This article: [https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/mietkaution](https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/mietkaution), specifically this part:

**”**[**Pay the rent for the first month**](https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/moving-in#pay-the-rent-and-the-deposit)**, and at least 1/3 the Kaution**
You must pay 1/3 of the *Kaution* before the day you [move in](https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/moving-in). You can pay the full *Kaution*, but you can also [pay it in 3 instalments](https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/mietkaution#pay-your-kaution-in-instalments). The landlord can’t force you to pay the full *Kaution* before you move in[1](https://www.mietrecht.org/mietkaution/schluessel-nach-kautionszahlung/). Always pay by [bank transfer](https://allaboutberlin.com/glossary/SEPA-%C3%9Cberweisung). You can pay with cash, but it’s not very common. If you pay with cash, ask for a receipt. No one pays by check. ”

wondering about your real-life experience, does it actually work this way? talking about bigger cities and talking specifically about WG-s

or can I expect that it will be expected of me to pay everything at once, before I move in etc.

thanks in advance

3 comments

  1. They can not force you to pay it all in one go, as the law allows to pay for it in 3 instalments. But if you tell them that you don’t have the money to pay right away and want to pay in installments they can choose to give the apartment to someone else instead. Good luck trying to prove that they don’t want to share the apartment with you because you want to make use of a right you have.

    On the other hand, if you promise to pay in one go and then don’t, quoting the law, you are setting yourself up for a very unfriendly climate from the beginning where your flatmates will rightfully question why you lied to them and what else you lied about.

  2. >You must pay 1/3 of the Kaution before the day you move in.

    That’s incorrect. The first month’s rent is due at the start of the contract, with three working days grace period. Kaution is likewise due with the start of the contract. That means that you do not have to pay before moving in.

    https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_bgb/englisch_bgb.html#p2093 – the law for rent.

    https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_bgb/englisch_bgb.html#p2022 – deposit.

  3. In real life if you make that request in any of the bigger cities you will most likely be turned away because there are 100 people waiting in line for the room willing to pay the deposit and a nice amount of Ablöse to finally find somewhere to live.

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