So i was wondering if anyone of you guys can help me and my husband.
we live in this house for 2 years now, our landlords live above us. dont get me wrong they are nice people but some things are just wrong and talking to them did not work / they just dont care i guess; and its not even a language barrier because im german so i talk german to them
anyway, like i said they live above and i am used to noise from living in the dorms when i went to college but this is insane! every night and i mean every night they are either having loud music or the tv is so loud that it wakes up my 1 year old. and she sleeps through everything!!! so the first issue is the noise which usually starts at 11.30pm
they also do other things that we hear that i dont even wanna write about it
2 issues: our garage is half way filled with their stuff, boxes etc. our cars dont fit in but i still use it for our boxes and now with the pcs-ing coming up i have boxes in there , furniture etc. ( we pcs in may)
3 issue: we pay 35 euro every months for garden work/ snow removal....usually we have to remove the snow bc they just dont do it and while i was huge pregnant i fell and hit my belly really hard.
we tried talking to them about everything and it was ok for maybe 2-3 weeks but now its the same all over again
so should i call housing?just not pay rent?i mean i know we pcs soon but still, what should i do? 

call housing and then the German Legal Office to get the steps to file a formal complaint. If housing refuses to assist you call the USAFE IG office immediately - let the Housing Office know that your next call will be to Legal and the IG if they don't offer to help. 

ok thank you:) 

Where do you live(town) so no one else moves in after you lol... Seriously though, we might be looking for another place in May and I would hate to get that place o_O 

its in huetschenhausen :/ it is a awesome house,right at the fields for the dog to play, no traffic.....the sad thing they werent like that for the longest time...it all started around fall .... 

Okay, I live on the same side of Ramstein as you... a little farther out. (There used to be a farmer who blocked traffic on the hauptstrasse so his cattle could cross the road.. AM and PM!)
Do your landlords know you are pcs'ing soon and don't care? Or maybe they're just trying to get you to move? EVERYBODY in this country knows about quiet hours. And that hour of the night definitely falls into them. I have heard from a few German friends that the word is out about the influx of Amis coming into the KMC as the MA-HD and other areas start to draw down. Housing here is a major commodity and now is an excellent opportunity to jack up rent on new tenants. Lots of immobilien offices advertising now in the KA and other venues. Higher the rents - higher the commissions. 

Housing here is a major commodity and now is an excellent opportunity to jack up rent on new tenants.
..you know not everthing is a scam!
And by the way landlords can't just "jack up the rent" without housing doing an inspection and approving the contract. 

i know i will get the usual suspects replying that there is not a problem with the landlord and rental system around here these people are the same people everytime.

we got out of our rental and i have to say the realtor that promised to alwys help us was of no help when we moved out and he was done with our potential business

it seems the system is broken, when the realtor represents both parties involved, this could NOT happen in the us, it is a conflict of interest.the realtor that we used was great at getting us in the house, snooping to make sure we had all of the bills set up so the landlord didn't have any trouble, when it came time for us to move out and there was an issue the realtor was MIA.

Kudos to housing who had to step in and help us. they are still 9+months out working on the issue and even they say that our landlord is unpleasant to deal with! I say 9+ months out because the german landlords still have not done what they are legally required to do.


tome it seems just wrong that the realtor can represent the renter and the landlord,. where is the check and the balance in that? getting money from both sides, but surely not wanting to make the landlord mad and lose the rental. go figure E1500 every 2 to 3 years or each time the house is rented.yes I would ditch the renters too and only side the landlord!~ broken i tell you 

The German Legal Office is a sham. They did nothing but upset me when I went in and attempted to sue my landlord for my security deposit and damages to my household goods.

Apparently putting a hot water heater on the third floor where I do not have access to it is my fault... and it was my fault that I lost over 70% of my housing items.

The landlord refused to give me my security deposit back unless I paid him the 50,000 euro it would cost to repair 3 entire floors worth of water damage.

German legal sided with him and told me I was SOL. 

Apparently putting a hot water heater on the third floor where I do not have access to it is my fault...

OK. I have to ask. Why do you want to heat hot water?

But, the German legal office is a joke. They called my wife the other day and told her that there was an extremely important matter that they needed to discuss. When my wife inquired as to what they wanted, Claudia (the name of the biatch at legal) told my wife is was urgent and could not be discussed on the phone. My wife told Claudia that if she had something to say, she could put it in writing and mail it. My wife then hung up. The urgent matter, by the way, is a €10 parking ticket. Claudia was making it out to be the next Nuremberg Trials. 

I think there are both types of landlords.

ones like ours who up until last week had not been burned by Americans trashing their house

then ones that have

I think that explains a lot of it

I can tell you that people who have looked at our house have told us how FILTHY the other houses have been......if they truly were not disgusting why would they even share that?

so, think of it this way......the landlords right off the bat have to spend tons on the damage left by someone

I have been a landlord and many times the deposit does NOT cover the damages and the time/stress/lost rent in the time that things are getting fixes is awful

now, do I think it is unfair that some landlords charge more than they would to a German, yes and no

if an American leaves and has underpaid on water that is dumped on the landlord.......and that happens a lot too

if you read the contract most of them say the 35eu a month is an ESTIMATE for water costs, not for unlimited.......YES it is included in the price of the rent but if you go over you still owe.......if under, then refund (ask for one if you think you are due one)

I am trying to be better at seeing both sides of things 

The land lords don't have to spend a red cent on damage done by previous tenants. I had to pay 1500 euro because my son is quite the artist and decided to color on the walls which were covered with a plaster like wall paper, apparently it's pretty expensive stuff. Not to mention they over charge American tenants, my German friend told me the place we were renting should only cost 900 euro, but because we are military they will cap out our OHA. These German land lords are making out like fat rats, lol, don't be fooled. 

Sometimes they do. Sometimes the damage amounts to more than the landlord charged for a deposit. Some things can never be fixed IE smells from pets.

I agree, many are making out but that is common in any military community. It is not just here.

I am just seeing both sides of the story here. I have seen landlords get screwed too. It goes both ways.

If people really don't want to pay the rents landlord charge they can live on base. 

German friend told me the place we were renting should only cost 900 euro, but because we are military they will cap out our OHA. These German land lords are making out like fat rats, lol, don't be fooled. 

You know that the housing office sets the rent right? Or has to approve it atleast...

This whole post is why we bought a house, so glad we don't have to deal with all that anymore! We had a horrible russian landlord when we first got here, he was nuts. 

The German Legal Office is a sham. They did nothing but upset me when I went in and attempted to sue my landlord for my security deposit and damages to my household goods.

Apparently putting a hot water heater on the third floor where I do not have access to it is my fault... and it was my fault that I lost over 70% of my housing items.

The landlord refused to give me my security deposit back unless I paid him the 50,000 euro it would cost to repair 3 entire floors worth of water damage.

German legal sided with him and told me I was SOL.


Ouch, where is this house located at? 

The house is located in Weilerbach. 

Hi, If you have already talked to your landlords and they still wont be quiet, you can technically call the polizei since the quiet hours in Germany are from 11PM to 8 AM or something like that. Also, if they are making your living conditions unbearable, the German law says that you can get some of your money back at a reduced rate.. Also, contact housing and tell them if they dont help you, you will go to the USAFE IG or Commander. That will get em' going.. Also, the German legal office sucks! Go to the US legal office and tell them that you want to get them blacklisted! No one wants to be blacklisted since no Americans will ever rent their again! You shouldnt have to pay for snow removal when they arent doing it. If you have witnesses that saw you clear the snow, you might be able to get that money back but it might entail hiring a private lawyer.. hope that helps 

For those of you that weighed in on my landlord withholding my deposit after I PCS'd to Australia an update. I scanned and emailed the USAFE Form 333a (your final walk through paperwork) signed by my property manager and the housing office backed me up, calling my property manager and telling her it was a legally binding document that she signed -- it literally states: "With my signature I verify that all debts have been settled and I have no further claim against the tenant." right above where your property manager or landlord signs. Once that's done they cannot withhold any deposit money....she claimed she was rushed the day she signed mine but bottom line even in a German court of law she would lose. I will get my full deposit back in the next few weeks. 

Ragin, that's good that you got it back. Our property manager did the same thing, charged for something after we left. I spoke to German legal on base and told the property owner what her property manager did was illegal and she gave me back the money also. They don't want to go through all that hassle.
Happy you got it back! 

good for you, Im glad that you got it back. 

she claimed she was rushed the day she signed mine

LOL - I was rushed when I signed my lease. Perhaps that is not binding, either?

I'm glad it worked out for you, RaginCajun.