Rent arrears; application for takeover while receiving citizen's allowance

If you have rent debts, you can apply for financial help to prevent you from becoming homeless. If you have already lost your home, you can get appropriate advice.

Rent debts can arise due to inability to pay and may lead to the loss of your accommodation.

If you receive citizen's allowance and are at risk of losing your home due to rent debts, the relevant job center can, in certain cases, take over your debts on application. You will usually receive this support in the form of a loan. In exceptional cases, you will receive a grant from the Jobcenter, which does not have to be repaid.

In order to receive this support, one of the requirements is that you are unable to pay the rent arrears on your own. The decision as to whether you receive support is always a case-by-case decision, in which it is checked whether all the requirements for taking over your rent arrears are met.

In principle, only actual costs can be covered, i.e. no lump sums are granted. The responsible office will check whether the costs of your accommodation are reasonable according to the applicable guideline values and whether it is necessary to deviate from the guideline values in individual cases due to special circumstances.

The guideline values are higher the more people live together in the same accommodation and provide for each other. This is called a community of need. A joint household means that the people not only live together, but also pay for each other's food and belongings. A community of need includes:

• Persons aged 15 and over,
• Spouses who are not permanently separated,
• registered same-sex partners who are not permanently separated,
• Persons in a community of responsibility and commitment ("marriage-like community") or
• children who are younger than 25 and unmarried.

If you are over 25 years old, receive Citizen's Allowance and live together with relatives or in-laws (for example parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces or siblings over 25 years old, with their own children and foster children over 25 years old) and live together, they are a household community. This means, for example, that they share the costs of rent, food and other household expenses.

If people do not form a benefit community but live in a household community, the responsible Jobcenter will only take into account the rent share for each resident when determining the appropriateness of the accommodation costs. This means that the accommodation costs are shared by all members of the household.

If your Jobcenter comes to the conclusion that you will use the money for something other than settling your rent debts, the payment will be made directly to your landlord.

This is particularly the case if

• there are rent arrears that lead to termination of the tenancy,
• electricity or gas bills have not been paid and this has led to your electricity or gas being cut off,
• you are unable to use the money to pay your rent arrears due to illness or addiction problems, or
• there are indications of debt.

There is no legal entitlement to the assumption of your rent debts.

• The costs for your current accommodation are reasonable.
• There is a risk of homelessness because the landlord has given notice due to rent debts.
• The termination can still be made ineffective by paying the rent arrears.
• Your landlord or landlady has agreed in writing to the continuation of the tenancy.
• There is no way to remedy the emergency situation on your own, for example by agreeing an installment payment with your landlord.
• Future rent payments are secured, for example by direct payments from the responsible benefit provider.

• Appeal
  You will find further information on how to lodge an appeal in the notification of your application.

There is no time limit. The SGB II regulation states that benefits under SGB II are only intended to secure current living expenses or other current purposes. For you, this means that if you fall into arrears with your rent, you must submit an application as soon as possible.

There are no costs.