Objection to a service-charge statement with a request to inspect receipts (Germany)
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This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
The letter a tenant in Germany sends when the service-charge statement (Betriebskostenabrechnung) is wrong or cannot be followed. It raises objections to the individual items within the twelve-month period of § 556(3) of the German Civil Code (BGB), asks to inspect invoices, contracts and consumption figures — since 2025 the landlord may also provide the receipts electronically (§ 556(4) BGB) — asks for a corrected statement, and holds back only the disputed part of any back-payment. No form is prescribed. In German, to print, sign and send.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Tenant
- Tenant's address
- Landlord
- Landlord's postal address (street, then postcode and town on the next line)
- City
- Date
- Address of the property
- Date of the contract
- Billing period of the statement
- Date of the service-charge statement
- Date received
- Who raises the objections: the only tenant, or all tenants together (where there are several, all of them)
- Items disputed, and why
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- By when can a tenant in Germany object to a service-charge statement?
- Objections must reach the landlord by the end of the twelfth month after the statement was received; after that they are excluded, unless the delay was not the tenant's fault (§ 556(3) BGB). So note when the statement arrived, and send any further objections that only show up when inspecting the receipts before the period ends as well.
- Must a tenant in Germany pay a back-charge from a statement that came very late?
- Not if the statement arrived more than twelve months after the end of the billing period: the landlord can then no longer claim a back-payment, unless the delay was not the landlord's fault (§ 556(3) BGB). A credit in the tenant's favour must still be paid out. In that case enter the late statement as the first objection, with the end of the billing period and the date of receipt.
- Does a tenant in Germany have a right to inspect the receipts behind the service charges?
- Yes. On request the landlord must allow inspection of the receipts the statement is based on (§ 556(4) BGB). Since 1 January 2025 a landlord of a dwelling may provide them electronically instead of showing the originals at the office. Check above all the invoices and contracts for items that look high, the allocation key and the consumption figures. Until inspection, the letter holds back the disputed part of any back-payment.
- Which costs may a landlord in Germany pass on in the service-charge statement?
- Only operating costs that the lease passes on to the tenant; a reference to the Operating Costs Ordinance (BetrKV) is enough for that. Costs it does not cover, such as management costs, maintenance and repairs, do not belong in the statement. Under the Heating Costs Ordinance, heating and hot water must as a rule be billed 50 to 70 per cent by measured consumption. Typical objections are therefore items that cannot be passed on, a wrong allocation key, a wrong floor area, implausible consumption figures and a wrong billing period.
- In what form are objections to a German service-charge statement made, and how is receipt proved?
- The law prescribes no form; an e-mail is enough if it arrives. Because in a dispute the tenant must prove that the objections arrived within the twelve months (§ 130 BGB), the best way is to hand the letter over against a signed receipt, or have a messenger who has read it post it and note the day and time. The tracking status of an Einwurf-Einschreiben alone does not prove receipt (BAG 2 AZR 68/24).
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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