What's new from the administration?

You can fill out most of the forms in our FUNK-APP “ONLINE”. Compared to the beginning of the year, we have reduced our paper waste by 2/3. A success for the environment. You get these in Android and in Apple. Alternatively, you can simply open a browser with your smartphone and go to the homepage.

In order to be better prepared for future organizational challenges, we have changed the email addresses according to our departments. This means that you do not have to remember new addresses when you expand your workforce.
https://www.funkverwaltung.de/ansprachpartner

We have an app that is optimized for mobile devices. Functions that simplify communication are also available here. The app is available as a native app in Android and Apple, as well as as a progressive app via the web browser.

The phone number has changed since June 1st, 2023. You can now reach us on 0800 988 6226. Outside opening hours, this number serves as an emergency number. After receiving the email we will contact you.

Processes need to be automated more and more. This is necessary in order to have greater acceptance in society. Business necessity is another main reason for this.

We have established CASAVI and our own APP for communication with the parties involved is in development.

It is important to us that the data of our customers and the parties involved is stored securely. We will comply with the GDPR and install processes that no longer allow any other options.

In the course of digitalization, we meet the legal requirements for a secure exchange with the tax advisor in accordance with the GDPR and the regulations of the tax administration.
The legislature does not consider transmission by email to be legally compliant

If it hasn't already happened, many tenants are likely to receive utility bills for the previous year in the next few days and weeks. Due to the sharp increase in energy prices in 2022, hefty additional payments could be waiting here and there. However, if landlords fail to take stock in a timely manner, the claims will evaporate.
Billing must come every twelve months at the latest

Simone Marustzök from the German Tenants' Association (DMB) points out that landlords have to settle accounts every twelve months at the latest. An accounting period is typically the calendar year. In this case, the billing from 2022 must be received by the tenant by December 31, 2023 at the latest. “Other twelve-month periods are also conceivable,” says Marustzök - for example from October 1st to September 30th. The previous year must then be processed by September 30th of the following year.
Additional claims expire, credits do not

If landlords do not adhere to this deadline, they will no longer be able to make additional demands afterwards. Tenants then no longer have to make any additional payments. However, there are exceptions: If landlords are not responsible for the late billing themselves, for example because a municipal fee notice - for example for property tax - was delayed, they are still allowed to bill according to the law.

By the way: Just because a landlord misses the deadline for billing does not release him from his fundamental obligation to prepare the final invoice. He still has to do that, says Marustzök. After all, it could turn out that the tenant's monthly advance payments exceed the costs actually incurred. And in contrast to claims for additional payments, credit cannot expire.

1. Obligation to use renewable energies: According to the GEG, newly installed heating systems must be powered by at least 65 percent renewable energies. Although your current heating system may not be affected, future investments are necessary. Therefore, plan in good time how an exchange can be financed.

2. Link to municipal heating planning: The obligation to replace fossil heating systems is linked to municipal heating planning. This means that cities and municipalities must submit plans by mid-2026 (for larger municipalities) or mid-2028 (for smaller municipalities) as to when and where houses can be connected to a district heating network.

3. Transitional regulations: The GEG provides for generous transitional regulations for heating replacement. Old heaters are allowed to run until they can no longer be repaired. In the case of irreparable damage, there is a transition period of up to five years. For gas floor heating it is even 13 years. If a connection to a municipal heating network is foreseeable, this period can be extended to up to ten years. A used fossil fuel-powered heater may also be installed for the transition.

4. Funding rate of up to 70 percent: The federal government provides extensive funding for the replacement of a heating system. They are capped at a maximum of 70 percent and a maximum amount of 21,000 euros. In the future, there will be a basic subsidy of 30 percent for exchanging an old, fossil heating system for a new, climate-friendly heating system - regardless of the form of heating. Anyone who has a taxable annual income of a maximum of 40,000 euros receives an additional subsidy of 30 percent. Anyone who replaces their old heating system even though they are not obliged to do so will receive an additional speed bonus.

“Heating oil will no longer be cheap, simply because of the ever higher CO2 taxes,” says heating oil expert Bukold. In the wake of the energy crisis, many companies also switched to oil, driving up prices.

https://www.verbraucherzentrale.de/wissen/energie/heizen-und-warmwasser/klimapaket-was-bedeutet-es-fuer-mieter-und-hausbesitzer-43806

The initial price was 25 euros per ton and increases every year. Given the high energy prices, the CO2 price increase will be suspended in 2023. In 2024 it is expected to rise to 40 euros/ton. A price of 50 euros per ton is planned for 2025.

Here is the publication on the Building Energy Act:
https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/aktuelles/neues-gebaeudeenergiegesetz-2184942

Private households will pay a capped price for gas, district heating and electricity from March 2023 up to and including April 2024. The gas price is capped at twelve cents per kilowatt hour, and for district heating at 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour. The electricity price was capped at 40 cents per kilowatt hour.

A landlord sunning naked in the yard does not constitute a reason for a rent reduction, the Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court made clear in April 2023.
A landlord sued a tenant for back rent. The tenant had reduced the rent because the landlord regularly sunbathed naked in the courtyard of the apartment building. The tenant found this to be unreasonable.
The OLG Frankfurt a. However, in the final instance, M. decided in favor of the landlord, saying that his behavior could be a reason for a complaint, but was not a reason for a rent reduction.
The landlord sunbathing naked in the courtyard would not affect the usability of the tenant's rented premises. In the court's opinion, the landlord's behavior did not constitute an immoral influence. The place where the landlord lay down on a lounger without clothes was only visible from the tenant's rooms if she leaned far out of the window (OLG Frankfurt a. M., judgment of April 18, 2023, Ref. 2 U 43/22).

If, according to a clause in the rental agreement, a tenant is supposed to pay a “fixed amount” for the additional costs in addition to monthly advance payments for additional costs, this violates Section 307 Paragraph 1 Sentence 2 BGB. Such a clause is then invalid because it is illegal and the tenant concerned is not obliged to pay. The Konstanz Regional Court made this clear in January 2023.
In the legal dispute decided by the LG Konstanz, the rental agreement contained a clause according to which the tenant should pay a monthly amount of €175.33 as an advance payment for the additional costs.
In addition, he should pay a monthly “fixed amount” of €118.30 for other additional costs. The tenant was of the opinion that the clause was illegal and did not pay the fixed amount. The landlord filed a payment claim.
Without success! The LG Konstanz decided in favor of the tenant that the regulation regarding the fixed amount to be paid by the tenant was unlawful in accordance with Section 307 Paragraph 1 Sentence 2 of the German Civil Code (BGB). The regulation violated the transparency requirement regulated there, as a tenant does not have to expect flat rates for operating costs.
According to the court, tenants can usually assume that only additional costs are incurred, which the landlord bills for annually (LG Konstanz, judgment of January 11, 2023, ref. B 61 S 9/22).

Despite disappointed sales expectations, a tenant of commercial premises cannot demand a subsequent reduction in the agreed rent. There is no change in the basis of the transaction in favor of an affected tenant if the sales achieved fall significantly short of his expectations.
The Trier regional court made this clear in January 2023.
The tenant in question worked as a sign embosser and had concluded a rental agreement for the commercial premises in question in 2018 for the production of vehicle license plates. The rental rooms were in the same building as the local vehicle registration office.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, applicants to obtain vehicle license plates had to apply for their appointment at the vehicle registration office online. Therefore, the tenant's sales fell significantly and he was of the opinion that the landlord could now only demand less rent from him.
However, the LG Trier decided the subsequent court proceedings in favor of the landlord. Despite the decline in sales, the tenant had to pay the full monthly rent agreed in the rental agreement.
Because the tenant was not entitled to a rent reduction in accordance with Section 536 of the German Civil Code (BGB). The decline in sales caused by the corona pandemic did not represent a defect in the rental rooms in accordance with Section 536 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 BGB. The rental rooms had not lost any of the quality required by the rental agreement.
The number of registrations at the motor vehicle registration office was not one of the properties of the rental premises owed by the landlord under the rental agreement. The tenant could therefore not claim a disruption to the basis of the transaction and could not demand a reduction in the rent. The tenant's sales expectations were solely part of his entrepreneurial risk (LG Trier, judgment of January 11, 2023, ref. 5 O 256/22).

An apartment owner can sue to stop video surveillance of his apartment door. The homeowners' association does not have the right to sue because it is an individual claim of the affected owner. This was decided by the Frankfurt am Main regional court.

Tuesday July 18, 2023 10:43 am
Prohibition of grilling with electric grills on two consecutive weekends or public holidays and more than four times a month (July 18, 2023)

According to Section 888 ZPO, an apartment owner's obligation to dismantle the property must be enforced by means of a penalty payment. It is generally irrelevant that the apartment owner has left the apartment to a third party. This was decided by the Berlin-Schöneberg district court. (AG Berlin-Schöneberg,)

https://www.verbraucherzentrale.de/wissen/energie/heizen-und-warmwasser/klimapaket-was-bedeutet-es-fuer-mieter-und-hausbesitzer-43806