Räumungsklage for Rent Arrears: 2026 Guide

What is a Räumungsklage?

A Räumungsklage (eviction action) is the landlord's lawsuit to recover the flat when the tenant does not move out voluntarily after a valid Kündigung (termination). It is the judicial route to a Räumungstitel (enforceable eviction order) – the judgment on which the Gerichtsvollzieher (court bailiff) may clear the flat. With a tenant who will not pay (colloquially a Mietnomade), it is often the only way to get the property back.

The load-bearing fact first: a Räumungsklage requires a valid Kündigung. For Zahlungsverzug (payment default), you may terminate without notice once the arrears reach more than two months' rent (§ 543 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 BGB). From the first arrears to the actual eviction, expect six to twelve months.

At what arrears can you terminate without notice? (§ 543, § 569 BGB)

The Kündigung is the precondition for every Räumungsklage – without it the action fails. A fristlose Kündigung for Zahlungsverzug is possible in two scenarios:

Scenario	Requirement	§
Two consecutive due dates	arrears of more than one month's rent	§ 543 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 a, § 569 Abs. 3 Nr. 1 BGB
Over a longer period	arrears exceed two months' rent	§ 543 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 b BGB

No prior Mahnung (formal reminder) is needed for the fristlose Kündigung. In practice you issue it without notice and, as a fallback, ordentlich (with notice) at the same time (§ 573 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 BGB, for serious breach of duty). The reason: a Schonfristzahlung can heal the fristlose Kündigung – but the fallback ordentliche Kündigung generally survives under BGH case law.

Achtung: Never evict on your own. Changing the locks, cutting the power or putting the furniture out is verbotene Eigenmacht (unlawful self-help, § 858 BGB) – a so-called "kalte Räumung". It is a criminal offence and makes you liable for damages. Only the Gerichtsvollzieher may evict, with a Räumungstitel.

The Schonfristzahlung: how the tenant heals the Kündigung (§ 569 Abs. 3 BGB)

If the tenant pays the entire arrears within two months of the Räumungsklage being served – or a public body (such as the Jobcenter) commits to paying – the fristlose Kündigung becomes invalid (§ 569 Abs. 3 Nr. 2 BGB). The tenancy then continues.

The Schonfristzahlung only works if the tenant has not already used it in the preceding two years. This is exactly why you also terminate ordentlich as a fallback: that termination generally survives the Schonfristzahlung under BGH case law.

Step by step: from Mahnung to eviction

1. Document the arrears and the default – for rent due by the calendar, default arises without a Mahnung (§ 286 Abs. 2 Nr. 1, § 556b BGB). A Mahnung evidences the arrears and sets a final deadline.
2. Terminate fristlos, ordentlich as a fallback – once arrears exceed two months' rent (§ 543, § 569 BGB; § 573 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 BGB). In writing, with the arrears quantified, served verifiably (Einschreiben / registered letter).
3. Set a move-out deadline – ask the tenant to hand over the flat by a stated date.
4. File the Räumungsklage – if no move-out follows, file at the locally competent Amtsgericht and advance the court fees.
5. Obtain the Räumungstitel – after the hearing and judgment you receive the enforceable Räumungstitel; the court may grant the tenant a Räumungsfrist (§ 721 ZPO, at most one year).
6. Instruct the Zwangsvollstreckung – with the title you instruct the Gerichtsvollzieher to carry out the eviction (§ 885 ZPO) – optionally as the cost-saving Berliner Räumung (§ 885a ZPO).

What does it cost and how long does it take?

Item	Order of magnitude
Duration (filing to eviction)	usually 6–12 months
Court and lawyer fees	by Streitwert (usually annual net rent); at ~€6,000 Streitwert often €3,000–€6,000 total
Gerichtsvollzieher (full clearance)	several thousand euros incl. removal/storage
Gerichtsvollzieher (Berliner Räumung, § 885a ZPO)	from ~€300 advance, considerably cheaper

The Streitwert in an eviction matter is the annual net rent (§ 41 GKG), plus the outstanding rent claimed. The losing tenant ultimately bears the costs – in practice only if there is something to enforce against them.

Common mistakes with the Räumungsklage

• Evicting yourself (verbotene Eigenmacht, § 858 BGB) instead of via the Gerichtsvollzieher
• Terminating only fristlos, without an ordentliche Kündigung as fallback – risk of the Schonfristzahlung
• Terminating before arrears reach the § 543 BGB threshold
• Failing to serve the Kündigung verifiably – access cannot be proven in court
• Not documenting the arrears in full, making them hard to prove before the court
• Filing the action before the tenant was ever given a move-out deadline

Doing it more easily with HausMaus

HausMaus detects a missing rent payment the moment it should have arrived: through each flat's virtual IBAN you see immediately that a payment is absent – with the amount and the days overdue. The app then prepares the appropriate step, from a payment reminder through the formal Mahnung (§ 286 BGB) to the Mahnbescheid (§ 688 ZPO), and shows you every letter for review before it is sent. This builds exactly the gapless record of the arrears on which a Kündigung and a later Räumungsklage rest – all kept audit-proof in the document vault.

See pricing – 1 % of collected rent, free for tenants →