Checking your service-charge statement: the most common errors

The annual service-charge statement (Nebenkostenabrechnung) lands in the mailbox, at the bottom there is a back-payment, and most people simply transfer the money. That is understandable, but often a mistake. For years the Deutscher Mieterbund (German Tenants' Association) has assumed that around half of all statements are incorrect. A statement is not a fine notice from an authority but an invoice from your landlord. And an invoice you are allowed to check before you pay.

The short answer

First check the deadline: the statement must reach you no later than 12 months after the end of the accounting period (§ 556 Abs. 3 BGB, German Civil Code), otherwise your landlord can no longer demand a back-payment. Then check which items are being billed. Only the operating costs listed in § 2 BetrKV (Operating Costs Ordinance) can be passed on, and even those only if they were agreed in the tenancy agreement. Administrative costs, repairs and bank charges never belong in it. For heating costs, 50 to 70 percent must be billed based on consumption (§ 7 HeizkostenV, Heating Costs Ordinance), otherwise you may deduct 15 percent (§ 12 HeizkostenV). After receipt you have 12 months to raise objections (§ 556 Abs. 3 S. 5 BGB), and beforehand you may inspect all supporting documents.

The landlord's 12-month deadline

The landlord must account for the advance payments annually. The statement for an accounting period must have reached you no later than 12 months after the end of that period (§ 556 Abs. 3 S. 2 BGB). So if the period runs until 31 December, the statement must be with you by 31 December of the following year.

If the landlord misses this deadline, the consequence is clear: they can then no longer assert a back-claim, unless they were not responsible for the delay (§ 556 Abs. 3 S. 3 BGB). Conversely, any credit balance in your favour must still be paid out to you. So always check the date of receipt first.

Only these items can be passed on at all

Your landlord may not shift every expense onto you. Only the operating costs exhaustively listed in § 2 BetrKV can be passed on; these include, for example, property tax, water and wastewater, heating and hot water, the lift, street cleaning and refuse collection, building cleaning, garden maintenance, lighting, chimney sweeping, property and liability insurance, the caretaker (Hauswart) and the communal aerial. The final item in § 2 BetrKV names other operating costs, but these must be specifically named in the agreement.

Very important: an item can only be passed on if its allocation was validly agreed in the tenancy agreement. If the agreement says nothing or only a blanket reference, an individual item can be invalid. Without a contractual basis, you bear only the net cold rent (Kaltmiete).

Classic inadmissible items

These costs frequently appear in statements without justification and cannot be passed on:

• Administrative costs, meaning the property management fee, account keeping, postage or bookkeeping.
• Maintenance and repair, meaning repairs and servicing that concern the preservation of the building fabric. The repair of a defective heating pump is paid by the landlord, not the tenant.
• The landlord's bank and account-keeping charges.
• Reserves for future repairs or maintenance reserves.
• Vacancy costs: if an apartment in the building stands empty, the landlord bears its share, not the remaining tenants.

Pure servicing costs (for example the annual servicing of the lift or the heating), by contrast, can be passed on; the actual repair cannot. This line is often crossed, so check servicing and repair items carefully.

Heating costs: bill by consumption

For heating and hot water a special rule applies. Under § 7 HeizkostenV, at least 50 and at most 70 percent of the costs must be distributed according to the recorded consumption, and the rest according to floor area. This presupposes that consumption is measured at all, meaning via heat cost allocators (Heizkostenverteiler) or meters.

If your landlord does not bill by consumption although they should, you may reduce the share attributed to you by 15 percent (§ 12 Abs. 1 HeizkostenV). This right to reduce also applies if no consumption recording is installed at all. So check whether your heating costs show a consumption share.

The correct allocation key

Costs that are not directly countable are distributed among the parties according to an allocation key (Verteilerschlüssel), usually by floor area. If the parties have agreed nothing, the allocation is made according to the share of the floor area (§ 556a Abs. 1 BGB). For costs that depend on recorded consumption, a measure must be chosen that takes consumption into account.

Check whether the area assumed for your apartment is correct and whether the same reference figure is used throughout the building. If your apartment is assumed to have too many square metres, you automatically pay too much.

Formal minimum requirements

The Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) requires a statement to be formally comprehensible. The formal minimum requirements include: an orderly compilation of the total costs, the statement and explanation of the allocation keys used, the calculation of your share, and the deduction of the advance payments you have made (cf. BGH, VIII ZR 93/15). If one of these details is missing, the statement can be invalid on formal grounds alone, regardless of whether the figures are correct in substance.

Inspecting the supporting documents is your right

You do not have to trust the totals blindly. You have the right to inspect the original supporting documents, meaning invoices, contracts and meter records. The landlord must enable inspection on their business premises; if the distance is greater, sending copies against reimbursement of costs may also be an option. As long as inspection is refused, you can withhold a back-payment.

Your 12-month deadline for objections

You too have a deadline. You must notify the landlord of objections to the statement no later than by the end of the 12th month after receipt of the statement (§ 556 Abs. 3 S. 5 BGB). After that, objections are generally excluded, unless you were not responsible for the delay. So do not wait too long, and put your objections in writing.

Step by step: how to proceed

1. Check the date: did the statement arrive within 12 months of the end of the accounting period? If not, a back-payment is usually excluded.
2. Compare the agreement: are all billed items agreed as passable-on in the tenancy agreement?
3. Filter the items: are there inadmissible costs (administration, repair, bank charges, reserves) in it? Strike these out mentally.
4. Check heating costs: is there a consumption share of 50 to 70 percent? If not, check your 15-percent right to reduce.
5. Check the allocation key: is your floor area correct, and is the measure plausible?
6. Check the formalities: total costs, keys, your share, your advance payments, all present?
7. Request supporting documents: if in doubt, demand inspection in writing.
8. Raise objections in writing: with reasons, within the 12-month deadline, ideally verifiably by registered letter with proof of delivery (Einwurf-Einschreiben).

Important note

We are an independent citizens' initiative (Bürgerinitiative) and provide general information. This text is not legal advice for an individual case. In the event of a dispute or uncertainty, contact your local tenants' association (Mieterverein), the Deutscher Mieterbund, or a lawyer specialising in tenancy law.