The housing provider is legally obligated to cooperate with the registration. He/she must confirm in writing that a person has moved into an apartment within two weeks by means of a housing provider confirmation and hand it over to the person obliged to register, so that he/she can meet his/her legal obligation to register in due time.
If the housing provider or a person/agency commissioned by him/her refuses to provide the confirmation or if the person subject to the registration obligation does not receive it or does not receive it in time for other reasons, the person subject to the registration obligation must notify the registration authority immediately.
If housing providers do not comply with their duty to cooperate, do not do so correctly or do not do so in time, this constitutes an administrative offense and can be punished by the registration authority with a fine of up to 1,000 euros.
Who is considered to be the housing provider?
The housing provider is usually the owner who rents out the apartment (landlord). However, a person or body commissioned by the owner to rent out the apartment can also be the housing provider. For example, housing associations can be the owner and issue the housing provider confirmation through employees authorized to represent them. Property managers can act as agents for the owner. Furthermore, a person who lets another person use a dwelling is a landlord. An effective rental agreement is therefore not a prerequisite. Housing providers can also be main tenants who "sublet".
In the case of owner occupancy of a dwelling, the confirmation is made as a "self-declaration" by the person required to register. The housing provider confirmation form can also be used for this purpose.