VIDEO: Calculate the interest on a rental deposit

instagram viewer

The amount of the rental deposit can be freely negotiated up to the statutory maximum. It can be three times the monthly rent without the allowance at the beginning of the tenancy extra costs be.

Rent deposit belongs on a special account

  • Your landlord has to pay the deposit into a deposit account at a bank or savings bank.
  • This account must exist independently of the landlord's other private assets. The landlord may collect the deposit of several tenants on the deposit account. The law aims to ensure that in the event of the landlord's bankruptcy, the deposits remain with the tenants.
  • The landlord must ensure that the deposit is invested at an interest rate that is customary for savings deposits with a three-month notice period. The interest is credited to the deposit account and increases the amount of the rental deposit.

Interest is credited to the special account

  • Interest and compound interest then lead to the rent deposit increasing continuously over the years. As a tenant, you are not entitled to payment of the interest income.
    • Setting up a deposit account - how to do it right

    After a long search and numerous visits, you finally have your dream apartment ...

  • Only at the end of the tenancy does the landlord have to reimburse the deposit plus interest, provided that he does not make any claims related to the deposit.

How to calculate your yield

  • If you want to calculate the interest yourself, it would be easier to first ask the landlord for information about the account balance. Otherwise, you need to know how the landlord created the deposit. If the deposit is in a savings book with 1% interest, you will receive an interest income of € 5 in the first year with a deposit of € 500. Your deposit amount will then increase to € 505, so that you will be credited with € 5.05 in interest in the second year. Use one for this Interest calculator on the Internet.
  • You cannot ask the landlord to invest the amount in such a way that he brings optimal interest income. Your landlord must, however, pay out the interest actually earned when repaying the rental deposit. It is not enough if he only pays out the usual interest on savings and keeps the interest that he actually earned from the investment. If the landlord pays the deposit at a lower interest rate than he normally gets on a savings account, he has to pay you the additional proceeds.

Negotiate the type of investment with the landlord

  • The legal requirement to invest the deposit "at the interest rate customary for savings deposits with a three-month notice period" is only the minimum interest rate. The purpose of the rental deposit is not to enable the landlord to make a profit.
  • In this respect, you can only calculate the interest if you know how the landlord created the deposit. In your interest, you should try to agree the most attractive form of investment with the landlord.
click fraud protection