Landlord claims excess electricity usage, worried she'll deduct ~€1000 from my deposit. What are my options?
I found a fully furnished studio in Berlin on HousingAnywhere last September. The landlord then contacted me off the platform and we signed a one-year lease. The apartment is heated by gas, so electricity only covers lights, standard appliances (fridge, microwave), and hot water in the bathroom.
Overall, everything has been great — she's been responsive and chill, and I haven't had much to bother her about. But she recently received the yearly electricity bill from Vattenfall and claims the meter reading was far higher than normal usage, leaving her to pay close to €1,000 extra over what she pays normally.
Here's what I've done so far:
- Let her inspect the apartment to see if she could figure out what's going on
- Recorded the meter readings every 15 days for the past two months — my usage has been in the normal range. Nothing about my usage patterns has changed from the period the bill - I havent added any new appliances.
I told her I'm not willing to cover the extra charges without clear evidence that my usage caused them. I also said that if a clear pattern of excess usage emerges over the rest of my lease and it's down to me, I'll cover it. Since neither of us can explain it, I offered to pay 30% of the excess as a courtesy if it's still unclear at the end of the lease.
Now I'm worried she'll simply deduct the charges from my deposit at the end of the lease. What are my options? I don't want to fork over €1000 without clear evidence of what caused the usage.
EDIT: The contract I signed includes all charges including internet, gas, water and electrcity.