{"id":5592,"date":"2020-09-19T14:35:19","date_gmt":"2020-09-19T14:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/?p=5592"},"modified":"2025-06-13T10:59:49","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T10:59:49","slug":"mietrecht-sind-die-nebenkostenpositionen-fuer-muellentsorgung-abwasser-und-strassenreinigung-von-dem-im-mietvertrag-stehenden-begriff-sonstige-oeffentliche-abgaben-umfasst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/under-tenancy-law-the-ancillary-cost-items-for-refuse-disposal-waste-water-and-street-cleaning-are-included-in-the-term-other-public-charges-in-the-tenancy-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenancy law: Are the ancillary cost items for waste disposal, sewage and street cleaning covered by the term \"other public charges\" in the tenancy agreement?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cologne Local Court, 10 August 2010, Ref. 221 C 403\/09<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to the amount of rent for the flat itself, the payment of ancillary costs is often also regulated in the tenancy agreement. These are generally incurred by the property owner, but the landlord can also pass them on to their tenants. As service charges do not remain the same, but can increase unpredictably over time, so-called additional costs clauses are often written into the tenancy agreement. These state that an increase in service charges will be passed on to the tenant, regardless of the amount. However, it must be clear to the tenant which service charges will be passed on to them. The statement of service charges must also show how the amount to be paid by the individual tenant is calculated. To this end, the service charge statements must contain a breakdown of the total costs, an indication and explanation of the underlying allocation key, the calculation of the tenant's share and the deduction of their advance payments. If they do not do this, they are not formally correct.<\/p>\n

In the judgement below, the Cologne Local Court (AG K\u00f6ln) clarifies that the ancillary costs for basic rent, insurance, waste disposal, sewage and street cleaning are covered by the term \"other public charges\".<\/p>\n

Facts<\/strong>In the present case, the parties are in dispute about a tenant's obligation to pay the increase in service charges. The plaintiff is the landlord of a flat, the defendant is the tenant.<\/p>\n

The parties conclude a written tenancy agreement in January 1989, which contains an additional charges clause. This clause states that an additional burden on the landlord due to an increase in other public charges can be passed on to the tenant.<\/p>\n

For example, the landlord passes on increased costs for property tax and insurance to the tenant. It also passes on increased contributions for waste disposal, sewage and street cleaning. As the tenant does not want to make additional payments, the landlord takes legal action. She requests that the landlord be obliged to pay the service charges in arrears.<\/p>\n

The tenant is of the opinion that these costs are not covered by the additional charges clause. In addition, she claims that the calculated waste disposal charges are too high, as the landlord has provided an unnecessarily large waste bin, the capacity of which is not required by the building community. This contradicts the principle of economic efficiency. Furthermore, she claims that the additional claims for ancillary costs are not yet due as the invoices are not formally correct and comprehensible.<\/p>\n

It therefore requests that the action be dismissed.<\/p>\n

Cologne Local Court<\/strong>The Cologne District Court largely finds in favour of the landlady. It considers the claim to be partly justified and partly unfounded.<\/p>\n

Thus, it awarded the landlord a claim for additional payment of ancillary costs from \u00a7\u00a7 535 II, 556 BGB in conjunction with the additional costs clause in the tenancy agreement in the amount of just under \u20ac 170.<\/p>\n

According to the court, this additional charge clause includes the costs for increased property tax, insurance, street cleaning, sewage and waste disposal charges. They fall under the term \"other public charges\". The term \"other public charges\" is also sufficiently defined, as it is easily recognisable for an averagely educated tenant that such charges are levied by the city from the property owners as current charges. It notes that the parties had agreed a partially inclusive rent, according to which certain types of ancillary costs can be passed on to the tenant in the amount of the respective additional burden in the event of an unforeseeable increase in costs.<\/p>\n

It rejects the tenant's objection that the service charge statements were not formally correct and comprehensible and therefore the due date had not yet been reached. It explains when a service charge settlement is formally correct. A formally correct service charge statement must contain the minimum information that enables the tenant to verify the landlord's claim against him. Specifically, these are the summary of the total costs, the indication and explanation of the underlying allocation key, the calculation of the tenant's share and the deduction of his advance payments. The statement must be detailed enough for the tenant to be able to see which ancillary costs have been invoiced and which total amounts have been invoiced to the landlord and which calculation steps have been used to calculate the amount due to the tenant. In the opinion of the court, this was the case in the present case, meaning that the payments were due. The tenant was able to determine the ancillary costs on the basis of the apportionment key. Further explanation on the part of the landlord was not necessary, as the tenant did not justifiably claim a need for additional information. Rather, the landlord did everything necessary and presented the actual costs incurred in the statement in terms of amount.<\/p>\n

The tenant is therefore obliged to pay the additional amounts.<\/p>\n

However, the tenant was found to be right on the point that the landlord had overcharged for rubbish. The landlord did not observe the principle of economic efficiency laid down in Section 560 V BGB. In managing her property, the landlord must behave in the same way as an economically minded owner would if the possibility of cost allocation did not exist. Therefore, if unnecessary costs are incurred, these are borne by the landlord. The court found that unnecessary costs were incurred because the landlord provided a bin that was too large. This does not comply with the principle of economic efficiency. Normally, tenants must point out such unnecessary costs. However, this was not necessary in this case, as the landlady lived in the same building and should have been aware of the overcapacity of the bin herself.<\/p>\n

By not replacing the oversized bin with a smaller one, the landlord did not take all measures to avoid uneconomical ancillary costs. The court therefore reduced the waste disposal costs by a third. From this, it calculates a total amount of just under \u20ac 170, which the tenant still has to pay in arrears.<\/p>\n

Source: AG Cologne<\/p>\n

Important Note: The content of this article has been prepared to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, due to the complexity and constant evolution of the subject matter, we must exclude liability and warranty.<\/strong> Important Notice: The content of this article has been created to the best of our knowledge and understanding. However, due to the complexity and constant changes in the subject matter, we must exclude any liability and warranty.<\/p>\n

If you need legal advice, please feel free to call us at 0221 - 80187670<\/strong> or send us an email at or send an email to info@mth-partner.de info@mth-partner.de<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A formally correct service charge statement must contain the minimum information that enables the tenant to verify the landlord's claim against him<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[3404,1314],"class_list":["post-5592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mietrecht-rechtsanwalt","tag-amtsgericht-koeln-10-08-2010-az-221-c-40309","tag-nebenkostenabrechnung-klage"],"yoast_head":"\nMietrecht: Sind die Nebenkostenpositionen f\u00fcr M\u00fcllentsorgung, Abwasser und Stra\u00dfenreinigung von dem im Mietvertrag stehenden Begriff \u201esonstige \u00f6ffentliche Abgaben\u201c umfasst? - Rechtsanwaltskanzlei\u00a0Tieben<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Eine formell ordnungsgem\u00e4\u00dfe Nebenkostenabrechnung muss dem Mieter die M\u00f6glichkeit geben, 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