General Terms & Conditions - Rent-a-Partment

I. General

§ 1 Subject matter of the contract

The subject matter of these General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter: GTC) are the terms and conditions under which rent-a-partment.com (hereinafter: RAP) provides a platform on which providers (hereinafter: Landlords) and demanders (hereinafter: Tenants) of furnished apartments or parts of apartments, in particular but not only individual rooms in shared apartments for temporary use (hereinafter: Apartments) can come together and conclude a contract for the temporary rental of the Apartments (hereinafter: Rental Agreement) (the Platform with the above functions hereinafter: Platform).
RAP is merely the operator of the platform and does not offer apartments on the platform itself. The rental agreement is concluded exclusively between the landlords and the tenants (hereinafter also jointly: users) under the conditions agreed upon between them. RAP does not become a party to the rental agreement, does not act as a representative of one of the parties to the rental agreement and does not act as a broker. RAP does not influence the decision on the conclusion of rental contracts between the users, but merely provides the technical infrastructure for the initiation and conclusion of the contracts.
The platform only serves to conclude rental agreements for residential property for temporary use. The landlord and tenant insure in this respect that the tenant, according to their common understanding, does not intend to move his permanent center of life to the apartment, but only a temporary use is intended.
These GTC regulate conclusively the terms and conditions under which users can use the platform and RAP provides the related services. Deviating terms and conditions of the users do not apply, even if they are not expressly contradicted or RAP provides the services without reservation in knowledge of these terms and conditions.

§ 2 Services by RAP

RAP provides a digital communication environment for the conclusion of contracts between landlords and tenants via the platform, on which landlords can post information about their apartments as well as photos and the conditions of the rental (hereinafter: adverts). Tenants have the opportunity to search for apartments that meet their needs, compare prices and other conditions, contact landlords and conclude a rental agreement.
RAP endeavors to ensure the accessibility of the platform via the Internet as well as the technical functionality to the greatest possible extent. Due to maintenance work carried out on the platform, the further development of functionalities or malfunctions, the possibilities of use may be restricted or temporarily interrupted. RAP will announce such restrictions or interruptions to the users in a timely manner, as far as possible.
In order to prevent fraudulent behavior, RAP performs a verification of landlords and tenants according to the regulation in § 4. According to the regulation in § 5 a customer support will be offered. Tenants can initiate the booking process according to § 14 and communicate with the landlord by submitting booking requests. Furthermore, in accordance with the provision in § 15, model contracts are made available for users to use if mutually agreed upon. RAP enables landlords and tenants to sign the rental agreements concluded between them digitally in accordance with the regulation in § 16.

II. Use of the Platform

§ 3 Registration on the platform

Some functions of the platform, in particular the posting of adverts by landlords and the submission of booking requests by tenants, require prior registration. The privacy policy of RAP can be accessed here. The creation of an account is only permitted to legal entities, partnerships and natural persons at least 18 years of age. When registering, accurate and complete information must be provided. This information must also be kept up to date at all times thereafter.
The login data may only be used by the respective authorized user. The account may not be transferred to third parties. The user is obligated to keep the login data secret and to protect it from unauthorized access by third parties. If there is a possibility that third parties could have unauthorized access to the account, RAP must be informed immediately. In this case, RAP reserves the right to take measures against this and in particular to block the account or to change the login data. The user is responsible for all activities that are carried out using his user account, unless he cannot be held accountable for the misuse of his user account due to no violation of the duties of care that rest upon him.
When registering an account, but at the latest before concluding a rental agreement, landlords are obliged to truthfully state whether they are advertising as an entrepreneur or consumer. According to Section 13 of the German Civil Code (BGB), a consumer is any natural person who enters into a legal transaction for purposes that predominantly are outside the consumer’s trade, business or profession. According to Section 14 of the BGB, an entrepreneur is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity who, when concluding a legal transaction, acts in the exercise of his commercial or independent professional activity. Landlords who are entrepreneurs are obliged to provide a tax number or VAT identification number.

§ 4 Verification of landlords and tenants

In order to prevent identity fraud and cases of fraud as far as possible and to ensure the security and integrity of the platform, RAP verifies the identity of landlords and tenants registered on the platform. RAP uses various procedures for this purpose and may, in particular, also make use of the services of third-party companies. If RAP requires the submission of documents, these must be provided within two business days.
Verification of landlords may be carried out in particular by checking identification documents and/or other documents. In addition, information can also be requested in a telephone conversation to confirm the identity of the landlord.
Verification of tenants is carried out by checking identification documents and, if necessary, checking other documents. In addition, evidence of creditworthiness or salary and the financial circumstances may also be requested for the purpose of verifying the ability to fulfill payment obligations under the rental agreement. In addition, other documents may also be requested to prove a special status (e.g. enrollment certificate).
Verified users are marked as such on the platform. This marking does not constitute a binding statement about the existence of the verified persons, their ability to provide the contractual services or their future behavior. In particular, the verification of landlords is also not associated with any statement about the existence of the apartment, its condition or the accuracy of the information provided by the landlord in the advert. The verification or references to it on the platform merely contain the information that the user has gone through the verification process implemented by RAP. In case of any doubts, the users themselves are required to inform themselves in a suitable manner about the identity and the power of disposal of their contractual partner.

§ 5 Customer Support

RAP offers users customer support by e-mail and telephone in German (Monday to Thursday 9:00-18:00, Friday 9:00-17:00 CET or CEST). Support is provided to landlords and tenants regarding the use of the platform, its operation, the submission of booking requests and any problems that may subsequently arise during the execution of the rental agreement. However, only general information can be provided. In this respect, there is no entitlement of the users to a certain success or the provision of certain information.

§ 6 Prohibited behavior

Users shall refrain from all actions that may jeopardize the functioning of the platform, violate applicable laws or impair the rights of third parties. In particular, it is prohibited to,
- violate the personal rights of other users or third parties, for example by disseminating false statements, defamatory criticism, insults or images of recognizable persons without their consent,
- use copyrighted content without sufficient legal basis or otherwise infringe the intellectual property or other rights of other users or third parties,
- harm other users or third parties, engage in fraudulent activities, send spam or phishing messages or publish such content in adverts,
- access or modify data to which they are not authorized to have access, and
- disable, disrupt or otherwise circumvent technical security measures.
Furthermore, users are prohibited from using bots, crawlers, scrapers or other automated processes to access the platform, store data or other content, otherwise interact with the platform or impair the proper functioning of it. In particular, it is prohibited to make reproductions for the purpose of text and data mining pursuant to Section 44b UrhG (or if a foreign law applies to copyright content, then the comparable norm for that country, such as for Austria Section 42h UrhG).

§ 7 Deletion and restriction of content, blocking of users, check of adverts for fraudulent activities

In the event of violations of these GTC, RAP reserves the right, without prejudice to the right of termination according to § 27 (3) and (4), to warn users, to delete adverts or other content, to restrict the possibilities of using the platform for the user concerned or to block the user temporarily or permanently. RAP will decide on the taking of such measures at its reasonable discretion.
RAP checks adverts to determine whether they contain indications of fraudulent activity. For this purpose, an automated filter is used to check the information provided in order to identify and block such adverts. This filter also checks any subsequent changes to listings that have already been published. If there are indications of attempted fraud, newly posted adverts are not published and adverts that have already been published are blocked. Adverts can be released manually by RAP after an individual check.

III. Offering apartments via adverts

§ 8 Creating adverts

Landlords who offer an apartment for rent via the platform confirm explicitly that they are authorized to offer and rent out the apartment. Landlords are liable to RAP and its contractual partners for all damages resulting from a lack of authorization to offer and rent out of the apartment. Furthermore, they assure that they are aware of the regulations for misappropriation applicable to the municipality in which the apartment is located and not to undertake any legally inadmissible misappropriation.
Landlords are obliged to describe the apartment they offer on the platform correctly and comprehensively. For this purpose, at least the information requested when creating the advert must be provided. Photos must reflect the actual condition of the apartment and must be updated as soon as changes are made to the apartment. The information on availability must also be kept constantly up to date.
If photos of the apartment were created by RAP or on behalf of RAP in accordance with the regulation in § 9, landlords are also obligated to immediately indicate any changes to the condition or equipment of the apartment in the description of the advertisement or through more recent photos.
In addition to the required data and photos, landlords shall provide the following documents relating to the apartment:
- House rules, if available
- Energy certificate
- Equipment list
If landlords offer multiple apartments on the platform, the information and documents must be provided separately for each apartment.
Only one advertisement may be created on the platform for each apartment. The creation of several adverts for one apartment is prohibited. This does not include the creation of different adverts for singular parts of a single apartment that are offered separately for rent.
Landlords are prohibited from placing adverts on the platform that violate legal regulations, official orders or good customs. Furthermore, they are prohibited from posting content that violates the rights of third parties, in particular copyrights, trademark rights or personal rights.
The landlords assure that the all-inclusive rental price determined by them includes all incidental expenses that occur. This includes:
- operating costs
- electricity
- gas
- water
- heating
- internet
Additional costs may be incurred for parking spaces or the use of an underground parking lot. These are to be indicated separately.

§ 9 Creating photos of the apartment

If landlords make an apartment available on the portal of RAP for at least one year without interruption, RAP offers the service of a professional photo shoot of the apartment in selected cities. The availability and use of this service is to be coordinated in detail with RAP. This service is free of charge for landlords, unless agreed otherwise.
As soon as an appointment has been agreed upon with an employee of RAP for this purpose, the landlord is obligated to attend this appointment in person or, in the event that the landlord is prevented from doing so, to send a third person to the agreed appointment on site. Photographer appointments confirmed by both parties must be cancelled at least 24 hours in advance, regardless of the reason.
In the event that an appointment is not cancelled in a timely manner, RAP will invoice the landlord for the incurred photographer costs on a pro-rata basis. Something else only applies if the landlord is not responsible for the late cancellation or if he can prove that no or a significantly lower damage has been incurred. In the event of non-appearance or late arrival of more than 15 minutes, the appointment shall be deemed not to have been cancelled in due time and shall also be treated as such, unless otherwise agreed upon.
The use of the photos is limited to the illustration of adverts on the platform. For this purpose, RAP transfers to the landlord a non-exclusive right to reproduce and make the photos publicly available, which is limited in time to the term of this agreement. Agreements on the acquisition of the rights to the photos by the landlords for other purposes must be made separately in each individual case.

§ 10 Granting of rights and warranty

The landlord grants RAP the royalty-free, non-exclusive rights unlimited in terms of time and location to the content transmitted for the creation of the advertisement, in particular descriptive texts and photos, to use this content in whole or in part, to transfer these rights and to grant sublicenses, insofar as this is necessary for the provision of RAP’ contractual services to the users. This includes, in particular, the right to publish, reproduce, distribute and make the content publicly available by any means and in any form. This also includes the right to edit the content and use it in edited form. Included is a use of the content on the platform of RAP, for example when displaying adverts, especially after using the search function, but also on websites of third parties, especially to advertise the apartments in the sense of the regulation in § 13, as well as on social networks.
The Landlord guarantees that the uploaded content is free of third-party rights, that he is entitled to dispose of these rights without restriction and free of third-party rights and that he has not otherwise disposed or will not otherwise dispose of these rights. The landlord further guarantees that he has obtained all necessary consents of possibly identifiable persons and that the content does not violate any other rights of third parties.

§ 11 Liability for information in the advert

In accordance with the regulation in § 1 (2), RAP is not involved in the rental contracts concluded between users and can also not verify whether the information about the apartment provided by the landlord when creating the advert is correct. The landlord is solely responsible for the content and accuracy of the adverts.
RAP does not place adverts for apartments on behalf of landlords on the platform. This is the sole responsibility of the landlords. Should RAP nevertheless create an advert for a landlord in a specific case, landlords are obligated in this case as well to provide the required information correctly and comprehensively, if necessary, with recent photos. The provision in paragraph 1 also applies in this respect. RAP’ liability for this is governed by § 25 of these GTC.

§ 12 Promotion of the advertisement on other websites

RAP is entitled to advertise all adverts and offered apartments published by the landlord on the platform on all other internet portals deemed expedient by RAP. This includes, in particular, social networks, real estate portals, search engines and adverts published via advertising networks on other websites. A separate consent by the landlord is not required. RAP decides on the measures taken for this purpose at its reasonable discretion, taking into account the legitimate interests of the landlord. An entitlement to such a promotion does not exist.

IV. Conclusion of the contract between users

§ 13 Booking process

As soon as RAP receives a booking request from a tenant via the platform, the landlord will be informed. The landlord must immediately accept the request or reject it with justification.
Following the acceptance by the landlord, RAP contacts the tenant and asks him to confirm the booking. In case of acceptance, the apartment will be reserved for the tenant. The reservation is made for at least 48 hours. At the latest after this confirmation of the booking, RAP will perform the verification according to § 4 of these GTC, if this has not been done before. If this procedure has been successfully completed, the request to the tenant to pay the service fee according to § 22 follows. Subsequently, the landlord and tenant can conclude the rental agreement for the apartment.

§ 14 Provision of model contracts

RAP provides templates for contracts for temporary rent for the conclusion between users. The model contracts provided are merely general suggestions for the rental agreements to be concluded between landlords and tenants. However, the regulations in the model contracts are expressly not designed taking into account the circumstances of the specific individual case. In this respect, RAP does not perform a legal assessment. It is up to the landlords and tenants to independently check whether the regulations contained in the model contracts are provisions that are in line with their interests, whether the model contract used contains suitable regulations for the type of apartment and whether these are also legally effective. In particular, the users shall independently and on their own responsibility check whether the conditions for renting living space for temporary use pursuant to Section 549 (2) No. 1 of the BGB are met.
Users are free to use the model contracts provided. Whether the provided model contracts are used for the conclusion of the contract is to be agreed upon between the landlord and the tenant in each individual case. The liability of RAP for the content of these model contracts is excluded in accordance with § 25 of these GTC.

§ 15 Digital signing of contracts

RAP offers landlords and tenants the option of signing rental agreements digitally. For this purpose, the documents are provided in digital form and can be signed by means of an electronic signature. Users are responsible for archiving all information about the booking, the contract documents and any other agreements.
This option to digitally sign contracts is only available if both the landlord and the tenant agree to this. This is to be agreed upon in detail between the users. If this option is not available in individual cases for technical reasons, this will be pointed out separately during the booking process.

§ 16 Duties of the landlords on site

The landlord shall be available as the contact person on site for the apartment offered by him. In particular, in the event that the apartment is rented, the landlord shall conduct any apartment tours, the handover of the apartment, any defect inspections and defect rectifications as well as the handling of the return of the apartment.
If the landlord is not personally available for this purpose, he may appoint a representative. In this case, the landlord shall inform the tenant of the name and contact details of the representative. The landlord assures that the named person is informed about the duties as a representative of the landlord and agrees to take over these duties and to pass on his personal data to third parties. Any changes are to be communicated to RAP within seven days.

§ 17 Energy certificate

The landlord commits to provide RAP with an energy certificate pursuant to §§ 79 et seq. GEG or §§ 1 ff. of the Austrian EAVG 2012 for forwarding to the tenants. If an energy certificate is not available, the landlord undertakes to have one prepared without delay and to forward it to RAP.

§ 18 Confirmation of accommodation

The landlord commits to issue the tenant with a confirmation of accommodation if required.

§ 19 Responsibility for performance of the contract and payment of taxes

The performance of the contracts concluded via the platform is the sole responsibility of the users involved in the rental contract. In particular, RAP has no obligation to take measures to ensure the proper execution of the contracts. RAP can also not guarantee the existence of apartments offered in adverts, their condition, their availability, as well as the accuracy of other information provided by the landlord.
Landlords are responsible for complying with applicable legal obligations with regard to taxes and other duties. They shall independently report, collect and pay them properly in accordance with the applicable laws.

V. RAP Service Fee

§ 20 Charge of service fee

RAP charges both landlords and tenants a service fee for the services provided in accordance with this contract pursuant to the following provisions.

§ 21 Service fee for landlords

For landlords, a service fee is incurred as soon as a rental agreement is concluded with a tenant registered on the platform following a booking request for the apartment in question or if such a rental agreement is extended. The service fee arises regardless of whether the contract is concluded via the platform. The decisive factor is that the parties have come together via the digital infrastructure provided by RAP. A circumvention of the service fee by concluding a rental agreement outside the functionalities of the platform or through other arrangements is not permitted.
Unless agreed otherwise, the service fee is 10% plus VAT of the landlord-determined monthly fixed rent. If the rental period is less than 6 months, 7% of the total rent will be subtracted, and the service fee will be charged on the remaining sum. The amount to be paid to RAP equals the service fee applied to the monthly fixed rent multiplied by the rental duration. For pro-rata months, the rent and service fee are calculated based on the precise number of days.
The service fee will be invoiced after the conclusion of each rental agreement and each extension of the rental agreement. In this respect, a circumvention through extension of the rental agreement or the initiation of such an extension outside the functionalities of the platform or through other arrangements is equally inadmissible. The landlord must pay an additional service fee to RAP in this case as well. The service fee is payable up to 14 days after invoicing, unless a longer payment term is stated on the invoice. The landlords agree to electronic invoice transmission.
An installment payment of the service fee can be agreed upon in coordination with RAP for rental periods of nine months or more with payment by SEPA direct debit. RAP reserves the right to refuse this without giving reasons.

§ 22 Service fee for tenants

A service fee will be charged to the Tenant if the verification procedure according to § 4 has been successfully carried out with regard to the Tenant and as soon as the booking has been bindingly confirmed by the Tenant in accordance with § 13 (2). The amount of the service fee charged by RAP to the Tenant will be indicated during the booking process.
The service fee is not refundable. Something else only applies insofar as no rental contract for the apartment is concluded after confirmation of the booking and the tenant is not responsible for the reasons for this.

§ 23 Default on payment and bearing of additional costs in the event of incorrect invoice numbers

If users default on payment, RAP may charge EUR 5.00 in addition to the statutory default interest for each reminder. This does not apply if users can prove that no or significantly lower damages were incurred.
Users shall ensure that the invoice number is stated correctly when making bank transfers. Additional costs caused by incorrect invoice numbers as well as any return debit note fees are to be borne by the respective user.

VI. Additional regulations

§ 24 Disclaimer of warranty

RAP is liable in accordance with the statutory provisions for intent and gross negligence. The same applies to the assumption of guarantees, any other strict liability, in particular in accordance with the Product Liability Act or in the event of culpable injury to life, limb or health.
In the case of slightly negligent breaches of essential contractual obligations by RAP, liability is limited to the typically occurring, foreseeable damage. Essential contractual obligations are obligations on whose fulfillment the users regularly rely and may rely on for the proper execution of the contract.
Any further liability of RAP is excluded. Insofar as liability is excluded or limited, this also applies to the personal liability of RAP’ legal representatives, employees and other vicarious agents.

§ 25 Liability for links

The platform contains links to external third-party websites over whose content RAP has no influence. Therefore, RAP cannot assume any liability for these external contents. The respective operator is always responsible for the content of the linked pages. The linked pages were checked for possible legal violations at the time of linking. Illegal contents were not recognizable at the time of linking. However, a permanent supervision of the contents of the linked pages is not possible and reasonable without specific evidence of a violation of the law. If we become aware of any infringements, such links will be removed immediately.

§ 26 Indemnity

Users shall indemnify RAP upon first request from all claims asserted by other users or third parties against RAP, insofar as these are based on the content or design of the adverts by landlords, any other use of the platform or violations of these GTC. This also applies to cases in which an advert according to § 12 is advertised by RAP on other websites. This also includes any court costs as well as the costs for a lawyer selected by RAP in the amount of the statutory fees. This obligation to indemnify does not apply if the users are not responsible for the violation.
Furthermore, in the event that claims are asserted against RAP by other users or by third parties based on the conduct of users on the platform, users are obligated to truthfully and completely provide RAP with all information necessary to verify the legitimacy of the claims and to conduct an appropriate defense.

§ 27 Term and termination of the GTC

These GTC are concluded for an indefinite period of time upon registration.
Users may terminate the contract at any time and without a notice period by e-mail. The deletion of the account by the users via the platform is equivalent to this. Rental contracts already concluded remain unaffected by this termination. Also unaffected are already existing claims from RAP for payment of the service fee, especially in case of an extension of the rental contract.
RAP may terminate the user contract concluded with the user on the basis of these GTC at any time with a notice period of two weeks.
In addition, RAP may terminate the user contract extraordinarily and without prior notice if the user commits a material breach of his obligations under these GTC, the user has significantly violated applicable laws, regulations or rights of third parties or RAP deems such a measure necessary and appropriate to protect the personal safety or assets of RAP, users or third parties (for example, in the case of fraudulent behavior by a user).

§ 28 Subject to modification

RAP reserves the right to unilaterally amend these GTC at any time by giving reasonable notice of at least 15 days. The announcement will be made by publishing the amended GTC on the platform, stating the effective date. In addition, RAP will also inform the users separately by email about the upcoming amendments.
Insofar as the amendment affects essential parts of the contract, i.e. in particular service obligations of RAP towards the users, the consent of the users is required for the effectiveness. This consent may be given either expressly or conclusively, in particular by the continued use of the platform after receipt of the announcement in terms of paragraph 1, in particular by placing further adverts as well as making booking requests. Insofar as the changes are insignificant or the changes are necessary to comply with a law, a legally binding court decision or a binding order of a competent authority, the change shall become part of the contract if the user does not object to the inclusion in the contractual relationship to RAP in writing or text form within 15 days after receipt of the notification of the change. The continued use of the platform after the announcement as defined in paragraph 1 shall constitute a waiver of this right of objection.
If the users do not agree to the changes or exercise their right to object, RAP reserves the right to terminate the contractual relationship without prejudice to the provision in § 27 (3) and (4).

§ 29 Ranking of search results

The order in which the adverts are displayed during a search performed on the platform depends on various parameters. Among the main parameters are:

The search operators and filters specified by the tenants, especially with regard to the amount of the rent payment, the duration of the rent, as well as the characteristics of the apartment, for example, the location, the number of beds, as well as the availability, taking into account the minimum and maximum length of stay specified by the landlord
the amount of rent requested by the landlord, as well as the deposit required, if any
the characteristics of the advert, such as the description of the apartment and the photos attached to it
the number of booking requests made after the retrieval of the advert in the past
the number of booking requests confirmed by the landlord in the past and the number of booking requests still pending

§ 30 Data access

In general, only RAP has access to the users’ contact data, usage data, payment data, uploaded verification documents and, if applicable, other data provided by the users or generated during the use of the platform. Prior to the conclusion of the rental contract, landlords receive only information about the tenant’s current professional activity and employer after a booking request has been submitted. Tenants do not receive access to the landlord’s data prior to the conclusion of the rental agreement, but can only view the information contained in the advert. After the conclusion of the rental agreement, users have access to the data transmitted for the purpose of signing the rental agreement. The processing of personal data by RAP is carried out in accordance with the privacy policy, from which the details of the data processing carried out can be seen.
RAP may also transfer data provided by users to third parties for the purpose of verifying the identity of users or the authenticity of documents in accordance with the laws on data protection or telecommunications. Furthermore, this data as well as data generated in the course of using the platform may be passed on to service providers, in particular for the purpose of communicating with users or in the context of the use of analysis tools. In this respect, too, the processing of personal data is carried out in accordance with the privacy policy. Notwithstanding the measures listed there, there is no possibility to refuse the transfer of data.
After the end of the contractual relationship, commercial users retain access to their account and the accessible data, unless they have deleted it via the platform or have otherwise requested a deletion or the account has been deleted by RAP for other reasons. This applies without prejudice to any other legal claims for information.

§ 31 Online-dispute resolution

RAP does not participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board to settle legal disputes with consumers and is also not legally obligated to do so.

§ 32 Applicable law and place of jurisdiction

The business relationship between RAP and the users is governed exclusively by German law. Users who are consumers with habitual residence in a member state of the EU also enjoy the protection of the mandatory provisions of the law of their country of residence.
If the user is a merchant or a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law or has his residence outside of Germany, the place of jurisdiction is Berlin.

§ 33 Closing provision

Should individual provisions of these GTC be or become invalid in whole or in part, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions, which shall remain in effect. Should any provision of these GTC be or become invalid, the statutory provisions shall apply in its place.

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