Arbitration board

Who can contact the conciliation board?

You can turn to the conciliation board if you are in a lease relationship. Examples:

• You are a landlord and want to settle a dispute with a tenant.
• You are a tenant and want to settle a dispute with your landlord.

It does not matter whether there is a written lease or only a verbal lease. As soon as you are in a tenancy relationship, there is always a contract.

In addition, you can turn to the conciliation board if you want to re-determine the usable values (condominium shares).

On which topics can I turn to the conciliation board?

Basically, the conciliation board deals with questions of tenants' and landlords' rights. There are two departments with different responsibilities.

The conciliation board is not a general advisory board - this means that you always have to formulate a request if you want to refer a matter to the conciliation board.

The Service Unit Arbitration board - Subject area: tenancy law, housing non-profit law .. you can deal with, among other things, if you:

• want to be recognized as the main tenant.
• You, as a landlord, want to carry out maintenance and improvement works.
• if you want the landlord to renovate the rented apartment after it has become uninhabitable.
• if you, as the landlord, want to carry out maintenance and improvement works or changes in the apartment.
• if you want to move out as a tenant and be reimbursed for the costs of work on the apartment, or if you as a landlord do not want to reimburse these costs.
• if you want to exchange the apartment.
• if you want to know whether the rent is permissible or reasonable.
• if you want to break down a flat rent.
• if you want to check the share of the apartment in the total costs of the house (operating cost key).
• if the rent is increased for a limited period of time due to extensive maintenance work on the house and these costs are not covered by the rent reserve and the current rent.
• if they want to reclaim prohibited services and charges.

Detailed areas of responsibility

• according to § 37 par. 1 of the Tenancy Act (MRG) - except for deposits
• pursuant to Section 22 (1) of the Non-Profit Housing Act (Wohnungsgemeinnützigkeitsgesetz - WGG)

The Service Unit Arbitration board - Subject area: deposit, utility value, heating cost settlement .. you can refer, among other things, if you:

• want to determine the amount of the deposit, which can be reclaimed, provided your tenancy is subject to the Tenancy Rights Act.
• want to enforce the billing of costs according to actual consumption (and, if necessary, the necessary installation of devices to be able to measure actual consumption; e.g. installation of meters).
• Want to separate heating and hot water costs.
• want to check the correctness of the billing.
• want to re-determine the usable values (condominium shares) (parification).
• if usable values were calculated by a private appraisal and this appraisal violates the principles of usable value calculation(§9 para. 2 Z1 WEG).

Detailed areas of responsibility

• according to § 37 Abs.1 Mietrechtsgesetz - determination of the amount of the refundable deposit in connection with § 16b MRG
• according to § 25 Abs.1 procedure according to the Heating Costs Settlement Act (HeizKG)
• according to § 9 Abs.2 Wohnungseigentumsgesetz (WEG) - change of usable values

What is the procedure at the conciliation boards?

1. You submit a written request to the respective conciliation board.
   1. The application is free of charge and does not have to be in any particular form.
   2. However, there are some minimum requirements. The following information must be provided:
      1. Name and Adresse applicant
      2. Name and Adresse of respondent
      3. affected residential property
      4. Subject of the request, for example "refund of deposit".
   3. If the conciliation board is responsible for your request, the clerks will explain the procedure and tell you what other documents are required for the request.
2. The conciliation office has the duty to ascertain the facts of the case (official channels).
3. The conciliation board delivers the application to the defendant. This is how the proceedings begin.
4. If necessary, the conciliation board schedules an oral hearing with all parties involved.
5. The conciliation board collects further evidence, hears witnesses, possibly makes an inspection of the premises, etc. All parties have a duty to cooperate.
6. The hearing is often used for settlement talks. If the parties agree on a settlement, it is recorded in the minutes. The proceedings are then concluded.
7. If there is no settlement, the proceedings end with a notice after the investigations. Within four weeks of service, either party may appeal the decision to the district court. If this is done, the decision of the conciliation board shall cease to have effect.
8. If no appeal is filed, the decision of the conciliation board is final and enforceable.
9. If the proceedings at the conciliation board do not reach a conclusion within drei months, either party may appeal directly to the district court. In such a case, the conciliation board shall discontinue the proceedings.

Are there any costs if I apply to the conciliation board?

• The application to the conciliation board is free of charge.
• If one of the parties is represented, for example by a lawyer, these costs are borne by the party itself. There is also no reimbursement of costs, since the rules on reimbursement of costs of the Außerstreitgesetz (§ 78 AußStrG) do not apply to the proceedings of a conciliation board.
• If a court is seized, the parties shall bear the costs of representation by a lawyer, notary or representative of interests (Sec. 37 (3) item 17).

Which side is the conciliation board on?

The conciliation board does not represent the interests of tenants, landlords or apartment owners. It is a neutral body with a legal mandate. In a first step, an attempt is made to settle the dispute with a compromise. If this is not possible, the conciliation board makes a decision and is authorized to issue a notice (see procedure).