Arbitration board

Who can contact the arbitration board?

You can contact the Innsbruck arbitration board if you are in a tenancy agreement. Examples

• You are a landlord and want to settle a dispute with a tenant.
• You are a tenant and want to settle a dispute with your landlord.

It is irrelevant whether there is a written or only a verbal tenancy agreement. As soon as you have a tenancy agreement, there is always a contract.

In addition, you can turn to the conciliation board if you want to re-determine the usable values (condominium shares).

What issues can I contact the Innsbruck conciliation body about?

Basically, the Innsbruck conciliation office deals with issues relating to tenants' and landlords' rights. There are two departments with different areas of responsibility.

The Innsbruck conciliation office is not a general advisory office - this means that you always have to formulate an application if you want to contact the conciliation office.

The Service Unit Arbitration board - Specialist area: Tenancy law, non-profit housing law .. you can deal with, among other things, if you:

• want to be recognized as the main tenant.
• You, as a landlord, want to carry out maintenance and improvement works.
• if you want the landlord to renovate the rented apartment after it has become uninhabitable.
• if you, as the landlord, want to carry out maintenance and improvement works or changes in the apartment.
• if you want to move out as a tenant and be reimbursed for the costs of work on the apartment, or if you as a landlord do not want to reimburse these costs.
• if you want to exchange the apartment.
• if you want to know whether the rent is permissible or reasonable.
• if you want to break down a flat rent.
• if you want to check the share of the apartment in the total costs of the house (operating cost key).
• if the rent is increased for a limited period of time due to extensive maintenance work on the house and these costs are not covered by the rent reserve and the current rent.
• if they want to reclaim prohibited services and charges.

Detailed areas of responsibility

• according to § 37 par. 1 of the Tenancy Act (MRG) - except for deposits
• pursuant to Section 22 (1) of the Non-Profit Housing Act (Wohnungsgemeinnützigkeitsgesetz - WGG)

You can refer to the Service Unit Arbitration board - Specialist area: Deposit, utility value, heating cost billing if, among other things, you:

• want to determine the amount of the deposit that can be reclaimed, provided your tenancy is subject to the Tenancy Act.
• want to enforce the billing of costs according to actual consumption (and, if applicable, the necessary installation of devices to measure actual consumption; e.g. installation of meters).
• Want to separate heating and hot water costs.
• want to check the accuracy of the bill.
• want to redetermine the utility values (condominium shares) (parification).
• if utility values were calculated by a private appraisal and this appraisal violates the principles of utility value calculation(§9 Para. 2 Z1 WEG).

Detailed areas of responsibility

• in accordance with § 37 Para. 1 of the Tenancy Act - determination of the amount of the recoverable deposit in conjunction with § 16b MRG
• in accordance with § 25 Para.1 Procedure in accordance with the Heating Costs Billing Act (HeizKG)
• in accordance with § 9 Para. 2 of the Condominium Act (WEG) - change in utility values

How does the procedure before the Innsbruck conciliation body work?

1. You submit a written application to the Innsbruck conciliation board.
   1. The application is free of charge and does not have to be in any particular form.
   2. However, there are some minimum requirements. The following information must be provided:
      1. Name and Adresse of the applicant
      2. Name and Adresse of the respondent
      3. residential property concerned
      4. Subject of the application, for example "Refund of the deposit".
   3. If the Innsbruck conciliation office is responsible for your request, the clerks will explain the procedure to you and tell you which other documents are required for the application.
2. The Innsbruck conciliation office is obliged to investigate the facts of the case (official procedure).
3. The Innsbruck conciliation office will send the application to the defendant. The procedure then begins.
4. If necessary, the Innsbruck conciliation board will schedule an oral hearing with all parties involved.
5. The Innsbruck conciliation board collects further evidence, hears witnesses, possibly carries out an on-site inspection, etc. All parties have a duty to cooperate.
6. The hearing is often used to conduct settlement talks. If the parties agree on a settlement, this is recorded in the minutes. The proceedings are then concluded.
7. If there is no settlement, the proceedings end with a decision after the investigations. Either party can appeal against the decision to the district court within four weeks of service. If this is done, the decision of the Innsbruck conciliation board becomes invalid.
8. If no appeal is made to the district court, the decision of the Innsbruck conciliation board is legally binding and enforceable.
9. If the proceedings at the Innsbruck conciliation board are not concluded within drei months, either party may appeal directly to the district court. In such a case, the conciliation board shall discontinue the proceedings.

Are there any costs if I contact the Innsbruck conciliation body?

• The application to the Innsbruck Conciliation Board is free of charge.
• If one of the parties is represented, for example by a lawyer, these costs are borne by the party itself. There is also no reimbursement of costs, as the cost reimbursement regulation of the Non-Contentious Proceedings Act (§ 78 AußStrG) does not apply to the proceedings of an arbitration board.
• If a court is called upon, the parties shall bear the costs of representation by a lawyer, notary or representative (§ 37 Para. 3 No. 17).

Which side is the Innsbruck conciliation body on?

The Innsbruck Arbitration Board is not a representative of the interests of tenants, landlords or apartment owners. It is a neutral body with a legal mandate. The first step is to try to settle the dispute with a settlement. If this is not possible, the Innsbruck conciliation board makes a decision and is authorized to issue a decision (see procedure).