered me since I replied to his email. We're moving out in a month. Fingers crossed that everything will go smoothly and I can get out of here for good.

Thank you for sharing your experience. That makes me feel better. After seeing so many horror stories about landlords on TT, I was starting to fear the worst.

Now I'm wondering, what happens if I have to leave Germany while such a case is still in progress? I'm already mentally preparing myself since it seems likely that I'll have to sue my current landlord over the Kaution, but I may not be in Germany anymore in two years.

My gosh. I'm glad you won, but that sounds stressful as hell. 

Actually, yes. The lawyer is from the Mieterverein. The consultations that they offer are with lawyers who work there. I also purchased legal insurance through them, but I'm hoping that we won't have to go that far. After the consultation, I'll share what they tell me. The same landlord has received an email the Mieterverein sent on my behalf about a different issue before and just straight up ignored it.   I did reply that I was in Munich on the alleged day and have proof thereof, but maybe I should have withheld that information. Now he can try to claim that he remembered wrong and it was on a different day. Either way he still has no proof, and I'm forwarding his initial "notification of damage" to the lawyer.

I haven't had the consultation yet. Just set up an appointment for next Monday.

@catjones agreed. Thank you.    The landlord sent an email just now saying that the damage occurred on Saturday and that he apparently saw me charging my car by the door that day, but I was in Munich all day, with receipts and photos as proof and a friend as a witness. So there.

Thank you all for the comments. According to the landlord, I could have hit it without knowing, but with a chunk that size, I'd think that I'd at least have felt it or seen a mark on my car. So as far as I know, I don't think it was me.   Got an appointment with a lawyer next Monday.

Last night I had a pretty nasty visit from the landlord of the flat I'm renting. He showed me that a corner of the granite on the doorstep outside the building has been knocked off, and he's sure that I did it because "we saw you drive up to the doorstep the other day and no one else drives here". This is nonsense because there's another neighbour who parks inside and drives past the doorstep on a daily basis. Occasionally postmen pull up there too, not to mention the landlord himself also parks just outside the door.   We checked the car together and didn't find any scratch marks (I took some photos of it today), and there's no camera footage showing anything, so he has nothing to back up his claim. But he's insisting that I pay for damages because "I cannot prove that I didn't do it". I'm going to contact the Mieterverein today. What would my best course of action be? I'm worried that the landlord will try to get some outrageous estimate and take it out of my Kaution if I don't pay up now. Should I just try to de-escalate and pay with my Haftpflichtversicherung, even though he has no proof that I did anything?   Thanks in advance! 

Yes to both of you. I joined at the beginning of the year, so it's been more than 3 months. They agreed to write a letter to the landlord. We'll see how that goes. They only do consultations in German though, so some of the nuances they're telling me may be lost in translation.

Hi all,   I moved into an apartment in Bavaria last October. My rental contract has a clause saying that I cannot move out within the first 12 months, i.e. until the end of this September. I showed the contract to my local Mieterverein and they said that this clause is "most likely" invalid because for a fixed-term contract, the landlord needs to either give a specific reason for it or explicitly say that it goes both ways (the landlord cannot kick me out before October either). I recently looked for a new apartment to move into because my current landlord is an absolute nightmare (he's sent some pretty nasty emails in the past accusing me of random things, like parking in a spot he himself once told me I could use). The new apartment I found has an early move in date, but it was a nice place, so I signed it. At the end of May, I sent my move-out notice to my current landlord by Einschreiben, stating that I intend to move out on August 31. He sent me an email later saying that he got my notice, and that he would only waive my rent for September if he can find another tenant to move in on September 1.   What would happen if I insist on moving out by the end of August and don't pay rent in September, citing what the Mieterverein told me? Could the landlord deduct my rent from my Kaution or sue me over it? I do have legal insurance through the Mieterverein, but it would still be a pain.   Another complicating factor is that there are two landlords on my contract: one who owns the place and I pay rent to, and another who signed the lease and handles all communication with me. I only sent the notice to the guy who signed my contract, but the Mieterverein said this might give them some wiggle room to argue that I didn't address my notice to both of them.   Any insight or advice would be appreciated. And knowing this landlord, he'll probably try to screw me over with the Kaution regardless. Is it necessary to have a lawyer do the final walk-through with me?   Thanks!