Hi everyone, hope ya’ll are doing well & haven’t been hit with a crazy Nebenkostennachzahlung :s
short version basically: My Hauptmieter wants me (Untermieter) to pay the Nebenkostennachzahlung, do I really have to? (see below in *italic* for exact stipulation in my contract).
I’ve been Untermieter & living in a WG of 3 since July 2021. In December, our landlord told us the rent is getting more expensive and mine went up by 140 EUR! Which is pretty crazy in itself, but I thought it’s because the rent+ strom and everything is getting more expensive. Anyway, today we got hit by another bomb – more than 2 000 EUR in Nebenkostennachzahlung and apparently it doesn’t even include Heizung, so just Strom und Gas.
How could we have spent that much extra is beyond me (as I understand, that’s basically only the electricity – so the washing machine and fridge?? sure they’re on, but I don’t think it justifies the 2k). I’ll definitely inspect the bill. However, I was wondering if the landlord (who is the Hauptmieter) even has the right to demand that I and the previous tenants pay for the extra costs. My contract stipulates a set Kaltmiete + fixed monthly costs, and about the extra costs my contract says this:
*”Die Abrechnung der Betriebskostenvorauszahlung richtet sich nach den Vorschriften des Hauptmietvertrages. Ändert sich die Höhe der Miete oder der Vorauszahlungen/Pauschalen im Hauptmietvertrag, so kann der Hauptmieter die Änderungen auch im Verhältnis zum Untermieter nach Darlegung entsprechend geltend machen.”*
So it says he can enforce the changes, ie. higher monthly costs in my contract, from now onwards? Or can he demand the payment for the past (doesn’t seem to me to be saying this). I’ve been researching online and also found this regarding what the Hauptmieter can demand from Untermieter:
*”Werden nur einzelne Räumlichkeiten untervermietet, kann der Hauptmieter eine Nebenkostennachzahlung mit seinem Untermieter nur abrechnen, wenn eine entsprechende Vereinbarung besteht.*” –> and then further options for what kind of settlement could be agreed upon. ([https://www.mietrecht.org/untervermietung/nebenkostennachzahlung-untermieter/](https://www.mietrecht.org/untervermietung/nebenkostennachzahlung-untermieter/))
I had one experience with this a few years ago when it happened at our old WG as well (500 EUR for the Nachzahlung and we thought we had it bad), and the extra monthly costs were divided for all roomates and added to our monthly bill. So we didn’t have to pay extra, it was just more of a ‘the Hauptmieter didn’t have a good assessment of what are the monthly costs, now they know and that’s why we are paying more this year, to make up for the extra he had to pay for last year’.
Also, there were other people living here before me, moved out in November and got their security deposit back – the landlord says he can still demand the money back from them, is that true?
Anyway, if anyone has any ideas, or if you have past experiences with this and would want to share, I’d love to hear more! Any help and advice would be highly appreciated 🙂 I’m not a member of a Mietverein and I don’t have any money for a lawyer, hence Reddit is the only place I can ask for help.
2 comments
The Nebenkosten you pay in addition to the rent are an “Abschlag” (partly payment) based on an estimated use and older values. The real costs will be calculated with the Nebenkostenabrechnung. If you used less than was estimated you will get money back, if you used more you will have to pay the difference. That’s just how it works. It’s not “pay 40€ and use as much gas and electricity as you want”. That would ruin any landlord.
I’d definitely inspect the Nebenkostenabrechnung when it arrives and check for any irregularities, but if it’s all fine, you will have to pay. Gas and electricity prices went crazy lately so a high bill is something to be expected.
I would also check if anyone is using more electricity than usual or one of the neighbors is scamming you. When I still lived in a shady place one of my neighbors used my outlets in the laundry room for their machines (which ran all day: big family) on purpose and I was completely stunned by the electricity bill when it came.
Your contract clearly states, the Nebenkosten are distributed across the subleases, which means, you’ll have to pay.
But you’re entitled to see the Nebenkostenabrechnung (there might be multiple in case your main tenant handles electricity, Internet, Phone on top of the houses Nebenkosten) and you should check whether something is not consistent. Make sure, your prepayments are calculated in properly. “Classics” are distribution of electricity consumption (someone running a server/miner under his desk running 24/7, someone doing laundry significantly more often than others) where the contract says it would be distributed evenly (or by square meter or whatever else). In this case, there’s not much you can do for the past but you can ask for a more “fair” mode of distribution for future years.
With energy prices spiking up last year, you can expect a hefty bill and (in case you do prepayment) a hefty monthly prepayment in the upcoming year. What you can try, convince your main tenant to check for a better electricity/gas contract (which is not easy to come by at the moment) so your bills stay under better control.