Operating costs are the costs which the owner incurs on an ongoing basis. They have to be paid by the tenants each month together with the basic rate and are offset against the actual costs once a year. However, these costs only have to be paid by the tenant if this has been agreed in the rental contract.

Through a credit inquiry, Vonovia gets information about your payment conduct up to now. This includes reminders, receivables made enforceable by a court or an affidavit of assets. Before you rent a residence from us, we examine your creditworthiness with your consent. Naturally, all the information is subject to data protection and is not forwarded to third parties.

We point out that we do not make any more use of the direct debit authorisation after the end of the rental relationship. Any later claims which may occur have to be transferred manually to the rental account known to you.

Please remember that a premature hand-over of the keys amongst one another is not allowed. Also in your own interest, one of our employees ought to be present at this meeting in order to record the hand-over properly. Otherwise, you are still liable, even if you are no longer in possession of the residence. The passage of possession takes place at the final acceptance. Please confirm the appointment to our employee at the preliminary acceptance. Here too, you can be represented by a person of your trust in an emergency. Please advise us of the person's contact data beforehand so that we can get in touch with him/her. Hand-over of the rented object before the end of the contract is possible. Please get in touch with us in order to change the date accordingly. However, we here and now draw your attention to the fact that you are then nevertheless obliged to pay the rent until the end of the contract. By this date, please take the measures agreed at the preliminary acceptance and provide our field service worker with the keys, pre-sorted and marked.

If you cannot attend the appointment suggested, you have the possibility of authorising a person of your trust to attend the appointment for you. At the preliminary and also the final acceptance, please have your acceptance record at hand in order to avoid possible discrepancies at the take-over of the residence.

You as an heir accede to the existing rental relationship with all rights and duties. In this case, you can give notice with the statutory period. Subsequent claims already existing or originating in future pass to you. As an alternative, we request transmission of a deed of rejection of succession from the responsible local court. Please agree an appointment to hand over the keys with us or send us all the keys, marked accordingly, stating the rental contract number to the following address: Vonovia SE Universitätsstraße 133, 44803 Bochum

We calculate advance payments such that they are suitable. As the costs which are settled come from the previous years, increases in costs in the meantime can justify a higher advance payment even if the current settlement resulted in a credit.

"Woman lived in a two-room flat with 250 budgies" or "Pensioner had 25 cats in his apartment" - no tenants want this kind of situation in the neighbourhood. This is why Vonovia has regulated the question of pet in a fair way. Small pets such as hamsters or tortoises can be kept in the flats without permission as long as there are not too many of them, they do not cause any damage and do not disturb the neighbours. Things look different for cats and dogs, because Vonovia as the landlord reserves the right to express approval. They may be urgent reasons to reject keeping pets, for example if living together in a multi-family house demands this.

If the residence has been returned according to the contract, there is a check of whether your deposit can be repaid. If no rental payments or subsequent payments from the settlement of overheads are open, disbursement of the deposit is triggered straight away. But for the sake of completeness, we point out that the landlord has the right to withhold the deposit for up to six months after the end of the contract for any subsequent claims which may arise.

For many problems, it's worth having a look in the customers area of our website. Here, many subjects have already been treated for your information. You can look for residences, go through our broad offer of services, find out important things about the company, study actions and offers in quiet and also sort out your questions in many cases.

If you give notice because you are moving to an old people's/nursing home, this does not release you from the duty to pay rent. The period of notice can only be curtailed in the event of subsequent rental. You will find more information under the point: "How can I curtail my period of notice?“.

Please submit the application in writing. Preconditions for cancellation of the notice are that the residence has not been further rented, that you do not have any arrears in rent payment and that there have not been any other kinds of problems in the past. If there is an occupancy right for the residence in question, we must additionally ask for the occupier's consent. When all the points have been examined and nothing speaks out against cancelling the notice, you will receive a written confirmation from us.

A tenant gets annoyed because her neighbour showers every night. But he is a chef and has to clean up in the evening after work and does not notice that he is annoying the neighbours. These or similar cases are reported to Vonovia. Often, the company cannot even help – showering for example is permitted around the clock by law.
So our request: if something in the house annoys you, talk to one another, dear tenants. Tell them your problem calmly and objectively, look for a solution together. If the annoyance is large, you can naturally also get in touch with Vonovia, please do it in writing and with detailed statements.
If the problems cannot be solved despite joint discussion in the house community, certain rules of the game have to be obeyed and, for example, a noise protocol kept.
You will find it here with further information and examples.

Vonovia can demand approval of an increase in the rent up to the comparative rental customary in the area from the tenant if the rent has not changed for 15 months at the time at which the increase is to take place. The request for an increase in rent can only be made one year after the previous increase in rent.

If you would like to curtail your period of notice, you can suggest a subsequent tenant to us. a. For this, examination of the electrical system at the preliminary acceptance is particularly important. There is nothing conspicuous in the examination of the electrical system: - curtailment of the period of notice and take-over of the tenant's own installations are possible under certain circumstances. There is something conspicuous in the examination of the electrical system: - No direct subsequent renting is possible. - All the work stated in the record of the preliminary acceptance must be done by you even if you have concluded a declaration of agreement with the next tenant that he takes over possible installations. In order to guarantee unproblematic repair of the electrical system, all the wallpapers, fitted cabinets, kitchen furniture and floor coverings must be removed. As an alternative, there is the possibility of an agreement with the next tenant that he removes the installations in question and stores them under his own responsibility. - Naming of a subsequent tenant remains effective: however the rental relationship can only start one month after the end of your contract (example: end of your contract 30.04. new contract 01.06.). b. A formal letter of intent must be submitted by both parties. Please remember that this is an individual agreement between yourself and the subsequent tenant. Therefore, you still remain responsible for putting the residence into the contractual condition according to the record of the preliminary acceptance and handing it over to us if the subsequent tenant does not take the residence over or there is any other reason against the rental. Please remember that the amount of rental may change for the subsequent tenant. Also, for example, that attics, parts of the garden and similar are not also automatically integral parts of the contract for the subsequent tenant. There is the possibility that the subsequent tenant takes over objects of furnishing from you. For this, we need a take-over declaration. If subsequent renting does not come about, you are obliged to pay the rental until the end of the rental contract. Please confirm the possibility of inspection by us. If we are allowed to pass your telephone numbers on to the interested parties, the chance of finding a suitable subsequent tenant will increase.

Please consider the fact that the settlement of operating and heating costs has to be produced within one year of the end of the settlement period according to statutory regulations. The precise time of the production of the settlement depends on when all the invoices from the commissioned service and providing companies reach us. Naturally, we endeavour to send you your settlement as quickly as possible.

No, you don't. Vonovia is the owner of most of the residences which it rents or sells. For this reason, rental and sale are free of commissions.

In principle, payment by instalments is possible in these cases. Please get in touch with our customer service in writing. Vonovia Kundenservice Postfach 44784 Bochum

All Vonovia tenants have the service number at their disposal. You can report repairs there around the clock. We make sure that the damage is remedied as quickly as possible.

Contact: 0234 414 700 000

Please do all the agreed cosmetic repairs stipulated at the preliminary acceptance properly so that there can be a successful hand-over of the residence at the end of the rental relationship. If you do not agree with the record of the preliminary acceptance, please send us a written document refuting its contents. If you have a cosmetic repairs account with us and pay a matching surcharge each month, please tell the employee this at the preliminary acceptance, so that he can commission any repair work which may be necessary. In this way, you are released from the duty to do this.

Some things only work black on white: what you can always clarify with Vonovia in writing: there are a number of problems that can be settled on the phone. But for some subjects, this is not possible for the Vonovia employees, for example if it is a question of giving notice. There are matters which have to be regulated in writing, mainly for legal reasons. This includes the following cases: please send us all your complaints in writing. We cannot take any measures on the basis of information on the phone. For the purpose of the duty of proof if litigation is started, we additionally need a disturbance record with statements on the nature, duration and time of the disturbance. German rental law provides for written form for rental agreements concluded for longer than one year. You want to give notice? That's a shame - Vonovia really regrets that! Please send us notice signed by all contracting parties. If a signature is missing, we unfortunately cannot accept the notice. All notifications which result in a change to the contract must be submitted in writing. For example, if a contracting party's name is changed or if a contracting party is to be released from the contract, we need this in a written form for the purpose of the duty of proof. If your bank account data change, please also let us know about this in writing or make use of our customer portal for a manual change.

I do not speak (much) english.
I only speak German very badly or have no knowledge of German whatsoever, can I be helped nevertheless? Naturally, we will be pleased to help you. Please get in touch with our hotline. In addition, you will find our FAQ in the Turkish, Russian, Spanish and English languages on the starting page of the customer area under "Information". Our telephone service times: You can find further information under the following link:

Monday-Friday: 7-20 hrs.; Saturday: 8-16 hrs.

Contact to Vonovia

As a tenant, you have the right to attach or install furnishings and equipment according to your own wish for residential use as long as you do not interfere with the construction substance. After all, it is your home in which you want to feel comfortable. Amongst others, this means fitting of wall cabinets or decoration films on doors. But reconstructions and installations interfering with the construction substance may only be done following prior written consent. To the extent that nothing else has been agreed with the landlord, you as the tenant must put the residence back into its original condition at your own expense when you move out. Vonovia does not have to take over installations if we have not approved them being installed. Exception: if a take-over regulation has been made or the landlord insists on taking over, as otherwise the condition of the residence would considerably deteriorate, you as the tenant have a claim to a severance payment. Please consider that Vonovia does not bear any risk for tenants' installations in general; you can have your installations insured for a possible event of damage (fire, tap water etc.) as part of your home contents insurance by informing your insurance company about the installations and having the insurance sum adapted accordingly. Such damage for tenants is not covered in the residential building insurance which we conclude for all our buildings. Vonovia Kundenservice Postfach 44784 Bochum You can obtain further information on our contact page:

Contact to Vonovia

The new monthly advance payment is calculated from the price increases which are already known and the tenant's pro rata overall costs in the period of the settlement. The amount of the new advance payment is to cover the costs for the next settlement period and contributes to reducing the risk of subsequent payments.

What does it mean if I need a PEA (=proof of entitlement to accommodation) for the residence?

a) You already have a PEA?

Please compare the data on the PEA with those of the residence. If there are differences, this might mean that the PEA is not valid for this residence. If you have a so-called "targeted PEA", it is only valid for the residence stated on the form and cannot be transferred to another residence.

b) You do not yet have a PEA?

In order to apply for a PEA, you have to go to the Residences Office (Citizens' Service in your city's town hall). Please take all proofs of income for the last 12 months for all the members of your family with you. You will be informed then and there whether you get a PEA.

Since 2002, a period of notice of three months has been in force. If reference is made to the statutory period of notice in the rental agreement, this period applies. The date of receipt of the letter, not the date of dispatch or the postmark is decisive for the period of notice. So please send it in good time – and remember that the notice is only valid with the signatures of all the people who also signed the rental contract. In older rental contracts, individual periods of notice have sometimes been agreed or those which were valid by law at the time have been incorporated, and they apply in such cases. So if in doubt, please have a look at the rental contract. Please consider that you have to terminate the rental relationship in writing. The written notice must have reached your landlord by the third working day of each month so that it then becomes effective for the expiry of the next-but-one month. Example: your notice reaches your landlord on the third working day of the month of April. The rental relationship then ends with the expiry of the 30.06. of the year in question.

Please send your notice to the following address:
Vonovia Kundenservice Postfach 44784 Bochum

I am looking for a residence with Vonovia, which possibilities exist?

Under the service number, our employees are pleased to inform you about our rental offers. You can also use the property search on the top left of our website. Put your search criteria into the search mask and you will be given an overview of our offer. Vonovia offers all people looking for a residence a special service from now on. Look for your dream object in the property search and book an inspection appointment straight away online. For this, simply click on the "agree an inspection appointment here" button in your exposé. Make direct use of our property search on the starting page. Our colleagues from customer service will then contact you as quickly as possible. However, you can also directly call our customer service under the service number stated below. There, you can make an inspection appointment by phone. Please have the offer ID from the internet advert at hand. This makes our colleagues' work much easier.

Contact: 0234 414 700 000