If tenants receive a statement of operating costs, they have a right to inspect it. Pursuant to Section 259 (1) of the German Civil Code, the tenant is entitled to inspect the receipts. The landlord is obliged to submit invoices and payment receipts to the tenant for inspection. In the case at hand (AZ VIII ZR 118/19), tenants of a rented apartment had been requested to make an additional operating cost payment of 1,262 euros. The landlady presented the invoices to them, but not the payment receipts.
Since the tenants refused to pay the amount due, the landlady filed a lawsuit. The Berlin-Neukölln Local Court allowed the action for payment in principle. The defendants (tenants) were successful in their appeal. The Berlin Regional Court (LG) dismissed the landlady's action, and the plaintiff's appeal to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) was also unsuccessful. This is because the landlord's duty to account also includes the submission of payment receipts.
If the tenants wish to inspect the invoices and receipts, they do not have to give any particular reason for doing so. A general interest in inspection is sufficient. The tenant has the right to check the invoice amounts requested. As long as these are not available, the tenants have a temporary right to refuse performance in accordance with § 242 BGB. This applies until the landlord guarantees the requested inspection of the receipts in accordance with Section 259 (1) of the German Civil Code.
Source: BGH
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