Recoverable expenses correspond to the costs incurred by the owner for a rented property that the landlord can require reimbursement from the tenant.
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What are the recoverable fees from the tenant?
Recoverable expenses are costs initially borne by the owner, but can be reimbursed by the tenant. Thus, rental fees intended to facilitate the tenant’s daily life are recoverable by the owner (elevator, collective heating, cold water, hot water, etc.).
This also applies to routine maintenance costs and repairs of equipment that benefit the tenant (maintenance of green spaces, repairs of collective heating, elevator maintenance…) as well as taxes and fees due in exchange for services rendered (waste collection tax, street sweeping tax, sanitation fees, etc.).
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Furthermore, if an employee or a company is responsible for the maintenance and cleaning of common areas, the expenses corresponding to their remuneration are fully recoverable from the tenant. If it is the caretaker or concierge who performs the maintenance work and handles garbage removal, the tenant must pay 75% of this amount. If the caretaker only manages one of these two tasks, the amount allocated to the tenant is limited to 40% of the expenses.
For common areas and shared facilities, the following expenses are recoverable:
— maintenance and repairs related to elevators, — cold water, hot water, collective heating, water taxes and fees, — electricity, fuel, energy, — cleaning and maintenance of pumps, gauges, valves, taps, heating points and pipes, water softeners, solar collectors,… — flue cleaning for boilers and chimneys, combustion control, — repairs for leaks and seals, — maintenance of timers, automatic openings, codes, intercoms, — carpets, indoor spaces, — dry columns, empty waste, — outdoor spaces, parking lots, green areas, playgrounds, ponds, — stormwater drainage pipes, gutters, — gardening equipment, playground equipment, sandboxes, — pits for duvets, garbage containers; — provision of small equipment related to maintenance: brooms, cloths, lamps, bulbs, oil, salt, gasoline, plastic bags, paper, disinfection and sanitation products…
What are non-recoverable charges?
If the incurred costs relate to the very structure of a building, they are not recoverable by the owner. These generally one-time and non-recoverable costs must be taken into account by the owner when acquiring an apartment as they will have a direct impact on the profitability of their investment.
Since the owner is responsible for providing decent housing to their tenant, they must cover all expenses related to significant work necessary on the co-ownership or its administration (roof renovation, pest control, facade restoration, cost of the co-ownership trustee…). It should be noted that the removal of bulky items cannot be assimilated to waste that falls under cleanliness maintenance or household waste, which are covered by the tenant.
Furthermore, in the event of costs resulting from acts of vandalism inside the building, the owner cannot recover from their tenant the cleaning or repair work. As for elevator fees for a ground-floor apartment, they cannot be borne by the tenant, even if the owner pays, unless the tenant uses the elevator to access the basement parking or cellar.
Who pays the recoverable fees? The owner or the tenant?
The amount of co-ownership fees can vary from year to year: the amount of recoverable fees cannot be known in advance. The landlord and the lessor can therefore request a monthly provision from their tenant for the fees, payable at the same time as the rent. The amount of this provision must be clearly indicated on the rent notice and on the receipt that the owner gives to their tenant each month.
To determine the amount of the allowance that will be paid by the tenant, the owner can rely on the amount of fees paid during the previous year. Note that the amount paid over the year can be adjusted if it does not correspond to the expenses actually incurred by the owner. One month before the adjustment, the landlord must send the tenant the details of the expenses they have paid for the year and provide the tenant with the supporting documents related to these expenses within six months.
It should be noted that if payment by provision is primarily used, it is possible to opt for payment on a flat rate basis in the context of a furnished rental. With this method, the tenant pays a fixed amount each month as defined in the rental agreement. The owner will not be able to make an adjustment if the annual flat rate amount ultimately differs from the actual expenses.
Regularization of charges, how does it work?
If the tenant pays monthly provisions on the fees to the owner, the owner must proceed, once a year, to regularize the fees. If the tenant has paid more than the actual fees, the owner must refund the overpayment. Otherwise, the owner must request an additional payment from the tenant. When the owner proceeds with the regularization, they must send their tenant an individual statement detailing each type of fee.
If the housing is located in a co-ownership, the owner must specify the distribution of charges between owners and tenants. In the month following the sending of this statement, the owner must make all documents justifying the recoverable expenses available to the tenant. The lessor can then claim payment of the adjustment. Depending on the amount of the adjustment, the provisions can then be adjusted upwards or downwards.
It should be noted that the tenant has the option to contest the amounts claimed if they are not justified by the owner. However, in all cases, they must pay in advance the amounts requested by the owner. Otherwise, the owner may request the termination of the lease for non-payment of fees.
How to regularize rental fees?
The adjustment of rental fees can be done annually, but not necessarily on the anniversary date of the lease. The regularization is usually carried out by the landlord at the time of receiving the co-ownership account settlement. To regularize the rental fees, the owner must compare the actual expenses with the provisions on expenses paid by the tenant. Certain documents are required to regularize the rental fees.
This is particularly the case for the statement of co-ownership expenses, the statement of charge distribution (indicating the share of housing in the co-ownership) and the property tax, which allows knowing the amount of the household waste collection tax (TEOM).
Then, as mentioned above, the landlord must request the additional payment from the tenant if they have paid less than the actual fees, or refund the overpayment if the actual fees are lower than the provisions. If the owner forgets to regularize the charges during the year, they can still request it within 3 years. If the tenant leaves the property at the end of the lease, the owner can withhold the rental fees of 20% of the amount of the security deposit in order to apply the final settlement.
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