🏚️ Housing costs and rent arrears

Rent arrears can affect anyone, regardless of employment status. Which deadlines apply to a termination for late payment and how eviction can still be averted.

rent arrears immediate termination grace-period payment eviction action preventing homelessness

In brief

Rent arrears arise not only for people receiving SGB II, but also for low earners, pensioners or people with irregular income who do not receive ongoing social benefits. This page covers the general procedure for rent arrears and how a termination of your tenancy can still be averted – regardless of whether you receive basic income support or not. The ongoing coverage of reasonable accommodation costs during SGB II receipt is covered by the Wegweiser module "Unemployed people".

Step by step

Act at the first sign of payment difficultiesInform your landlord early and in writing instead of waiting – this considerably improves the chances of an instalment agreement.
Involve a housing security unit or debt counsellingMany municipalities have their own units to prevent loss of housing, which can mediate between tenant and landlord and involve social benefit providers.
If you receive a termination: check grace-period paymentIf you are given immediate termination for late payment, full payment of the arrears within two months of service of the eviction action can retroactively make the immediate termination ineffective.
Apply for the office to take over the rent arrearsThe Jobcenter or Sozialamt can take over rent arrears as a loan if this averts homelessness and the home is reasonable.
Do not ignore an eviction actionEven if an agreement with the landlord seems unlikely, deadlines in the court proceedings must be met without fail – if necessary with legal advice assistance (Beratungshilfe) or legal aid.

Deadlines

2 months' rent

Once arrears reach two months' rent (or repeated partial arrears), the landlord can terminate without notice§ 543 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 BGB

2 months from service of the action

Grace-period payment: full settlement of the arrears within two months of service of the eviction action cures an immediate termination – but has no effect against an ordinary termination also given, and not if the grace-period payment has already been used once in the last two years§ 569 Abs. 3 Nr. 2 BGB

Watch out – common mistakes

According to the case law of the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice), grace-period payment cures only the immediate (extraordinary) termination, not an ordinary termination for late payment given at the same time – in the case of "double terminations" your home remains at risk despite the back payment.
Grace-period payment works only once within two years; if you have already used it, you cannot rely on it again for a further immediate termination.
Takeover of rent arrears by the Jobcenter or Sozialamt is not a mandatory benefit without any conditions – as a rule it requires that the home is reasonable and that the takeover actually averts homelessness.
If you have already taken out a loan on your own to pay off rent arrears, according to case law this does not in principle rule out a later takeover by the office – a counselling session clarifies the individual case.

In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals

Termination for late payment

Under § 543 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 BGB, the landlord can terminate without notice if the tenant is in arrears with the rent or a not insignificant part of it for two consecutive dates, or if the arrears over a longer period reach the amount of two months' rent. An ordinary termination is often given as a fallback in addition (§ 573 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 BGB), in order to recover the home even if the immediate termination is cured retroactively.

Grace-period payment (§ 569 Abs. 3 Nr. 2 BGB)

If the full arrears are paid within two months of service of the eviction action or a public body commits to payment, the immediate termination becomes ineffective. The Bundesgerichtshof has repeatedly confirmed that this applies exclusively to the extraordinary termination and cannot be applied by analogy to an ordinary termination for late payment. Grace-period payment is also barred if the landlord had already terminated once for late payment within the last two years and that termination was made ineffective by a grace-period payment.

Takeover of debts by basic income support

Both under SGB II (§ 22 Abs. 8) and under SGB XII (§ 36), rent arrears can be taken over if this is justified to secure accommodation and homelessness would otherwise threaten. According to the case law of the Bundessozialgericht (Federal Social Court), in genuine first cases of threatened homelessness, where the home is in principle reasonable, the provider regularly has no wide discretion to refuse the takeover; economically unreasonable prior conduct by the person entitled to benefits recedes into the background in such cases.

Who is responsible

Municipal housing security unit (where available)
Jobcenter or Sozialamt (loan)
Amtsgericht (local court) (eviction action)

Quick questions

Worum geht es bei „Housing costs and rent arrears“?

Rent arrears can affect anyone, regardless of employment status. Which deadlines apply to a termination for late payment and how eviction can still be averted.

Which deadlines and figures matter?

2 months' rent: Once arrears reach two months' rent (or repeated partial arrears), the landlord can terminate without notice (§ 543 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 BGB)
2 months from service of the action: Grace-period payment: full settlement of the arrears within two months of service of the eviction action cures an immediate termination – but has no effect against an ordinary termination also given, and not if the grace-period payment has already been used once in the last two years (§ 569 Abs. 3 Nr. 2 BGB)

What should I do first?

Act at the first sign of payment difficulties: Inform your landlord early and in writing instead of waiting – this considerably improves the chances of an instalment agreement.
Involve a housing security unit or debt counselling: Many municipalities have their own units to prevent loss of housing, which can mediate between tenant and landlord and involve social benefit providers.
If you receive a termination: check grace-period payment: If you are given immediate termination for late payment, full payment of the arrears within two months of service of the eviction action can retroactively make the immediate termination ineffective.

What do I need to watch out for?

According to the case law of the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice), grace-period payment cures only the immediate (extraordinary) termination, not an ordinary termination for late payment given at the same time – in the case of "double terminations" your home remains at risk despite the back payment.
Grace-period payment works only once within two years; if you have already used it, you cannot rely on it again for a further immediate termination.
Takeover of rent arrears by the Jobcenter or Sozialamt is not a mandatory benefit without any conditions – as a rule it requires that the home is reasonable and that the takeover actually averts homelessness.

Evidence

§ 543 Abs. 2 Nr. 3, § 569 Abs. 3 Nr. 2, § 573 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 BGB (gesetze-im-internet.de)
§ 22 Abs. 8 SGB II; § 36 SGB XII (gesetze-im-internet.de)
Deutscher Verein für öffentliche und private Fürsorge, Empfehlungen zur Übernahme von Mietschulden und Energiekostenrückständen im SGB II und SGB XII (deutscher-verein.de)

As of

As of September 2026. · Sources and method

A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.