Reader question: Can I terminate my existing residential tenancy agreement with statutory notice after a specific refusal to permit the transfer of use?
You want to allow the use of your German rental flat to a specifically intended third person. The landlord refuses permission while your own contract is still binding. Section 540 paragraph 1 sentence 2 BGB opens up a special route to termination under its conditions: extraordinary termination with statutory notice. A refusal therefore does not necessarily mean that only indefinite continued payment or an unauthorised subletting remain. [BGB540]
Secure the specific request and reply
Prepare the request specifying the intended person, the planned extent and the timeline. What exactly was refused? Did the response concern that person and that use, or was a necessary clarification left open? A general contractual clause and an actually refused specific permission are not the same factual situation.
Our editorial recommendation: Keep all versions together. If you changed the planned period or the person in the meantime, the advice needs to be able to see which state the reply was reacting to. Do not invent a transfer plan solely to trigger a desired termination of the contract.
Examine the reason for refusal
The provision excludes this route to termination if the third person has an important reason. Thus the mere finding “received a no” is not yet a completed legal assessment. What the landlord asserts and which factual circumstances exist are decisive. [BGB540]
Document the reason given as fully as possible based on the complete reply. A dispute about the intended person is not resolved by your indicating that you personally wish to leave the contract earlier. Likewise, do not unilaterally supplement an unexplained blanket refusal with an allegedly suitable reason.
Choose consciously between continuing and ending the contract
For a partial transfer of use there can be a right to permission under the conditions of §553. That is a different objective: you wish to keep your contract and transfer part of it. Section 540 paragraph 1 sentence 2, by contrast, concerns the termination of your own tenancy. [BGB553][BGB540]
Therefore clarify your actual goal before you finally declare that you will terminate the contract. A termination is not a non-binding reservation of a further option. Any agreement already entered into with the other person also requires a separate review.
Determine the notice period according to the form of housing
For extraordinary termination with statutory notice §573d paragraph 2 generally contains the third working day of a calendar month and the end of the second following month. A different rule applies for the special accommodation mentioned there pursuant to §549 paragraph 2 number 2. [BGB573d]
Have the form of housing, the actual receipt and the end date calculated together. “Extraordinary” here does not automatically mean “immediate”. The termination of a residential tenancy also requires written form pursuant to §568. [BGB568]
A hypothetical clear instruction to examine
A tenant brings the request, the refusal and the still-running contract to a consultation. They ask specifically whether the special ground for termination exists and what receipt is required for the planned end date. Only after clarification do they align their own housing planning, the handover and communication with the intended third person.
The article does not promise a general right to any desired subletting. It reveals a possible separate exit which can be examined on the basis of the actual refused permission.