Hi, The landlord sent me the Nebenkostenabrechnung for 2024. He gave me until 21.01 to pay. I think he is overcharging and I have an appointment with the Mieterverein in the beginning of February. I already moved out of the apartment. What should I do? My plan is to just ignore his deadline and contact him via letter after I talk with the Mieterverein. Is that ok or should I do anything else?

  • I mean, ask him to extend the deadline. If he declines then pay. If you are right, it will be refunded anyway.

    parent

  • Disclaimer: not a solicitor/ lawyer.

    No, you should not just not pay.

    You can ask for an extension, which is now impossible as you are already past the deadline. Asking for an extension should be done immediately after having received the letter.

    The other option is paying “unter Vorbehalt”, I think it's called. It's done to ensure you meet the deadline, but enables you to mark the sum as being questioned and potentially retroactively lowered. Be sure to Google-check this option, because, as previously stated, I am not a solicitor.

    ETA: you should also ask for a complete list of what he wants you to pay for and why, it's called Verteilerschluessel for Nebenkosten (so a list of the item with the slotted price per m2 as well as the Gesamtkosten, so it's clear what you have to pay in relation to the other renters)

    parent

    What's the deadline?

    parent root

    I had read 21.12., but now it says 21.1., so still within the deadline.

    parent root

  • They can't do much more than sending you a reminder and charge for it, so nothing to worry about.

    parent

  • Hi,

    if you have serious doubts about the correctness of the utility bill, and you expressed these doubts to your landlord (in writing ideally) then the deadline is no longer valid until these doubts have been cleared. This is my free translation of the German law. Do you know what exactly he is overcharging on? - I can give you more advice on how to actually approach your landlord in that scenario.

    There is a tool that can give you an instant first interpretation of the legal correctness and whether you are being overcharged. It's free to try, but to see the full break-down you have to pay a fee. https://www.mietnebenkostenheld.de/

    Full disclosure: I have struggled a lot with this myself in the past and after seeing so many people have problem I actually started building a tool to check Nebenkostenabrechnungen.

    parent