Utility cost reconciliation
Nebenkostenabrechnung / Betriebskostenabrechnung · sent by Your landlord / property manager
Respond soon — routine but not ignorable
What this letter is
The yearly reconciliation of your flat's operating costs: what you pre-paid monthly inside your warm rent versus what heating, water, waste and building services actually cost. Ends in either a credit (Guthaben) paid back to you or a back-payment demand (Nachzahlung). Landlords must deliver it within 12 months of the billing period's end — later than that, back-payment demands are generally void (your credit still stands).
What to do
- Don't just pay — read. Check the billing period, your flat's size, and the allocation keys; errors are famously common in these statements.
- Check the 12-month rule: if the statement for a period arrives more than a year after that period ended, you usually don't owe the back-payment — but you still get any credit.
- A Nachzahlung is due within the stated deadline (typically 30 days) — pay under reservation ("unter Vorbehalt") if you intend to dispute details.
- You have the right to see receipts (Belegeinsicht) — ask in writing if numbers look wrong.
- Big yearly jumps in heating costs are worth questioning, and the local Mieterverein (tenants' association, ~€60–90/year membership) will check the whole statement for you — usually worth it the first time.
General information, not legal advice. Always verify payment details on the sender's official website before transferring money.