Facing a Räumungsklage in Munich? Here's How Long You Actually Have, and How to Buy More Time

If a termination is upheld and you still haven't moved out, your landlord's actual next step is a Räumungsklage, a formal eviction lawsuit, not an automatic eviction. Your landlord has to file it with the competent Amtsgericht and pay a court cost advance before the court will even serve it on you, and the whole process genuinely varies a lot: some cases wrap up in around six months, others stretch past twelve, with total costs, court and attorney fees combined, typically running well into four figures even in straightforward cases. If you have school-age children in the household, this is genuinely one of the few places German law explicitly accounts for that: courts can grant a Räumungsfrist, an eviction deadline extension, of six to eight months specifically to let an exam period or the summer holidays pass first, though the absolute maximum across all extensions combined is capped at one year. If things reach a final eviction date and you're still not ready, there's one further, narrower safety valve, a Räumungsschutzantrag filed with the Amtsgericht München's enforcement court, but it has to reach them no later than two weeks before the scheduled date, and only specific hardship grounds qualify.

The Official Rule

Even once a termination is legally valid and any objection period has passed, your landlord still can’t simply change the locks. Getting you out requires an actual lawsuit, and that lawsuit has its own real timeline, cost, and, for families specifically, its own real protections.

A Räumungsklage is a formal eviction lawsuit that your landlord has to file with the competent Amtsgericht, and it only reaches you once the court has actually served it, which itself only happens after your landlord pays a court cost advance. This isn’t a formality that can be skipped or rushed past, it’s the actual starting gate of the whole process.

Landlord files the Räumungsklage at the competent Amtsgericht.
Landlord pays the Gerichtskostenvorschuss, the court cost advance, before anything moves forward.
The court serves the complaint on you, only after that advance is actually paid.
You have a real opportunity to respond; not responding at all can lead to a faster default judgment (Versäumnisurteil).
A hearing and judgment follow, this is also where you can request a Räumungsfrist extension if you have school-age children or another recognized hardship.
If a final eviction date is set, a last-resort Räumungsschutzantrag remains possible, but only up to two weeks before that date.

According to JuraForum, the actual duration genuinely varies: some cases are resolved in around six months, others run past twelve, and a default judgment against a non-responsive tenant can move noticeably faster than a contested case. Costs add up too, even in straightforward cases, combined court and attorney fees for both sides typically run well into four figures, on top of whatever the actual moving and eviction costs turn out to be.

A wooden desk with a small gavel, a stack of legal case documents tied with string, and a fountain pen

If you have school-age children in the household, this is genuinely one of the more concrete places German civil procedure accounts for family circumstances specifically. According to rechtsanwalt-bach.de, courts can grant a Räumungsfrist of six to eight months where school-age children live in the rented apartment, timed specifically to let an ongoing exam period or the summer holidays pass before the family has to move. This isn’t unlimited, though: the absolute ceiling across all extensions combined is one year, under § 721 Abs. 5 ZPO.

If a final eviction date is actually set and you’re genuinely not ready, there’s one further, narrower option. A Räumungsschutzantrag can be filed directly with the Amtsgericht München’s enforcement court (Vollstreckungsgericht), but the timing is unforgiving: it has to reach them no later than two weeks before the scheduled eviction date under § 765a Abs. 3 ZPO, file it later and the court is required to reject it as inadmissible without even examining whether it’s justified. It’s also reserved for specific, recognized hardship grounds, an imminent move into a new apartment shortly after the eviction date, a scheduled date falling within the statutory maternity protection period, or a serious but genuinely temporary, not chronic, illness.

Amtsgericht München, Vollstreckungsgericht (Rechtsantragsstelle), Infanteriestraße 5, 80797 München. Office hours are typically Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, closed Wednesdays, confirm current hours directly before visiting.

What Real People Say

Families going through a Räumungsklage describe the school-age Räumungsfrist provision as something almost nobody knows about until a lawyer or tenant association raises it, several mention assuming they’d simply have to move whenever the court said, regardless of the school calendar, before learning the six to eight month window exists specifically for this.

People who reached the final Räumungsschutzantrag stage describe the two-week deadline as the detail that caught them off guard most, several mention initially treating it as a flexible cushion before realizing the court has no discretion to accept it late, however genuine the underlying hardship is.

Step by Step

Respond to a Räumungsklage once served, don’t ignore it, a non-response can accelerate a default judgment against you.
Raise your household’s school-age children early in the proceedings if you want the court to consider a Räumungsfrist around exam periods or summer holidays.
Track the one-year ceiling on combined Räumungsfrist extensions so you’re planning your actual move realistically.
If a final eviction date is set and you’re not ready, act well before the two-week mark, a Räumungsschutzantrag filed late cannot be accepted regardless of the reason.
Consult a tenant association or lawyer as early as possible, ideally as soon as the lawsuit is served, not once a final date is already set.

Compliance Note

This page explains the general rules around the Räumungsklage process, the Räumungsfrist, and the Räumungsschutzantrag, but this is not legal advice, and the timeline and options in your specific case can only be confirmed by a tenant association or a lawyer reviewing your full circumstances.

FAQ & Common Pitfalls

We just got served with a Räumungsklage. How long does this process actually take?

It genuinely varies more than people expect. Some cases are resolved in around six months, others run past twelve, and a default judgment against a tenant who doesn't respond can move considerably faster than that. Total costs for both sides, combining court and attorney fees, typically run well into four figures even in straightforward cases, so it's worth engaging with the process early rather than assuming it will simply resolve itself.

We have school-age kids and genuinely can't move mid-year. Can we actually get more time?

Yes, this is one of the more concrete protections German civil procedure offers families specifically. Courts can grant a Räumungsfrist of six to eight months when school-age children live in the household, timed to let an exam period or the summer holidays pass before you have to move. There is a hard ceiling though, the maximum across all extensions combined is one year under § 721 Abs. 5 ZPO, so it's not indefinite.

We got a final eviction date and still have nowhere to go. Is there anything left we can do?

There's one further, narrower option: a Räumungsschutzantrag filed with the Amtsgericht München's enforcement court. The catch is timing, it has to reach them no later than two weeks before the scheduled eviction date, filed later and the court has to reject it as inadmissible without even looking at the merits. It's also reserved for specific hardship grounds, like an imminent move into another apartment, a birth falling within the legal maternity protection period, or a serious but temporary illness, not general difficulty finding a new place.