Good advice

Condominium owners are not allowed to make structural changes without further ado if the other condominium owners have not been informed or do not agree to them. Due to the so-called "obligation to pass a resolution", they must, if necessary, bring about an authorization resolution by way of an action to replace the resolution. This is the result of a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH)...

In Berlin, land may not be used as a so-called container park where tenants live in caravans, for example. This has now been decided by the Berlin Administrative Court (VG 13 L 325/22 and others). In one of the cases in question, an operator had set up and rented out containers on a 4,000 square meter plot of land in Treptow-Köpenick without permission. The rental costs...

A meadow orchard in Berlin-Johannisthal/Adlershof must make way for a school building. This was decided by the Berlin Administrative Court (VG 24 L 36/23). In this case, a community school is to be built on an approximately 3.5-hectare plot of land that is currently home to a meadow orchard. According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act, meadow orchards are protected biotopes that cannot be...

Students can lose their entitlement to housing benefit if they take longer than necessary to complete their studies. This has now been decided by the Berlin Administrative Court (VG 21 K 144/22). In this case, a student who applied for housing benefit was in her 14th semester of her second degree and in her 20th semester at university. The application for housing benefit was rejected by the housing benefit authority of the district...

The community of heirs of Hedwig Adlon will not receive any compensation for her hotel expropriation in November 1949 for the time being, according to a ruling by the Berlin Administrative Court (VG 29 K 131/20). Hedwig Adlon was expropriated at the time as a result of the "Law on the Confiscation of Assets of War Criminals and Nazi Activists". According to the Berlin Administrative Court, she was accused, among other things, of...

A buyer purchases an undeveloped plot of land from a municipality. She is contractually obliged to bear the development costs. If this is the case, she only has to pay real estate transfer tax on the purchase price of the undeveloped property, but not on the purchase price including the development costs. This has now been announced by the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) (ruling dated 28....

The state of Berlin has now finally failed in its attempt to protect houses from privatization by exercising its right of first refusal in a so-called milieu protection area in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has issued a ruling to this effect (III ZR 217/20). This shows that the appeal against the non-admission of the appeal was rejected.

Real estate may no longer be paid for with cash, precious metals such as gold and silver or diamonds. In addition, a real estate transaction database based on information from notarial deeds is to be created in the near future. The measures are intended to combat crime and money laundering. In addition, foreign companies that acquire real estate property in Germany are...

A case in which a bunch of grapes played a decisive role has now made it to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) (VI ZR 1283/20). In November 2018, a customer wanted to go shopping in a furniture store in Kiel. She slipped on a bunch of grapes lying on the floor, fell and suffered such serious injuries that she ultimately had to have a hip endoprosthesis implanted...

If the eviction of a mentally ill tenant would lead to suicidal intent, the landlord must continue the tenancy for an indefinite period. This has now been decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH; case reference: VIII ZR 390/21). In this case, an owner wanted to terminate his tenant's lease on the grounds of personal use in order to combine two apartments for himself and his partner and thus prevent him from...