The first message
You usually answer a listing through the form of the portal or the landlord. Keep it short: who moves in, from when, and that you'd like to see the flat.
Whether you say anything about your job or income now is up to you. A landlord may only ask about them once you say you want to rent the flat. Before that, only your name, address and one way to reach you, and for a social flat whether you have a WBS.
Most landlords in Germany expect German. The first template is in German, with what each line says under it; the second is the same message in English, for a listing in English.
Betreff: Ihre [Zimmerzahl]-Zimmer-Wohnung, [Straße oder Anzeigennummer] Guten Tag [Frau/Herr Name], ich interessiere mich für Ihre Wohnung in [Straße oder Ortsteil] und würde sie gern besichtigen. Einziehen würden [ich allein / meine Partnerin und ich / wir zu dritt, mit einem Kind]. Ich arbeite als [Beruf] bei [Arbeitgeber]. Einziehen könnte ich ab [Datum]. Zur Besichtigung komme ich [an Werktagen ab 17 Uhr / zu jedem Termin, der Ihnen passt]. Mit freundlichen Grüßen [Vor- und Nachname] [Telefonnummer]
Subject: Your [number]-room flat, [street or listing number] Hello [Ms/Mr Name], I'm interested in your flat in [street or area] and would like to view it. [I would move in alone / My partner and I would move in / The three of us would move in, with one child]. I work as a [job] at [employer]. I could move in from [date]. I can come to a viewing [on weekdays after 5 pm / at any time that suits you]. Kind regards, [Full name] [Phone number]
The line about your job and employer is optional. Send no documents with the first message: the data protection authorities advise against sending anything nobody asked for.
Source: Datenschutzkonferenz, guidance on self-disclosures, version 2.0, part A and model questionnaire
Your application file
The application file (Bewerbungsmappe) is everything a landlord wants to see from you, best as one PDF. Have it ready, and hand over each part when the landlord may see it:
What goes in the file
- Self-disclosure form (Mieterselbstauskunft) Where from: the landlord's form, or the data protection authorities' model questionnaire When: when you say you want to rent the flat
- Proof of income Where from: a payslip, a bank statement or your income tax assessment, as a copy, with parts blacked out When: when the landlord has chosen you, just before you sign
- Credit report Where from: a report made for landlords, such as the SCHUFA-BonitätsCheck; not the free data copy When: just before you sign
- ID Where from: your ID card or passport When: to show at the viewing; the landlord may not copy it there
- WBS, for a social flat Where from: the housing office (Wohnungsamt) When: whether you have one: before the viewing; a copy: when you want to rent the flat
- Guarantee (Bürgschaft), if your income alone isn't enough Where from: your parents, for example, in writing When: with the proof of income
Not in the file: a rent-debt-free certificate (Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung). Your current landlord doesn't have to issue one, only receipts for the rent they received. So a new landlord may not demand it. They may not ask for the name or contact details of your current or former landlord either.
Sources: Datenschutzkonferenz, guidance, parts A to C · Federal Court of Justice, 30 September 2009, VIII ZR 238/08 · Verbraucherzentrale, Die erste Wohnung
What a landlord may know, and when
Germany's federal and state data protection authorities, the Datenschutzkonferenz, set out three stages in their guidance of January 2026. At each one a landlord may know more.
1. At the viewing
- Your name and address.
- They may look at your ID to check them, but not copy it.
- For a social flat: whether you have a WBS, for which floor area and how many rooms.
As a rule, they don't need to ask about your income at this point.
2. When you want to rent the flat
- How many people move in, adults and children. Nothing more about them, unless they sign the contract too.
- Your job and your employer.
- Your net income and what is left for the rent after fixed monthly costs. Saying that it is above an amount is enough.
- Whether consumer insolvency proceedings are open, and whether an eviction order for unpaid rent was made against you in the last five years.
- Whether you want to keep a pet the landlord has to allow. Not small animals such as hamsters or fish.
- For a social flat: a copy of the WBS.
3. When the landlord has chosen you
- Proof of your income: a payslip, a bank statement or an income tax assessment, as a copy, blacked out where something isn't needed.
- A credit report made for landlords.
- Whether there were serious breaches in your last tenancy that justified notice, such as rent arrears of two months' rent.
If the job centre or another public body pays the whole rent straight to the landlord, they may not ask about your income. They may ask for proof of the payment.
Source: Datenschutzkonferenz, guidance, version 2.0 (January 2026), parts A to C
What a landlord may not ask
At no stage, by the Datenschutzkonferenz:
- Marital status, plans to marry, pregnancy, wanting children.
- Religion, ethnic origin, nationality.
- Criminal records and ongoing investigations.
- Membership of a party or a tenants' association.
- How long you have worked for your employer.
- What your monthly costs are for, such as maintenance or a loan.
- The name and contact details of your current or former landlord.
- A rent-debt-free certificate, or your free SCHUFA data copy.
You don't have to answer a question that isn't allowed. According to Berlin's data protection commissioner, you may even answer it untruthfully without having to fear any harm from it. That doesn't hold for allowed questions: give a false income, for example, and the landlord may contest or end the contract.
A consent clause in the form changes none of this. If the contract depends on it, it isn't given freely, so it isn't valid.
Sources: Datenschutzkonferenz, guidance, introduction and parts B and C · Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Selbstauskunft von Mietinteressent:innen
The self-disclosure form
The Mieterselbstauskunft is a form in which you answer the landlord's questions. It may only ask what the landlord may ask anyway: what concerns the tenancy, at the right stage.
The data protection authorities have published a model questionnaire that asks only allowed questions, in three parts for the three stages. It is in German. If the landlord has no form of their own, you can use it: the first part for the viewing, the second when you want the flat, the third when the landlord has chosen you.
If a form asks for more, leave those fields empty.
Source: Datenschutzkonferenz, model questionnaire, January 2026
The SCHUFA report
SCHUFA is Germany's largest credit agency, and many landlords want to know from it whether you pay your bills. It offers two different things:
- The SCHUFA-BonitätsCheck is made for landlords: a PDF with only what matters for a contract, no score, and a code with which the landlord can check it. It costs €29.95, once.
- The data copy under Art. 15 GDPR (Datenkopie) is free and shows everything SCHUFA holds about you, where it came from and who received it. It comes by post, after 4 to 7 days on average. It's for you: a landlord may not demand it.
Since 17 March 2026 you can also see your data and your score in a free SCHUFA account. It is updated at the start of each quarter.
You only have to hand over the report once the landlord has chosen you. If they query a credit agency themselves although your report is enough, that isn't allowed, and they may not make your consent to it a condition.
Sources: SCHUFA, BonitätsCheck · SCHUFA, Datenkopie nach Art. 15 DSGVO · SCHUFA, press release of 17 March 2026 · Datenschutzkonferenz, guidance, part C
Blacking out, copying, sending
On copies you may black out what the landlord doesn't need. They want to know your net pay: your name, employer and net amount stay. You can black out your tax ID, social security number and bank details, and the church tax line, which gives away your religion, which they may not ask about.
A copy of your ID card may only be made with your consent, and it must be clearly and lastingly marked as a copy. You may black out what isn't needed, above all the card's access number and serial number. At the viewing the landlord may not copy it at all.
Send documents only after you have met the landlord, the property manager or the broker at a viewing. Scammers ask for ID copies on purpose.
Sources: Datenschutzkonferenz, guidance, part C.2 · § 20 Personalausweisgesetz · Federal Commissioner for Data Protection, the ID card · Police crime prevention, fraud in flat searches
After the viewing
If you want the flat, say so soon and in writing. Now the landlord may ask for the self-disclosure form; for the proofs only once they have chosen you. Whether you send the proofs now is up to you.
Betreff: Wohnung [Straße], Besichtigung am [Datum] Guten Tag [Frau/Herr Name], vielen Dank für die Besichtigung am [Datum]. Ich möchte die Wohnung gern mieten. Im Anhang finden Sie meine Selbstauskunft. [Einkommensnachweise und eine Bonitätsauskunft liegen bei. / Einkommensnachweise und eine Bonitätsauskunft schicke ich Ihnen, sobald Sie sich für mich entschieden haben.] Einziehen könnte ich ab [Datum]. Sie erreichen mich unter [Telefonnummer]. Mit freundlichen Grüßen [Vor- und Nachname]
In English it says: thank you for the viewing on [date], I'd like to rent the flat; my self-disclosure form is attached; [proof of income and a credit report are attached / I'll send proof of income and a credit report once you have chosen me]; I could move in from [date], and you can reach me at [phone number].
Without a payslip or a SCHUFA record
- Self-employed, or no fixed salary: besides a payslip, the Datenschutzkonferenz names a bank statement or your income tax assessment as proof.
- In training or studying: a written guarantee, from your parents for example, secures the rent for the landlord.
- New to Germany: if SCHUFA doesn't know you yet, you get no score, and companies are told that no data exists. Once you have a current account or another bank contract, it works out a full score.
- A public body pays the rent: then the landlord may not ask about your income, but may ask for proof of the payment.
Sources: Datenschutzkonferenz, guidance, parts B.8, C.2 and C.5 · Verbraucherzentrale, Die erste Wohnung · SCHUFA, Fehlende Daten
If you are treated unfairly
No landlord may treat you worse because of your ethnic origin, not even one with only a few flats. Because of your sex, religion, a disability, your age or your sexual identity, the ban applies, as a rule, to landlords with more than 50 flats. There are exceptions where landlord and tenant are particularly close, such as living on the same property.
You have two months to make a claim. In January 2026 the Federal Court of Justice ordered a broker to pay €3,000 in compensation for refusing an applicant viewings because of her name.
Advice: the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency.
Sources: § 19 AGG · § 21 AGG · Federal Court of Justice, press release 25/2026 on I ZR 129/25
Never pay in advance
You pay a broker's commission only if you hired the broker yourself and they looked for the flat for you alone. Registration or paperwork fees aren't allowed.
If you've already paid: ask your bank at once to recall the payment, report the fraud to the police, and report the listing to the portal.
Sources: Verbraucherzentrale, Fake-Wohnungen im Internet (7 August 2026) · Police crime prevention (8 October 2026) · § 551 BGB · §§ 2 and 3 Wohnungsvermittlungsgesetz