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Rising energy prices: are landlords now allowed to increase ancillary costs at will?

2022-07-14T07:32:38.458Z


Rising energy prices: are landlords now allowed to increase ancillary costs at will? Created: 07/14/2022Updated: 07/14/2022 09:28 By: Andrea Stettner Due to the gas crisis and rising energy prices, tenants are already expecting a hefty back payment. Will there soon be absurdly high advance payments? The costs for gas, electricity or oil are currently skyrocketing. Many tenants are therefore an


Rising energy prices: are landlords now allowed to increase ancillary costs at will?

Created: 07/14/2022Updated: 07/14/2022 09:28

By: Andrea Stettner

Due to the gas crisis and rising energy prices, tenants are already expecting a hefty back payment.

Will there soon be absurdly high advance payments?

The costs for gas, electricity or oil are currently skyrocketing.

Many tenants are therefore anxious about their utility bills and the threat of additional payments.

But can the landlord then increase the

advance payments for the additional costs

at will ?

If energy prices rise, this also has an impact on tenants' utility bills.

© Thomas Trutschel/Imago

Can the landlord demand higher advance payments because of the increased ancillary costs?

In principle, the landlord can adjust the additional costs and increase the monthly installments for this.

However, not arbitrarily by any amount, but always

on the basis of the utility bill

.

If, for example, the advance payments were not sufficient in the past year or the energy supplier has already announced price adjustments for the apartment in writing, the landlord may demand higher advance payments.

The

increase in ancillary costs

must also be announced in

writing

, for example by e-mail or letter.

But even if the payments on account do not increase: Supplementary charges for additional costs must be settled anyway.

And then large sums are often due in one fell swoop.

It can therefore make sense to voluntarily agree higher monthly installments with the landlord in order to avoid high additional claims.

We explain here whether landlords are also allowed to adjust the actual rent due to inflation.

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Ancillary cost settlement: When do tenants have to expect an additional payment?

Utility bills must be received by

the tenant

no later than 12 months after the billing period .

If the landlord is late, he can no longer make any additional claims, while refunds must always be paid out to the tenants.

In most cases, however, the utility bill will arrive much earlier.

Additional payments then usually have to be settled within one month.

If you have financial difficulties and cannot pay the amount, you should contact the landlord as soon as possible and, if possible, agree on payment in installments.

The amount by which the additional costs can increase in 2022 is still in the stars.

According to a report by SWR Fernsehen, experts such as Claudia Kemfert from the German Institute for Economic Research believe it is

possible

that

gas prices could increase fivefold this winter and next

.

According to an evaluation by the consumer

portal Check24

, the gas price increase is currently not quite as drastic.

However, tenants can at least take countermeasures and try to save gas when heating, for example, and unmask their electricity guzzlers in the household.

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Source: merkur

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