Getting the heating fixed in a rented apartment

Ahhh, an other problem with our rented apt. Heating is broken for 3 weeks now. Landlord sent a company here to fix it, but they said a pipe is broken in the cellar they can not do a "quick fix".

In the meantime the weather turned colder and we sleep in pullovers, our children got a cold. It has been 3 weeks now that we reported it and I would like to know what is a reasonable time to wait for a resolution.

Thanks in advance for advice,

Don't know about reasonable time to wait, but you can ask for 'Minderung' (a reduction in rent) in the meantime, as no heating at this time of year is clearly an imposition. I don't know the full details on how much reduction would be normal, though.

Having a reduction in rent income may concentrate your landlord's mind.

Meanwhile, why not go buy a little electric space heater for 15 or 20 euro? I bought one a few years back at Media Markt and it will warm up a room very quickly. We needed it for our old drafty attic apt when we first came to Germany. Just remember to turn it off just before you go to bed.

My neighbour withheld 15% of the rent when the communal heating broke down. I think he went to a lawyer to get a letter done though, don't be tempted to just stop paying. This is standard practice in Germany, by the way.

Sowohl als auch.

You can justify a Mietminderung in the amount of reasonable costs you incur heating the apartment to a livable standard.

I'd write a friendly CYA explaining this to the landlord. Not sure what a lawyer would cost, but definitely talk to one before your total Minderung exceeds 2 months rent.

At least, that's what my character would say if I played a lawyer on TV.

Been hearing more of these heating cases - tis the season and all. I think I'll do a blog entry on heating this weekend.

Rent deduction is refused by the landlord, we have written to him previously on other issues and his managing agent sent a letter stating that as per german law, rent deduction is not possible if the fixing is in progress. For some of the other issues we have with the apt the "work in progress" has been for 3 months now and I can not wait for the heating to take so long.
The electric space heater is not an option, I have a crawling baby and a toddler at home, the little explorers would definetely be interested touching it :-(

I was hoping that there is some regulation specifically for heating, that it has to be fixed in x days or ...

Contact a lawyer, and have them draw-up a letter for your landlord and his agent.

Sounds like bullshit, but if they're playing hard ball, you need to speak to a lawyer or the Mieterverein.

http://www.mietrecht.unser-forum.de/?show=PJCF

http://www.hanhoerster.de/html/mietminderung_heizung.htm

http://www.bmgev.de/mietrecht/tipps/mietmi.../04heizung.html

I think it's normal to reduce the rent in a case like this without the help of a lawyer.

A heating that doesn't function is a considerable defect, which justifies immediate reduction of the brutto rent for the duration of the defect, at least this is what it says here:

Mietminderung

Bei erheblichen Schäden kann parallel zur Mängelbeseitigung die Miete gemindert werden. Wie die Mietminderung im einzelnen richtig durchgeführt wird, ist dem RATGEBER "Mietminderung" zu entnehmen.

Zeitpunkt der Minderung

Liegt eine Ausnahme nicht vor, kann der Mieter sofort die Miete kürzen. Dies ist für Laien überraschend, erklärt sich rechtlich daraus, dass § 537 BGB regelt, dass bei eingeschränktem Wohnwert nur eine angemessen geminderte Miete zu zahlen ist. Die Minderung muß auch nicht vorher angekündigt werden, nur der Mangel muß angezeigt werden.

See Information Mieterverein Dortmund.

Here are examples for the percentages of deduction, backed up by court judgements:

Wohnungsmängel und Mietminderung

So according to this, a broken heating in winter would be 25% off, and in another book 20% was mentioned for a non-functioning heating in October.

The difficult thing could be to get the money back from the October rent, especially if paid by direct debt mandate. In some rent contracts, there's apparently a clause that excludes deduction from the rent payment of the following month:

Oft kommt es vor, dass ein Mangel mitten im Monat auftritt, wenn die Miete schon bezahlt ist. Der anteilige Minderungsbetrag ist zuviel gezahlte Miete und kann zurückgefordert werden. In vielen Fällen kann der Rückzahlungsbetrag von der nächsten bzw. übernächsten Monatsmiete (Vertrag lesen!) abgezogen werden. Vorsicht: in vielen Verträgen ist die Aufrechnung wirksam ausgeschlossen, und es kann dann nur im nächsten Monat die Minderung verrechnet werden.

Hat der Vermieter eine Einzugsermächtigung, so muß ihm mitgeteilt werden, dass er nur die um den Minderungsbetrag gekürzte Miete einziehen soll. Zieht er trotzdem alles ein, so kann die Miete von der Bank zurückgebucht werden. Die geminderte Miete muß dem Vermieter dann extra überwiesen werden. Eine wiederholte unberechtigte Einziehung der vollen Miete berechtigt zum generellen Widerruf der Einzugsermächtigung.

But if this defect persists, make sure you don't pay the full rent for November or have it booked back.

EDIT: The important thing is to inform the landlord immediately of the defect (in written form) and to be able to prove the damage. What are the other renters doing about the situation?

oh, I've got a similar problem - but luckily just for one room! If you figure out how the "minderung" is calculated please let me know, in the meanwhile I've got a helpfull tip for you:


This might not be true - I bought last week the special issue of a magazine "Finanztest Special" on "Mietrecht - Was Mieter wissen muessen", wiich is full of very useful tips & tricks, especially regarding Schoenheitsrepraturen and simillar things. It is definitely money well spent ;)

So, as far as I can see, what you have to do a.s.a.i, is to formulate very precise letter in which you say that you have the problem X since date D, and that it is limiting your ability to live normaly in the apartment. Then you calculate the % of the rent, that you assume would be the value of this problem, and just substruct it from the next rent. [at least in theory]

What I didn't get is how to calculate the %.

The good thing is that there is a German template letter in that magazine issue - so just get it, complete it with some German friend/colleague,k and send it to the landlord. But take care to make it "schriftlich", as otherwise it is probably not binding (lawyers here know better).

I could see to retype you the template in the case that you can't find the magazine any more. As I am pretty busy <new job, new apartment kind of a story> it might take a couple of days since the first free time slot.

Good Luck! :)

Tananna - here is the key sentence for you:

"Kraft Gesetz ( 536 GPB) bin ich berechtigt, die Miete zu mindern."

/in front of 536 you need to put the symbol for a legal pragraph, but I do not know how to generate that silly sign/

Alegria, I think it's Paragraph 536 of the BGB (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch), and the legal prose in all its beauty goes like this:

Mietminderung bei Sach- und Rechtsmängeln

(1) Hat die Mietsache zur Zeit der Überlassung an den Mieter einen Mangel, der ihre Tauglichkeit zum vertragsgemäßen Gebrauch aufhebt, oder entsteht während der Mietzeit ein solcher Mangel, so ist der Mieter für die Zeit, in der die Tauglichkeit aufgehoben ist, von der Entrichtung der Miete befreit. Für die Zeit, während der die Tauglichkeit gemindert ist, hat er nur eine angemessen herabgesetzte Miete zu entrichten. Eine unerhebliche Minderung der Tauglichkeit bleibt außer Betracht.

I found the letter from the managing agent and although my german is very basic, it looks like it refers to something we signed in our rental contract:

"Gemäß § 17 Abs. 2 und 3 des Mietvertrages vom 29.06.2007 sind Sie nicht zur Mietminderung berechtigt, da die noch auszuführenden Arbeiten im Sine der Instandsetzung durchgeführt werden"

This was in response to the numerous unsolved issues in the apt.

Yeah it says according to paragraph 17 sections 2 and 3 of the rental contract of 29/06/2007, you may not lower the rent because they are currently working on fixing the issue. I'm not an expert, but the way I see it this is basically in contradiction of §536 as quoted by RainyDays, and if a contract contradicts the law then the law wins.

"working on the issue" is not the same as "fixing the issue" - on days where heating is necessary (typically where the outdoor temperature has been under 12degrees for more than 3 consecutive days) then you are entitled to a rent reduction of up to 25% (per day, pro-rata), unless they provide an alternative source (e.g. space heaters, electric heaters or oil-electric radiators), even if they are seen as a compromise and may not heat the entire apartment. Not wanting to use such additional heating would not be reasonable from your side as (for example) children can easily be protected from touching them.

Keeping your kids safe from a space heater is no different from keeping them safe from the stove or oven. The little heating model I bought could easily be placed up on a shelf or on the kitchen counter or on the middle of the table where they can't reach. It doesn't have to be a big floor radiator type heater. Mine simply blows hot air and the outside casing remains fairly cool to the touch. At times I'd almost be resting my feet right on it so it isn't an immediate burn hazard. Basically mine is the same priciple as a hair dryer, just a little bigger. You'd only really have to make sure the children can't reach the plug or cable, but that's no different that what you are already doing with your TV, stereo, lamps etc. Sorry, but I honestly don't see a problem.

I have been told and if you look on www.mietrecht.de you will find that its possible to deduct 100% rent in winter.Me i would do it as soon as you stop paying it works faster.Also the rent reduction is justified and they cannot touch you at all for it.

Germans are always putting illegal clauses in contracts. Thats why every German contract finishes with the paragraph that if any part of the contract is found to be unzulassig the whole contract is not invalidated.

So just because he put a clause in the contract saying you cannot reduce rent, does not make it true. As antred says if the contract contradicts the law, the law wins.

The concensus is that you should write to him telling him a 25% rent reduction for the duration the heating is not working. Then the ball is in his court. And the thing about work in progress is bullshit. You're suffering from lack of heating, it doesn't matter whether its being fixed or not, you're still inconvenienced.

3 weeks is outrageous to be without heating for your home. It's the downside of being a landlord as far as I am concerned. I don't see why you should pay the landlord anything for the period when a house in uninhabitable. I don't care whether it is work is in progress - it's not your problem if they have to dig the road up to fix it. No heating - no payment. Landlord is tosser.

Ironically my heating is busted at work, but I am not kicking up a stink just yet until it starts to get cold.

Read the whole clause of § 536 BGB, especially (4):


Law beats contract. Your landlord (or his lawyer) is an idiot or a liar.

EDIT: just one more thing - you dont have to ask your landlord for permission. Just inform him that you will reduce the rent (in written form, cite the clause and maybe some court decisions) and then do it. Of course this is might change your relationship to your landlord...

A very useful link to calculate the percentage of your "Mietminderung". This is a list of court decisions about cases of "Mietminderung", because of broken heating.

Heizungsausfall (totaler im Winter)
40-100%
Heizungsausfall bzw. unzureichende Beheizung.
25-30%

You have the right to reduce the amount of your rent/die Miete zu mindern - that is out of the question. You can even "die Miete mindern" if your landlord is not responsible for the "Störung". A good example would be very noisy ongoing work in your street. You would be able to reduce your rent, because of the "eingeschränkter Nutzwert" of your flat, regardless who coursed it.

Thank you all for the very useful replies.
We will write to the landlord/agent and deduct from the rent immediately until heating is solved.
In the meantime I will get those heaters and continue using the oven day and night (it is so nice and warm in the kitchen when the oven is on...)

still not fixed and there is no reply from landlord. Can we just ask a company to fix it and deduct it from the rent? I assume we need the landlord permission for that as well...

You have to set a reasonable deadline. Find out from various plumbing companies how soon they could start and how long the work would take. Calculate the average response time and use that as your deadline. If the work hasn't started by then call the cheapest plumber in and have him to the work*, send the bill to your landlord. If he doesn't pay up give him a month's notice (check your lease on that) and decrease** your rent accordingly.
*Ersatzvornahme nach Fristsetzung
**Aufrechnung
Disclaimer: Do this with a lawyer's assitance. All advice given here is not professional and requires confirmation by a lawyer!

Or join the Berliner Mieterverein (for a fee); they have service centers in the Bezirke and can advise you, write letters etc.

also try to get first at least 3 different offers (in written form), so that they can't tell you that you deliberately choose the most expensive one, and refuse to pay.

Oh, geez... still no heat? I sure hope you did go get those space heaters because it is getting friggin' cold! You are a heck of a lot more patient than I would be as it's been 4 weeks at least. I'd have thrown a fit much sooner. And here's how I throw fits in German <grin>

1. Contact the Mietverein today
2. Contact a lawyer today - make sure you also ask whether any damages are applicable
3. As already stated, get three written offers from heating companies to fix it.
4. Follow advice given, hopefully something like sending a note to the landlord along with the offers (keep copies for your records!) that if the heating isn't fixed by a certain date then you will go with the cheapest offer and deduct it from your rent - according to whatever formula the lawyer and/or mietverein suggest. Also check with lawyer/mietverein whether you can deduct some of the cost of your electrical bill for the use of that space heater. It might also be possible to have the heating company bill the landlord directly - the experts can tell you what's possible and legal

Good luck!

thanks all for the advice. Half of the apt has some heating and we bought these portable heaters which help a lot. The original company who was here couple of weeks ago said that it would take only a day to fix it so i do not understand what takes so long... it is a renovated altbau and out of 12 apt only 3 occupied, so we do not even have the neighbouring apartments heated which does not help...
I try to contact the plumber/heating company who was here couple of weeks ago maybe they have an update...

Hello! Tought I let you know that after our lawyer wrote to the landlord/managing agent and also reported them to the authorities our heating was fixed on 9th November and 100% working ;-) it took "only" 42 days and a lawyer to get it done...

Finally! Glad to hear that your heating is fixed and working. Now for one last thing - if you're planning to stay a bit longer in Germany then get legal insurance. It doesn't cost all that much and means that you won't have to hesitate thinking about bills when something or other next comes up. I've found that often even just mentioning that I have the insurance during the "personal talks" phase can speed up the process of finding an amicable solution.

Cheers!
Vera

Google for "Mietrechtsschutzversicherung" and "Vertragsrechtsschutzversicherung" ...

Umm...no, actually. I was thinking of the "all inclusive legal insurance" which will also help if you're ever in trouble with the police, too. Yeah, ok...we have a super-deluxe policy to protect Hubby when he's travelling in less developed countries, but it also comes in handy if you ever get into a dispute over arcane German law like "beleidigung" or even having problems with your health insurance. We had a situation where we had to go to our legal insurance to battle our health insurance. Was kinda amusing, actually!