Tenancy law in Germany is nowhere near as bad as it is sometimes made out to be. On the contrary: in the land of tenants, there is a sophisticated body of case law that constantly rebalances the interests of both sides. However, in times of tight rental markets, all kinds of attempts to disregard the law flourish.
If a move is imminent, prospective tenants should find out in good time what is customary or legally permissible and what the terms are: What do deposit, distance, transfer fee and handover protocol mean? Stiftung Warentest provides a practical overview under "Renting an apartment" and the keyword "Apartment handover":
The deposit is a security payment made by the tenant to the landlord. The landlord must repay the deposit plus interest to the tenant at the end of the tenancy.
An interval is a payment for a specific move-in date. Previous tenants vacate the apartment a few weeks earlier and get paid for it. Such agreements are not permitted. Only the assumption of moving costs can be demanded under certain conditions.
A transfer fee is a sum of money that the next tenant pays for the old furniture - this can be a fitted kitchen or even a floor. A transfer fee can also be paid to the next tenant for fixtures and conversions that increase the value of the apartment. The transfer fee can be freely negotiated, but cannot be enforced. The transfer fee may not exceed the current value of the items by more than 50 percent.
A handover protocol between the previous tenant moving out and the next tenant moving in serves to document the condition of the apartment and thus avoid later disputes about cosmetic repairs. As a general rule, the tenant must return the apartment in a condition in accordance with the contract. Damage caused by the tenant or for which the tenant is responsible must be replaced.
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