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A residential area in Huttwil (BE) receives utility bills retroactively for the last five years.
Life has become expensive. And it will be even more expensive for tenants: After the reference interest rate has been raised to 1.75 percent, most landlords are likely to increase rents. In such a situation, additional high utility bills can quickly throw tenants off track.
Almost all tenants are affected
This is what is currently happening in Huttwil (BE): Pensioner Léon Dossé lives with his partner in a 3.5-room apartment on Sonneggstrasse. The property is managed by the company Crowdhouse. Last week, this sent the tenant utility bills totaling 15,000 francs. “I just had to tell my wife that. I told her: ‘They’re crazy again!'” Léon Dossé has lived in the development since 2017.
He is not the only tenant who receives such high utility bills from Crowdhouse. 35 parties live in the development. The property manager is now taking a good twenty of them to the arbitration board.
Coordinated resistance
Christoph Buchmann is the head of the resistance. He has collected all utility bills from the affected tenants and is coordinating the proceedings before the arbitration authority. «I’m doing this because it’s a mess how Crowdhouse treats us tenants. It simply can’t be the case that they charge us so much in additional costs.”
I don’t know how I’m going to pay for this
Confronted with the allegations, Crowdhouse “Kassen Crash” writes: “Crowdhouse has been consistently addressing this well-known problem for months. The corresponding failure led to crucial internal process optimizations.” And further: “The late delivery of utility bills does not meet our quality expectations.”
Twelve full baths per day
The Smajovic family also received mail: Crowdhouse has billed electricity, water and caretaker costs amounting to almost 25,000 francs for the last three years. Deducting the payments on account that have already been made, Smajovic is supposed to pay almost 18,000 francs. “I don’t know how I’m going to pay for it,” explains the father of the family.
“This family would have to run a full bath twelve times a day,” calculates Sabina Meier. She is the managing director of the Bern Tenants Association and has looked at the billing for “Kassenrutsch”. “I’ve seen a lot of high utility bills. But I’ve never encountered anything like this before.”
Clarification before the arbitration board
Regarding the 18,000 francs in additional costs that the Smajovic family will be charged, Crowdhouse writes: They would actively contact the relevant party and carry out further investigations in order to be able to determine to what extent this exorbitant consumption can be explained.
Christoph Buchmann and the other tenants distrust Crowdhouse’s words. They have joined forces and are taking the property manager to the arbitration authority.