Nachzahlung: do you really have to pay the back payment on your Nebenkosten?

Short answer

Nachzahlung means back payment, and you generally have to pay it, but only if the statement is on time, formally correct and free of costs that may not be passed on to you. It is the amount by which your share of the building's running costs exceeded the advance payments you made with your rent. It becomes due once a formally correct statement reaches you. If the statement came more than 12 months after the billing period ended, your landlord can generally no longer demand it. For wrong items, you only pay the correct part. And as long as your landlord refuses a justified request to see the invoices, you can hold the payment back.

“Nach” means after, “Zahlung” means payment: a payment made afterwards. On a Nebenkostenabrechnung, you will see it next to a few related terms:

The calculation is always the same. A simple example with made-up numbers:

Your landlord will usually also raise the monthly advance after a back payment. Both sides may adjust it after a statement to a reasonable amount, by a declaration in text form (§ 560 (4) BGB).

Before you pay, answer these four questions. If the answer to one of them is “no”, you may not have to pay, or not the full amount:

German law has no fixed payment period for Nebenkosten. The general rule applies:

The Federal Court of Justice applies this to the Nebenkostenabrechnung: the back payment, or your credit, becomes due as soon as a formally correct statement reaches you. An extra period for checking does not delay this (judgment of 7 February 2018, VIII ZR 189/17).

• You are usually in default only once your landlord sends a reminder after the payment became due (§ 286 (1) BGB).
• Without a reminder, default can start 30 days after the statement is due and received, but for consumers only if the statement points this out specifically (§ 286 (3) BGB).
• Due does not mean final: you still have 12 months to object.

• The statement came too late

  More than 12 months after the billing period ended. Then your landlord can generally no longer claim the back payment, unless they were not responsible for the delay. Tell them in writing.

• The statement is formally defective

  Total costs, allocation key, your share or the advance payments are missing. Then the back payment is not due. If the landlord only fixes it after the deadline, it is lost.

• Your landlord refuses to show the invoices

  You have a right to inspect the invoices (§ 556 (4) BGB). As long as a justified request is refused, you do not have to pay the back payment (BGH, VIII ZR 189/17).

• Some items are wrong

  Pay the undisputed part and object to the rest, item by item, with the reason.

Many tenants pay first and check later. That is allowed. The Federal Court of Justice decided:

So you can pay and still object within 12 months of receiving the statement. If you already have doubts, a reservation makes them clear and avoids discussions:

• Write in the transfer reference, for example: “Zahlung unter Vorbehalt, Betriebskostenabrechnung 2025”.
• Send your landlord a short note in text form (e-mail or letter) that you pay under reservation and are checking the statement.
• The reservation does not replace your objection. Raise your objections specifically, within 12 months.

A back payment of several hundred euros can be hard to pay at once. You have no legal right to instalments, but you have options:

• Ask your landlord early. Suggest a concrete plan, for example three monthly instalments, and get the agreement in writing.
• Jobcenter or social welfare office. If you receive Grundsicherungsgeld (until June 2026: Bürgergeld), a back payment generally counts as a housing and heating need in the month it is due (BSG, 22 March 2010, B 4 AS 62/09 R). Only reasonable costs are covered (§ 22 (1) SGB II). Hand in the statement immediately.
• Check first. The part of the back payment that is wrong does not need financing.

If you simply ignore a correct back payment, your landlord will send a reminder. After that, you are in default and can owe default interest, and your landlord can take the claim to court.

Can your landlord terminate the tenancy? That is not clearly settled. Termination without notice for payment arrears is tied to unpaid rent on specific payment dates (§ 543 (2) No. 3 BGB), and a one-off back payment is generally not seen as such. Some courts, however, consider termination possible for high arrears. Do not let it get that far.

• Paying without looking

  The back payment is just the bottom line. Errors are in the items above it: management fees, repairs, a wrong key.

• Refusing everything

  Refusing the whole amount without a reason risks default. Pay the undisputed part, object to the rest.

• Missing the late-statement rule

  A statement that arrives more than 12 months after the period ended usually means no back payment at all.

• Forgetting the advance payments

  Check that all advances you actually paid are deducted, including a raised amount.

• Objecting by phone

  Only a written objection is easy to prove. Keep a copy.

• Waiting too long

  After 12 months from receipt, objections are generally excluded, even if you never paid.

1. 1

   Note the day of arrival

   Write it on the statement. It starts your 12-month objection deadline and shows whether the landlord was on time.

2. 2

   Check the deadline

   Billing period end plus 12 months. Arrived later? Then the back payment is generally excluded.

3. 3

   Check the advance payments

   Compare the deducted advances with your bank statements.

4. 4

   Go through the items

   Each item must be allowed under § 2 BetrKV and agreed in your contract. Look for management fees, repairs and unusual items.

5. 5

   Compare with last year

   Large jumps show you where to ask for invoices.

6. 6

   Pay or object

   Pay the correct part, under reservation if in doubt, and object in writing to the rest.

• Request the invoices (Belegeinsicht, § 556 (4) BGB) for items that look wrong or jumped. Your landlord may provide them electronically.
• Object in writing, item by item, within 12 months after receipt (§ 556 (3) sentence 5 BGB).
• Pay the correct part, under reservation if you are unsure.
• Adjust your advance payments if the statement shows they are too high or too low (§ 560 (4) BGB).

A check usually pays off when the back payment is a few hundred euros: a single wrong item can be worth more than the €24.90 for a full report.