Deutsche Invest Immobilien owns four residential buildings with 192 residential units in Neu-Isenburg. Tenants of the insolvent owner are now complaining about exorbitant utility bills.
Neu-Isenburg – Externally, Anton P. (name changed by editorial team) seemed to remain calm. After he opened the letter from his landlord, Deutsche Invest Immobilien (dii), in November 2023 and saw the demand for additional additional costs, Anton P. felt how upset he was: He was supposed to pay around 3,142 euros in 2022. But it did not stop. At the same time, the dii demanded a drastically more expensive advance payment of additional costs of 349 euros per month from December 1, 2023. That is almost double compared to the previous year.
“It was clear to me: That couldn’t be the case for a two-room apartment with 60 square meters,” says the tenant at Buchenbusch 18. At first he refused to pay. But then reminders and threats of enforcement immediately came. Under this pressure, Anton P. transferred the money.
“The landlord is acting brutally”
Now he is getting advice from the Frankfurt Tenant Protection Association. The experts, who are also responsible for Neu-Isenburg, have discovered that the cost statements for numerous tenants in the building are incorrect. For example, the now insolvent Wiesbaden housing company would have demanded around five times the usual guideline value for caretaker costs, and four times the average for garden maintenance. “The landlord is acting brutally and has threatened some tenants with termination,” says Rolf Janßen, managing director of the Frankfurt Tenant Protection Association. The dii also denied the tenant protection association access to the documents and receipts that were the basis for the cost accounting.
Not only Anton P. is affected, but also other residents in the high-rise building with 60 residential units and in the neighboring building at Buchenbusch 20a, which also belongs to dii. Some tenants are now prepared to take legal action against the claims.
Insolvent Deutsche Invest Immobilien puts residents off
Different property, same owner: Doris Schmidt at Friedhofstrasse 23 rolls her eyes when she talks about the conditions in her house. “We had to pay an additional 600 euros each for 2021 and 2022 – much more than before. It turned out that the billing was incorrect.” Since last October, there has been no property management company that has allegedly terminated the contract because it was no longer being paid by the owner. Since then, the stairwell has remained uncleaned and the water drain in the laundry room is blocked. In the attic, cables from the fuse box were torn off. “We never get a response when we contact the relevant staff. “No one responds to registered mail or letters from lawyers,” reports Schmidt. She has lived here for 14 years. But now she just wants to get out.
At the same time, she and Anton P. were afraid that the advance payments and rental deposits would be at risk because of the company's bankruptcy filing. Deutsche Invest Immobilien responds to an inquiry: “We understand the concerns of our tenants and continually strive to manage operating costs transparently and fairly.” The reason for the sudden increase in additional costs is significantly increased heating costs, especially for oil, as a result of global political developments. Insurance costs have also “increased significantly”. At the same time, the company reduced its costs by 20 percent because a “more efficient” janitorial service was commissioned. This should have a lower impact on operating costs for the next year. Regarding the lack of accessibility, the company writes: “If there have been problems in reaching the responsible employees in the past, we apologize for this and assure you that we will look into this immediately.” And: “The deposits and advance payments for additional costs are in accordance with the statutory provisions Regulations separate from the landlord’s assets are safely invested in the name of the rental agreement partner and are therefore safe from insolvency.”
Those affected are considering legal action
The stock corporation, which operates throughout Germany, owns a total of four residential buildings with 192 residential units in Neu-Isenburg. Shortly before Easter, the company, which manages real estate worth around four billion euros, filed for bankruptcy at the Wiesbaden district court. The proceedings are now being processed at the insolvency court in Frankfurt.
Since the Wiesbaden company acquired the residential high-rise buildings on Buchenbusch, Anton P. has observed serious changes. “Many tenants moved out immediately after the first cost increase. Now many apartments are empty. Construction noise annoys me in my home office.” He feels uneasy about using the elevator because it jerks alarmingly. “I've lived in the house since 2001 and can't afford to move out,” he says. Referring to the dii, he says: “But I don’t talk to people like that.” As soon as he receives the next bill, he wants to defend himself with the help of a lawyer.