u/ch00gs

I made a post about this last week but got no replies so trying again and keeping shorter in the hope someone can give me some much needed perspective.

Lenticchio (6M resident cat) previously had a very bad relationship breakdown with his littermate after a redirected aggression incident, which ultimately, despite trying everything for almost 2 years, led to rehoming his brother. This took a huge toll on me and I’m scared of repeating that situation.

We’ve been introducing Chiqui (5-month female) very slowly for about 3 weeks: separation, then scent/room swapping and now visual contact through a secured baby gate. There has been some progress: Lenticchio voluntarily comes to watch her, he can watch her play from a few metres away without reacting. They can eat treats while looking at each other, with both disengaging from each other to eat. Chiqui will come right up to the gate and lie down/purr and we even had an almost nose-to-nose moment.

Proximity remains a big issue though. When Chiqui comes right up to the gate, Lenticchio will usually hiss, sometimes growl/yowl, and today he swatted at her through the barrier a few times. He’s not charging the gate and he can often be redirected, though today he was more difficult to redirect than usual. Chiqui seems mostly unfazed and remains curious/relaxed rather than scared.
Mostly I’m trying to figure out if this looks promising, or if the fact that he’s still this reactive at close range after 3 weeks is a red flag. I’ve read it can take months, but I need to understand if there’s real potential here as I don’t want to get even more attached to Chiqui only to let her go too. We also live in a 60sqm apartment so eventually they need to be able to share space peacefully. Keeping them fully separated is starting to take a toll on our mental health (we did that for almost 2 years and it was rough). We’re not expecting them to cuddle, but peaceful coexistence would be great.

I’ll leave a video from today’s session in the comments. Chiqui is the fluffy one lying down; Lenticchio is watching her from the other side of the gate. I’d especially appreciate any opinions, honest feedback or words of encouragement.

We only got another cat because Lenticchio had seemed increasingly in need of more stimulation despite us being home and playing with him a lot. he had started meowing and roaming around the house a lot. So this wasn’t an impulsive decision or an attempt to replace his brother, and we really want to make sure this works for everyone.

From my understanding letters were mailed out on August 10th to eligible voters with instructions, voting venue etc.

I’m an EU citizen residing continuously in Berlin with Anmeldung since July 2025. I changed my address on June 1 2026 officially so all should be up to date. Nothing in my mailbox, either for me or my [also EU-national] partner, though.

Is this normal? Do I need to contact my Amt?

Edit: got both letters an hour after posting this! :) thanks to all those who replied

I heard there are major delays on getting TELC B2 results.

Can anyone share, if you’ve taken the exam recently, what your status is? When did you take it and have you received the results?

Yesterday and today, people walking by the hundreds, super focused on their phones, like Pokémon go when it came out. Anyone has any idea the reason?

Kurzer Hinweis: Ich habe diesen Post heute Morgen um 6 Uhr bereits auf Englisch gepostet, aber da war noch niemand wach. Mein Deutsch reicht leider nicht aus, um so komplizierte Dinge ohne Hilfe zu schreiben. Ich hoffe, die KI-Übersetzung ist okay.

TL;DR: Wir unterschreiben morgen einen Mietvertrag mit 14-tägigem Widerrufsrecht. Wir planen, auf beiden Anlage-Checkboxen „Nein” anzukreuzen, und es wird weder bei der Unterzeichnung noch vor dem 15. Juni Geld fließen. Können wir vor dem 5. Juni ohne finanzielle oder rechtliche Konsequenzen widerrufen?

Hallo, ich hoffe auf etwas rechtliche Unterstützung von Menschen mit Kenntnissen im deutschen Mietrecht.

Mein Partner und ich werden morgen einen Mietvertrag für eine Neubauwohnung in Berlin unterzeichnen. Mietbeginn ist der 15. Juni. Der Vertrag enthält eine Widerrufsbelehrung (Anlage 3a):

„Sie haben das Recht, diesen Vertrag binnen vierzehn Tagen ohne Angabe von Gründen zu widerrufen.”

In Anlage 3c gibt es zwei Checkboxen:

Erste: „Ich verlange ausdrücklich, dass Sie vor Ende der Widerrufsfrist mit der Ausführung der beauftragten Dienstleistungen beginnen (§ 356 Abs. 4 BGB).”

Zweite: „Ich stimme ausdrücklich zu, dass Sie vor Ende der Widerrufsfrist mit der Ausführung der beauftragten Dienstleistungen beginnen. Mir ist bekannt, dass ich bei vollständiger Vertragserfüllung durch Sie mein Widerrufsrecht verliere.”

Wir werden bei beiden Nein ankreuzen.

Unser Verständnis:

•	Durch „Nein” bleibt das Widerrufsrecht bis zum 05.06.2026 vollständig erhalten  
•	Die erste Mietzahlung ist laut §6.1 erst am dritten Werktag im Juni fällig  
•	Die Kaution ist laut §7.1 „in gesetzlicher Weise” fällig — also nicht vor Mietbeginn am 15.06.  
•	Bei der Unterzeichnung fließt kein Geld

Wenn wir also vor dem 05.06.2026 schriftlich widerrufen, verlassen wir den Vertrag ohne finanzielle oder rechtliche Konsequenzen — da laut Anlage 3a alle geleisteten Zahlungen erstattet werden, von denen es keine geben würde.

Das scheint uns klar und eindeutig — aber mein Partner ist sehr gestresst, da Deutsch nicht unsere Muttersprache ist und wir Angst haben, etwas zu übersehen. Wir würden uns sehr freuen, wenn ein Anwalt oder jemand mit soliden Rechtskenntnissen kurz die relevanten Abschnitte lesen und folgende drei Dinge bestätigen könnte:

•	Das Widerrufsrecht ist sauber und wir können vor dem 05.06.2026 ohne Konsequenzen widerrufen  
•	Es ist kein Geld bei oder vor der Unterzeichnung fällig  
•	Vor dem Mietbeginn am 15.06. ist nichts fällig

Wir sind bereit, für diese Bestätigung etwas zu zahlen. Wir brauchen einfach eine menschliche Expertenbestätigung, damit mein Partner morgen mit Sicherheit unterschreiben kann. Wer bereit ist, kurz zu helfen — bitte per DM melden. Kommentare sind natürlich auch willkommen!

Vielen Dank!

TLDR: About to sign a rental contract tomorrow with a 14-day Widerrufsrecht. We intend to tick Nein on both Anlage checkboxes and no money changes hands at signing or before June 15th. Can we withdraw before June 5th with absolutely zero financial or legal consequences?

Hi, I’m hoping for some kind reassurance from people with knowledge of German tenancy law. This seemed like the right place.

We partner and I are about to sign a rental contract tomorrow for a Neubau apartment in Berlin for a tenancy starting on June 15th. The contract includes a formal Widerrufsbelehrung (Anlage 3a) which states:

„Sie haben das Recht, diesen Vertrag binnen vierzehn Tagen ohne Angabe von Gründen zu widerrufen. Die Widerrufsfrist beträgt vierzehn Tage ab dem Tag des Vertragsschlusses.”

In Anlage 3c there are two separate checkboxes. The first reads:

„Ich verlange ausdrücklich, dass Sie vor Ende der Widerrufsfrist mit der Ausführung der beauftragten Dienstleistungen beginnen (§ 356 Abs. 4 BGB).”

The second reads:

„Ich stimme ausdrücklich zu, dass Sie vor Ende der Widerrufsfrist mit der Ausführung der beauftragten Dienstleistungen beginnen. Mir ist bekannt, dass ich bei vollständiger Vertragserfüllung durch Sie mein Widerrufsrecht verliere (§ 356 Abs. 4 BGB).”

We intend to tick “Nein” on both.

Our understanding is:

- By ticking Nein on both we are not requesting or consenting to early commencement, meaning the withdrawal right remains fully intact until 05.06.2026

- Per §6.1 the first rent payment is only due by the third working day of June

- Per §7.1 the Kaution is due „in gesetzlicher Weise”, meaning not before Mietbeginn (15.06.2026)

- No money whatsoever will have changed hands at signing, or so it seems?

So, if I‘m not horribly mistaken, as long as we send a written withdrawal by email before 05.06.2026, we walk away with zero financial loss and zero legal consequences, since Anlage 3a states we are entitled to full reimbursement of any payments made, of which there would be none.

This seems completely clear and straightforward to me, but my partner is extremely stressed about this and doesn’t fully trust that we’re reading the German correctly given it’s not our first language. He’s worried there are hidden penalties or consequences we’re not seeing, and this anxiety is affecting our ability to make this decision, which is a shame because the apartment is really lovely and we’re brainfried from months of applications and visits. We just need an extra week to get things in order so we would like to at least have the option of withdrawing if necessary.

We would really appreciate it if a lawyer or someone with solid legal knowledge would be willing to quickly read the relevant sections of the contract and confirm three specific things:

- Widerrufsrecht is clean and we can pull out before 05.06.2026 without any consequences
- No money is due at or before signing
- Nothing at all is due before the tenancy start date of 15.06.2026

We are happy to pay something reasonable for this reassurance. We just need a human expert to confirm what we believe we’re reading correctly so my partner can sign tomorrow with peace of mind. If any lawyer or legal professional here is willing to take a quick look and give us this confirmation, please DM. If you want to chime into the comments directly, that helps too ofc. Thank you!

After months upon months of searching, my partner and I somehow find ourselves ironically with two options at the same time, forcing us to make a decision now when waiting a few days would be super helpful.

Option A, Beusselkiez, so Moabit close to where Charlottenburg starts. 59sqm Altbau, €950 warm, no Indexmiete, unbefristet, semi-furnished (€800 Ablöse so not bad). No balcony, Hof view, 15 min walk to either the U or S Bahn. Current tenant advocated for us, HV checked docs and is very positive, BUT owners are on holiday and can only confirm next Tuesday. HV doesn’t see why they’d say no, but they still could theoretically. Also, waiting to get draft a contract to understand the price and conditions will indeed stay the same as the current tenant, who moved there in 2024.

Option B, Neukölln, roughly 600m from S+U Hermannstraße. 66sqm Neubau, €1,450 warm, Indexmiete, completely empty but nice kitchen and bathroom modern and fully equipped. Big balcony with stunning green view. Already fully approved, need to sign by Friday.

The problem: Option A is clearly the smarter financial choice (€500/month less, no Indexmiete, protected rent forever). But we’d have to turn down a confirmed offer today to wait for a maybe on Tuesday. And if the owners say no, we’ve lost both.

Option B is more expensive but it’s ours right now, no uncertainty. Would you take the bird in hand or wait for Tuesday?

We all know the drill too well but my partner and I have been searching for several months, intensifying it particularly the past few weeks that it feels like a second job. We’ve been trying everything from telegram bots, immoscout paid subscription, kleinanzeigen, nebenan, facebook groups, asking friends to ask friends. Gonna try the newspaper ad this week. We are fortunate enough to get viewings, we refine and try to make each application as strong and tailored as possible, we’ve been willing to pay up to €10k Abschlag and we send everything within minutes (try to message new ads within 1-3 minutes and submitting our tidy, one-page-PDF complete application within minutes to a couple hours of the visit, depends on if the Selbsauskunft form was provided beforehand or only during visit). Yet we somehow keep not being chosen when the HV needs to pick, which, once or twice, cool, it happens, but we just got our fifth we-picked-someone-else email on places that had been looking promising.

Our profile should be pretty solid: couple already living in Berlin, while German skills aren’t superb we can communicate no problem, permanent German work contract for the main earner, regular income from other person’s freelance activity, roughly €4800 minimum net combined, EU citizens (meaning no uncertainty on being able to stay), good Schufa. We moved here from Italy last summer and are currently on a temporary furnished flat which expires at the end of next month, so we’re starting to get worried we’re gonna end up on another temporary furnished solution that doesn’t feel like home. We also have a sweet cat who doesn’t do well with too much upheaval. Moving here last year was already hard on him, so we really need something stable rather than bouncing between short-term sublets.

If anyone knows someone passing on a flat, or knows someone who knows someone (laughable, I know, but we’re at a loss at what else to do), we would be incredibly grateful. Budget €1500 warm max, min 50sqm+, preferably inside the ring but open to surrounding areas as long as well connected. Long term only. Happy to buy kitchen/furniture from previous tenant.

DMs open. Thanks Berlin!

Partner and I (both M early to mid 30s) have been looking for a flat for months and getting desperate, I’m sure you all know the drill. Current contract (limited 1yr) expires end of June and we also have a cat, which makes everything harder, since we don’t want to be moving around sublets regularly, as some seem to resort to doing. We did manage to get some viewings after sending hundreds of applications (telegram bots, all docs nicely organized in one pdf, etc etc), and today, two months away from being homeless, we seem to have the chance of actually securing a place!

The apartment is a furnished 2room, 56sqm, 4th floor with a balcony right at Kottbusser Tor with a Warmmiete of €1290 . Contract is 3 years fixed term through Heimstaden. The flat itself is very nice and bright, the furniture is minimal so it still gives us a chance to make that space ours without having to stress about the big stuff early on (bed, couch, kitchen) and a huge plus: the balcony is fully secured for cats, with the netting and all.

We currently live close to Hallesches Tor and do go out around Kotti often, but since this building is right at the heart of it, just a couple steps away from one of the U entrances, I'm wondering how the day to day living in the area is like. When I went to the viewing, there were quite a few people outside close the entrance who looked like they were heavily impaired, stumbling and hanging around, making it difficult even to pass as a pedestrian. I want to be clear I don’t mean to be judgemental about drug use or complex socialeconomic difficulties folks go through. I'm just curious how it is on a day to day basis. Do they mostly keep to themselves? Is it something you get used to? We're a pretty quiet, easygoing couple and just want to come home and have some peace, not deal with confrontation or feeling unsafe at our own front door.

I've done some research and am aware of the Heimstaden situation with fixed-term contracts and overpriced rents. I'm already a Berliner Mieterverein member and the Mietspiegel puts the reference rent at €9.08/sqm, so the Kaltmiete of €1120 seems very challengeable via Mietpreisbremse.

I guess my main questions here are:

Anyone lived at or near Kotti? What's it like dealing with the crowd outside day to day. Mostly fine or genuinely stressful?

How about noise? From the visit it didn’t seem particularly loud from the 4th floor but would love to hear perspectives.

Any experience with Heimstaden as a landlord? Or experience challenging rent with them via Mietpreisbremse?

Any insight would be much appreciated. We're running out of time and options and just want to make the right call

Partner and I (both M early to mid 30s) have been looking for a flat for months and getting desperate, I’m sure you all know the drill. Current contract (limited 1yr) expires end of June and we also have a cat, which makes everything harder, since we don’t want to be moving around sublets regularly, as some seem to resort to doing. We did manage to get some viewings after sending hundreds of applications (telegram bots, all docs nicely organized in one pdf, etc etc), and today, two months away from being homeless, we seem to have the chance of actually securing a place!

The apartment is a furnished 2room, 56sqm, 4th floor with a balcony right at Kottbusser Tor with a Warmmiete of €1290 . Contract is 3 years fixed term through Heimstaden. The flat itself is very nice and bright, the furniture is minimal so it still gives us a chance to make that space ours without having to stress about the big stuff early on (bed, couch, kitchen) and a huge plus: the balcony is fully secured for cats, with the netting and all.

We currently live close to Hallesches Tor and do go out around Kotti often, but since this building is right at the heart of it, just a couple steps away from one of the U entrances, I'm wondering how the day to day living in the area is like. When I went to the viewing, there were quite a few people outside close the entrance who looked like they were heavily impaired, stumbling and hanging around, making it difficult even to pass as a pedestrian. I want to be clear I don’t mean to be judgemental about drug use or complex socialeconomic difficulties folks go through. I'm just curious how it is on a day to day basis. Do they mostly keep to themselves? Is it something you get used to? We're a pretty quiet, easygoing couple and just want to come home and have some peace, not deal with confrontation or feeling unsafe at our own front door.

I've done some research and am aware of the Heimstaden situation with fixed-term contracts and overpriced rents. I'm already a Berliner Mieterverein member and the Mietspiegel puts the reference rent at €9.08/sqm, so the Kaltmiete of €1120 seems very challengeable via Mietpreisbremse.

I guess my main questions here are:

Anyone lived at or near Kotti? What's it like dealing with the crowd outside day to day. Mostly fine or genuinely stressful?

How about noise? From the visit it didn’t seem particularly loud from the 4th floor but would love to hear perspectives.

Any experience with Heimstaden as a landlord? Or experience challenging rent with them via Mietpreisbremse?

Any insight would be much appreciated. We're running out of time and options and just want to make the right call