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Getting a service-charge credit paid out in Germany
When a Guthaben falls due, how to demand it, why the twelve-month deadline does not apply to you, and how limitation works.
Not every statement ends in a back payment. If it shows a credit (Guthaben), the question turns around: when must it be paid out, and what do you do if nothing happens? Unlike a back payment there is no pressure on the other side, which is why credits often sit unpaid for months. This guide explains your claim and the practical route. It covers residential tenancies in Germany and is not individual legal advice.
When the credit falls due
A credit arises when your prepayments exceed the costs billed. It generally falls due when a proper statement reaches you. There is no statutory period of several weeks, but the landlord needs a short time to process the transfer.
In practice: after two to four weeks without payment, a written demand with a deadline is appropriate. State the amount, the billing period and your bank details.
The billing deadline does not apply to your credit
An important point is often confused. The exclusion period in section 556(3) BGB concerns the landlord's back claims. A credit in your favour does not disappear because the statement was drawn up late.
So if a statement arrives after the twelve-month period and shows a credit, you can claim that credit — while a back claim in the same letter would generally be excluded. If no statement arrives at all, you can demand that one be produced.
If no statement arrives
You have a claim to be given an account of the prepayments you have made. Demand it in writing with a deadline. If nothing follows, a claim for repayment of the prepayments may come into consideration once the billing deadline has passed; the conditions depend on the circumstances.
In practice, announcing that you will reclaim the prepayments often produces a statement quickly. Set a clear deadline and document delivery of your letter.
Set-off against the rent
Many managers automatically set a credit off against the next rent. That is convenient but not a matter of course: set-off is permissible where its conditions are met. You can instead demand payment. Say so expressly in your letter if you prefer a transfer.
Conversely you can set the credit off against a rent claim yourself. Declare the set-off expressly and quantify the amounts. Check first whether your lease restricts set-off.
Credits and outstanding claims
If other claims are outstanding — an unpaid back payment from the previous year, for instance — the landlord will often set off. Check whether the counterclaim is justified. Do not accept a set-off against a disputed claim silently; object in writing and give the reason.
After you move out
Once the tenancy has ended, the credit is often dealt with together with the deposit statement. They are separate claims. A credit from the service-charge statement falls due independently of whether the deposit has been settled.
Give your new address and bank details early and ask for written confirmation. The most common reason for an unpaid credit after a move is simply a missing account number.
Limitation
The claim is subject to the standard limitation period of three years under section 195 BGB, running from the end of the year in which the claim arose and you learned of it. In practice a credit from a statement received in 2026 will normally become time-barred at the end of 2029.
Do not wait, though. The longer you leave it, the harder the clarification and the more likely that records are missing.
Why credits arise
A credit is rarely accidental. Often the prepayments were set generously at the start of the tenancy to avoid a later back payment. Sometimes energy prices fell, or you reduced your consumption. Occasionally an item was dropped — for example the cable-TV charge since July 2024 — without the prepayment being adjusted.
That is useful for your review. Compare the credit with the previous year. A suddenly very large credit can mean that a cost type has fallen away or slipped into another year, which may produce a double burden next time. Ask about the service period of the invoices concerned.
A credit is not a clean bill of health
A statement showing a credit can still contain errors. If non-recoverable items are included, your credit should actually be larger. Check it as carefully as one with a back payment. Your twelve-month objection period from receipt applies here too.
The right of inspection under section 556(4) BGB exists regardless of the outcome of the statement.
Adjust your prepayments
A credit shows that your prepayments are set too high. Under section 560(4) BGB either party may demand an adjustment to an appropriate level after a statement. If you are permanently overpaying, you can require a reduction.
Divide your actual annual costs by twelve and propose that figure. A blanket safety surcharge on top is not permitted; only concretely foreseeable cost changes for the current year may be added (BGH, judgment of 28 September 2011 – VIII ZR 294/10).
When the landlord changes
If the building is sold while a credit is outstanding, the baseline is clear. For a billing period that had already ended when ownership passed, the Federal Court of Justice held that the seller, not the acquirer, must render the account and pursue any back payment — regardless of when the claim fell due (BGH, judgment of 3 December 2003 – VIII ZR 168/03). For the period in which the transfer falls, the acquirer steps into the tenancy under section 566 BGB and accounts for it.
So a credit for last year is normally owed by the former owner, even if the new manager already collects the rent. Arrangements in the purchase contract operate between buyer and seller, not against you. In practice, address your demand to both sides with the transfer date and the billing period, so that no deadline passes while responsibility is being sorted out.
How to proceed
First, note the amount and the due date. Second, after two to four weeks demand payment in writing with a deadline and your bank details. Third, after the deadline passes, send a reminder and announce default interest. Fourth, if refusal continues, involve a tenants' association or a lawyer. Fifth, review the statement substantively in parallel while your objection period is running.
Read on and check your own bill
For lowering your monthly payments permanently, see adjusting monthly prepayments. For checking the statement, see inspecting the invoices and objecting to a statement.
Even with a credit it is worth looking at the individual items: upload the statement to the free check and see whether your credit ought to be larger.