Legal Assistance with Rent and Taxes

Questioner

I rent a room and the situation is as follows: My housemate has been assessed for municipal taxes for an amount of 727 euros. In the building, 3 rooms are rented, of which 1 is empty. I rent a room and my housemate rents a room (both have separate rental contracts.) My housemate went to the landlord to inquire and did not intend to pay himself. The landlord said that he had to split the bill with me. We disagreed and later I went to the landlord to get the story. To which the landlord replied that the levy was not stated in the lease and that we had to pay it. I replied that to my knowledge the landlord had to pay the bill and that my housemate could object and that the landlord would then receive the bill. It would then be up to the landlord to pass it on to us and it would be the landlord's responsibility to state this in the contract, and because there was nothing about this in the lease (his own words) there was no obligation for us to pay. Furthermore, as an additional reason the price for other supplies and services, furniture and household appliances, was too high and I indicated that I wanted a reduction for this. My question is: Can a landlord (after the tenant has objected to the municipality) pass on the levies, if there is nothing about it in the rental agreement, in other words, levies are not listed under ''other deliveries and/or services''? Am I right in stating that I have no payment obligation to the landlord, because there is nothing in the rental agreement?

Lawyer

Good afternoon, The OZB is paid by the owner/landlord. He may never pass these costs on to his tenants. He may pass on the sewerage tax, waste disposal tax and pollution tax to his tenants. The landlord is obliged as owner to pay this tax. This must be done outside the service costs and the rental agreement must include which costs the landlord passes on to his tenants. If one of the residents of a student house, i.e. one of the tenants, has received a tax assessment, he can object to it with the municipality.