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Otti signs the rental contract

B1 · 27 words

Otti signs the rental contract

Otti has found a flat at last, and now the landlady puts a long contract on the table. Learn to read a rental contract - cold and warm rent, notice period, house rules - and to ask what each point means.

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Dialogue

A short conversation with the words of this scenario. Tap "Translation" under a line to see what it means.

  1. Landlady

    Translation

    Hello, Otti! Here's the rental contract. Please read everything carefully before you sign.

  2. Otti

    Danke. Die Kaltmiete ist klar: 610 Euro. Aber was bedeutet Warmmiete?

    Translation

    Thank you. The basic rent is clear: 610 euros. But what does "warm rent" mean?

  3. Landlady

    Translation

    A monthly advance payment for the heating is added to the basic rent. That makes a total rent of 790 euros.

  4. Otti

    Translation

    And what if I heat a lot in winter? Hedgehogs get cold easily, you see.

  5. Landlady

    Translation

    Then the statement at the end of the year may show an additional payment, which you have to transfer in time.

  6. Otti

    Translation

    I see. Is the rental contract fixed-term? I'd like to stay for many years, you see.

  7. Landlady

    Translation

    No, it's open-ended. If you want to move out, there's a notice period of three months.

  8. Otti

    Translation

    Good. And what do the house rules say? Is music allowed in the evening?

  9. Landlady

    Bis 22 Uhr ja. Danach gilt die Ruhezeit, die alle im Haus beachten müssen.

    Translation

    Until 10 p.m., yes. After that the quiet hours apply, which everyone in the building has to observe.

  10. Otti

    Kein Problem, da schlafe ich längst. Aber eine Bedingung hätte ich: Der Mangel am Badfenster wird vorher behoben.

    Translation

    No problem, I'm long asleep by then. But I'd have one condition: the fault in the bathroom window gets fixed first.

  11. Landlady

    Translation

    Agreed, we'll put that in writing. By the way, I won't raise the rent in the first two years.

  12. Otti

    Translation

    Wonderful! Then I'll sign now - and I'm happy to pay the first month's rent in advance.

Words and Phrases

Grammar in This Scenario

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