Nebenkostenabrechnung deadline: when your landlord is too late, and when you are

Short answer

The Nebenkostenabrechnung deadline is 12 months after the end of the billing period: if the statement reaches you later, your landlord can generally no longer ask for a back payment. For a statement covering the calendar year 2025, the last day is 31 December 2026. The landlord only keeps the claim if they can prove they were not responsible for the delay. For you as a tenant, a second deadline applies: you must raise objections within 12 months after receiving the statement. After that, you generally cannot challenge it any more. Both rules are in § 556 (3) of the German Civil Code (BGB), and neither can be changed to your disadvantage in the rental contract.

These are deadlines that cut off a claim (Ausschlussfristen). Once they have passed, it does not matter how good the arguments are. That is why the date the statement arrived is the first thing to write down.

Enter the end of your billing period and the day you received the statement. The calculator runs in your browser; nothing is sent to us.

Your landlord has to settle the advance payments once a year (§ 556 (3) sentence 1 BGB). The billing period is usually 12 months, often but not always the calendar year. The deadline for the statement runs from the end of that period:

Heating is part of the same deadline. If heating and hot water come in a separate statement from a metering company, the landlord must still deliver the complete result within the deadline. A late heating bill from the metering company generally does not excuse your landlord, because they are responsible for the companies they hire (§ 278 BGB).

The deadline is only met if the statement reaches you in time (Zugang). The date on the letter, the postmark or the day your landlord sent it do not matter. If the post office delivers late, that is the landlord's risk (BGH, judgment of 21 January 2009, VIII ZR 107/08). In a dispute, the landlord has to prove that, and when, the statement arrived.

• Write the date of arrival on the statement as soon as you open it.
• Keep the envelope, especially if the statement arrives in early January.
• If it comes by e-mail, keep the e-mail with its date.
• If someone else empties your mailbox while you are away, ask them to note the date.

If the statement arrives late, you do not have to pay the back payment, no matter how high it is and whether the figures are right. It is enough to tell your landlord in writing that you will not pay because the deadline was missed. A credit, on the other hand, is still yours: the rule only protects tenants.

The exception is narrow. The landlord must show and prove that they were not responsible for the delay. For a property management company they hired, they are responsible as for themselves (§ 278 BGB).

• Can excuse the landlord

  A cost notice arrives only after the deadline, for example a property tax assessment set retroactively. The landlord must then act quickly: within three months after the obstacle has gone (BGH, 5 July 2006, VIII ZR 220/05).

• Does not excuse the landlord

  A slow post office (BGH, VIII ZR 107/08), a property manager who is behind schedule, or, for a rented condominium, a missing resolution of the owners' association on its annual accounts (BGH, 25 January 2017, VIII ZR 249/15).

Sending “something” in time is not enough. Only a formally correct statement meets the deadline. According to the Federal Court of Justice, it must contain at least the total costs, the allocation key, the calculation of your share and the deduction of your advance payments (judgment of 17 November 2004, VIII ZR 115/04, and later decisions).

If one of these is missing and the landlord only delivers a proper version after the deadline, the back payment is excluded. Content errors are different: a wrong amount or a wrong key does not make the statement invalid. Your landlord may correct such errors, but after the deadline generally not to your disadvantage.

After that, you can no longer raise objections, unless you were not responsible for the delay (§ 556 (3) sentence 6 BGB). Do not count on that exception. Some details people often miss:

• It also covers costs that were never agreed. If you object too late, you can no longer argue that a cost type was not agreed in your rental contract (BGH, 10 October 2007, VIII ZR 279/06).
• Paying does not end your right. A payment without reservation is not an acknowledgement (BGH, 12 January 2011, VIII ZR 296/09). You can object within the 12 months and claim money back.
• Be specific. Name the item and the reason. A general “I object” rarely helps you in a dispute.
• Send it so you can prove it. A letter by registered mail (Einschreiben) or a letter handed over with a witness, and keep a copy.

• You moved out

  Moving out does not speed things up. Your landlord does not have to make a partial statement (§ 556 (3) sentence 4 BGB). You get the regular statement, for your months only. For heating, a reading is due when tenants change (§ 9b HeizkostenV). If a back payment is likely, the landlord may keep a reasonable part of your deposit until the statement (BGH, 18 January 2006, VIII ZR 71/05). Give your landlord your new address.

• No statement at all

  Ask for it in writing. While you still live there, you may withhold the current advance payments until your landlord settles. After you have moved out, you can claim back the advance payments for the period that was never settled (BGH, 9 March 2005, VIII ZR 57/04).

• Limitation period

  A back payment that is due becomes time-barred after three years, counted from the end of the year in which you received the statement (§§ 195, 199 BGB). The same applies to your claim to a credit.

• Trusting the date on the letter

  The date printed on the statement says nothing about the deadline. Only the day of arrival counts.

• Counting from the billing period

  Your objection deadline starts when you receive the statement, not when the billing period ended.

• Thinking paying ends the matter

  You can pay and still object within 12 months.

• Objecting by phone

  A phone call is hard to prove. Put your objection in writing and keep a copy.

• Waiting for an answer

  If your landlord does not reply, the deadline keeps running for your other objections. Raise them all in time.

• Giving up a credit

  A late statement only stops back payments. A credit must still be paid out.

1. 1

   Find the billing period

   It is printed at the top, e.g. “Abrechnungszeitraum 01.01.2025 – 31.12.2025”.

2. 2

   Add 12 months

   The end of the period plus 12 months is the landlord's deadline. For the calendar year 2025: 31 December 2026.

3. 3

   Compare with the day of arrival

   Did the statement reach you after that day? Then a back payment is generally excluded.

4. 4

   Check the formal minimum

   Total costs, key, your share, your advance payments. If something is missing, the deadline may not have been met.

5. 5

   Note your own deadline

   Day of arrival plus 12 months. Put a reminder in your calendar a few weeks earlier.

• Statement too late: write to your landlord that you will not pay the back payment because the statement arrived after the deadline in § 556 (3) sentence 3 BGB. Ask for any credit to be paid out.
• Statement on time but doubtful: ask 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, 7 February 2018, VIII ZR 189/17).
• Errors found: object in writing within 12 months of receipt, item by item, and pay only the undisputed part.
• No statement yet: ask for it in writing and keep a copy of your request.