I moved out of my previous apartment on January 31 having lived there for almost 4 years. A couple of weeks before that, I sent an email to the landlord about the final preparations and he confirmed to me that the Mietkaution (deposit money) would be paid back within 2-3 weeks after I move out. I was fair and waited 6 weeks then sent him an email asking for my deposit money back. He never replied so I waited another 2 weeks and went directly to his office.

His secretary welcomed me, I explained the situation and told her I wanted to speak to him. I knew he was in a room nearby but she told me to wait, went to speak to him and then came back after about 20 seconds to tell me that the deposit money might take up to 6 months to be paid back. I was stunned and asked her how this is possible and if that was the case, why did he tell me in an email that it will be paid back within 2-3 weeks after I move out? She couldn't give me an answer. Is this normal? What can I do about this? Is this a thing in German law that you can wait up to 6 months before you pay back a deposit? It's not like I absolutely need that money right now but I do not trust my former landlord at all at this point to pay the deposit money back.