Complaining to the Rent Tribunal in Copenhagen: how to do it and what it costs

You complain to the Rent Tribunal (huslejenævnet) by bringing the case in writing before the tribunal in the municipality where the home is, and attaching the lease and other documentation. In the City of Copenhagen it costs DKK 367 per case in 2026, and a case typically takes eight to ten months. Among other things, the tribunal decides disagreements about the rent, the deposit and refurbishment on move-out, utility accounts and maintenance, but as a rule not notice to quit or compensation.

What is the Rent Tribunal?

The Rent Tribunal decides disagreements between tenants and landlords in private rental homes. Every municipality must have one or more rent tribunals, and several municipalities can share one (the Housing Conditions Act (lov om boligforhold), § 78, in Danish). A tribunal consists of a chair, who must be a lawyer, and two members chosen by the municipal council on the recommendation of the landlords’ associations and the tenants’ associations respectively (§ 79).

In Copenhagen there are eight rent tribunals, an appeals board for the rent tribunals and a Residents’ Complaints Board. A legal case officer prepares the cases, and the tribunals normally meet once a month (City of Copenhagen, in Danish). The tribunal is neutral. It cannot advise you or the landlord, and it cannot take up a case on its own initiative (City of Copenhagen, in Danish). If you need advice, you can get it from, for example, a tenants’ organisation, a lawyer or legal aid (retshjælpen).

Which tribunal should you complain to?

The case must be brought in the municipality where the property is (borger.dk, in Danish). This article is about the City of Copenhagen, and the tribunals here only deal with tenancies in the municipality. If you live in Frederiksberg, you must complain to Frederiksberg’s own Rent Tribunal (in Danish), which has its own self-service.

If you live in social housing (almen bolig), the Danish Rent Act (lejeloven) does not apply (section 2(3) of the Rent Act, in Danish). Then it is the Residents’ Complaints Board that decides whether your terms are in order under the Social Housing Rent Act (almenlejeloven). The rest of this article is about private rental homes, including rented-out owner-occupied flats, co-op apartments and rooms.

What can the Rent Tribunal decide, and what belongs to the Housing Court?

The Rent Tribunal decides most questions about the size of the rent, maintenance and moving out. Other cases belong to the Housing Court (boligretten). The tribunal can also reject a case if it requires actual evidence such as witness statements or an expert survey (syn og skøn), and then it must go to the Housing Court instead (borger.dk).

Disagreement about	Who decides it
The size of the rent and rent increases, for example under the rules on cost-based rent, the rental value, taxes and charges or improvements	The Rent Tribunal
The landlord’s and the tenant’s duty to maintain	The Rent Tribunal
Refurbishment on move-out and repayment of the deposit	The Rent Tribunal
Utility accounts, for example for water and heating	The Rent Tribunal
The tenant’s right to make improvements against compensation	The Rent Tribunal
The tenant’s breach of good conduct and order (only the landlord can bring the case)	The Rent Tribunal
Notice to quit or termination of the tenancy	The Housing Court
Retroactive rent reduction because of defects	The Housing Court
Damages and compensation	The Housing Court
The right to sublet, swap or transfer the tenancy	The Housing Court
Nuisance from building work, for example noise	The Housing Court
Money claims without set-off against the deposit, for example repayment of rent or prepaid rent	The Housing Court
General interpretation of terms in the lease	The Housing Court
Complaints about other tenants or about the landlord’s conduct	The Housing Court

The table is based on the City of Copenhagen’s list of what the tribunals can and cannot deal with. Since 1 January 2024 the law has stated expressly that the Rent Tribunal decides disputes about moving out, including repayment of the deposit (section 190 of the Rent Act as amended by lov nr. 1793 of 28 December 2023, in Danish).

There is one exception for notice to quit. If you rent a room in the landlord’s own home in Copenhagen, the tribunal can overrule the landlord’s notice if it is an attempt to get an unreasonable rent or other unreasonable terms (sections 33 and 35 of the Rent Act, see section 6(3), and borger.dk).

The typical cases each have their own rules and deadlines. Read about getting your deposit back, painting when you move out, the heating bill in your rental home and mould in your rental home. If you found faults when you moved in, start with the defects list. If it is the notice itself you disagree about, the case as a rule belongs to the Housing Court. Read more about notice on a rental home.

What does it cost to complain to the Rent Tribunal in 2026?

Board	Fee in 2026	Who pays
The Rent Tribunal	DKK 367 per case	The party who brings the case
The Residents’ Complaints Board (social housing)	DKK 172 per case	The party who brings the case
The Appeals Board	DKK 194 per tenancy	The party who appeals
Fee when the tenant wins in full	DKK 7,027	The landlord

The amounts are on the City of Copenhagen’s page on bringing a case (in Danish). Under the law, the landlord must pay the fee to the tribunal when the tenant wins in full (the Housing Conditions Act, § 82(2)). The municipality writes that no fee is charged if the landlord only partly loses the case, or if the case is settled at the tribunal. The fee goes to the tribunal and not to you.

The fees of the Rent Tribunal and the Appeals Board are adjusted every year in line with the net price index (§ 100), so check the fee again if you complain in a later year. If you use the submission form, you pay electronically when you send the case. If you send the case by Digital Post or letter, the account number and payment deadline are in the tribunal’s first letter to you.

How to bring a case in Copenhagen

Before you complain, you must have tried to resolve the disagreement with the landlord yourself (borger.dk). Write to the landlord, explain what you disagree with and keep the reply. The correspondence has to go with the case anyway. If you get no further, do this:

1. Describe the case. Give the address of the home, your name and your contact details, and write what the tribunal should decide. If there are several questions, split the explanation into sections.
2. Attach the documentation. The whole lease and the relevant correspondence with the landlord. In a move-out case also the move-out report, and in a case about, for example, water or heating also the utility account.
3. Include all tenants. If there are several of you on the lease, all of you must bring the case, or you must attach a power of attorney from the others. If a tenant has left the tenancy, attach documentation of that, for example an addendum to the lease.
4. Send the case. Use the municipality’s submission form, Digital Post or a letter. The municipality encourages you to use the form, as it gives faster processing.
5. Pay the fee of DKK 367.

If it is a move-out case, state exactly which items in the move-out statement you are complaining about, and when you handed over the keys. It is a good idea to send the defects list and photos from moving in and moving out. If the tenancy started after 1 July 2015, also attach the move-in report and the invitation to the move-out inspection (City of Copenhagen, in Danish). If you have questions about a case, you can call the tribunals on 33 66 62 00 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 2 pm.

Who can complain, and what happens next?

Both tenant and landlord can bring a case. Once the tribunal has received it, it notifies the other party within 1 week at the latest, and the other party gets 2 weeks to reply. The deadline can be extended if special circumstances justify it (the Housing Conditions Act, § 82(3)). The case is handled in writing. If necessary, the tribunal inspects the apartment, and the parties are invited with at least one week’s notice. An inspection typically takes five to ten minutes, and you have the right, but not the duty, to be there. Only in cases about house rules does the tribunal hold an actual meeting with the parties (City of Copenhagen).

How long does a case take?

In Copenhagen a case typically takes eight to ten months, and it is not unusual for a case to take longer. Cases are as a rule handled in the order they come in, but urgent cases can be given priority (City of Copenhagen). In Frederiksberg, the municipality states a processing time of between 1 and 2 years for most types of case.

Keep an eye on your post while you wait, including Digital Post. If the tribunal asks you questions, it sets a deadline that is normally no more than 2 weeks (the Housing Conditions Act, § 83(4)). If a party does not reply by the deadline, the tribunal can interpret the silence in favour of the other party and base its decision on the other party’s account (§ 86(2)).

Is your rent too high?

Whether the rent is too high depends on which rules apply to your home, and that is decided by, among other things, the municipality, the year of construction, the size of the property and the type of home. In properties first used after 31 December 1991, the rent can be set freely by agreement (section 54(1)(1) of the Rent Act). The rules on cost-based rent (omkostningsbestemt leje) in chapter 3 of the Act only apply in regulated municipalities (§ 6). In Copenhagen, the rent in properties that had seven or more apartments on 1 January 1995 is set under section 19 of the Rent Act (City of Copenhagen, in Danish). You can find a review of the rules in the article on rent adjustment.

If you think you have paid too much, the deadlines in section 40 of the Rent Act are important:

• If the landlord has charged a higher rent, deposit, key money or similar than allowed, you can claim the overpayment back and demand that the rent is reduced from now on. If the tenancy has ended, the claim must be brought before the Rent Tribunal within 1 year of moving out (§ 40(1)).
• If the reason is that the rent exceeds the rental value, you can only get overpaid rent back if you asked the Rent Tribunal to reduce the rent within 1 year after the rent or the increase first had to be paid (§ 40(2)).

An amount you get back as a rule bears interest from the time you paid it (§ 40(3)).

If you disagree with the decision

The tribunal gives reasons for its decision, and at the end it says how to complain. In the City of Copenhagen you appeal to the Appeals Board for the Copenhagen Rent Tribunals (Ankenævnet for De Københavnske Huslejenævn) no later than 4 weeks after you were notified of the decision (the Housing Conditions Act, § 89(1)). The fee is DKK 194 per tenancy in 2026. The following also applies to the appeal (City of Copenhagen, in Danish):

• The Appeals Board consists of a chair and four other members, two of whom are building experts.
• Only the claims you appeal within the 4 weeks can be changed in your favour, and you cannot bring new claims in the appeal.
• The Appeals Board’s decision can be brought before the Housing Court within 4 weeks.
• Cases about good conduct and order cannot be appealed to the Appeals Board. They go straight to the Housing Court (§ 88(1) and § 89(1)).

Outside the City of Copenhagen, for example in Frederiksberg, there is no appeals board. There, the Rent Tribunal’s decision can be brought before the Housing Court no later than 4 weeks after you were notified of it (§ 88).

Remember that the decision is not a judgment. The tribunal is part of the public administration and not a court, and the decision cannot be enforced directly. If a party does not comply with it, it may be necessary to go to the Housing Court (Ministry of Social Affairs, in Danish). For that you can get help from a tenants’ organisation, a lawyer or legal aid.

Sources

• How to bring a case before the tribunal (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)
• What the rent tribunals can deal with (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)
• About the tribunals and case handling (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)
• The Appeals Board (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)
• When a tenant moves in or out (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)
• Seven or more residential apartments (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)
• The Rent Tribunal (Frederiksberg Municipality, in Danish)
• Residents’ complaints board and rent tribunal (borger.dk, in Danish)
• Rent tribunals and ways to complain (Ministry of Social Affairs, in Danish)
• The Rent Act (lov om leje, lejeloven), lov nr. 341 of 22 March 2022 as amended (Retsinformation, in Danish)
• Lov nr. 1793 of 28 December 2023 amending the Rent Act, the Housing Conditions Act, the Social Housing Rent Act and various other acts (Retsinformation, in Danish)
• The Housing Conditions Act (lov om boligforhold), lov nr. 342 of 22 March 2022 as amended (Retsinformation, in Danish)