The Federal Court of Justice has given tenants back their backs. In a recent ruling, the judges have ruled that tenants can view the bills for electricity, water, heating, etc., as well as the payment receipts if they want.
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Dispute was one Utility billing from 2013. A tenant in Berlin should pay 1262 euros. He then wanted to see whether the landlady had really paid that much. However, the woman only allowed access to the bills, not the receipts. The case went to court and now the tenant got right.
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Only if he can see what was actually paid can the tenant check whether what has been billed Amounts are entitled. The Karlsruhe judges explicitly emphasized that tenants do not have to show a “special interest” for this. The general interest in wanting to check the accounts is sufficient.
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Thanks to the judgment, it is now possible in principle to even have the landlord’s bank statements shown, says lawyer Thomas Kinschewski:
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As a tenant, I now have the right not only to see the bills, but also to see whether the bills have been paid, and if so, to what extent. In this way, according to the Federal Court of Justice, the tenant has control over whether he should be cheated, but in any case also the chance to correct billing errors.
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The judgment is final.
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File number: VIII ZR 118/19
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Our expert
Important judgments that can affect our lives are made almost every day in the courtroom. Every week, attorney Thomas Kinschewski presents the most interesting things in short form at MDR JUMP on the weekend.
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