The agreement of reservation fees in the general terms and conditions of real estate agents is invalid. This was recently decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). The decision also applies to cases in which the reservation fee is not included in the original brokerage contract but was agreed separately at a later date. Customers can therefore claim the reservation fee paid...
A creditor can extinguish a landowner's right of residence if the landowner is insolvent. This was recently decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH, V ZB 64/21). In the case in question, a property owner of a developed plot of land contributed it to a civil law partnership (GbR). The GbR was in turn entered in the land register and an entry of the...
The taxpayers' association and the property owners' association Haus und Grund want to take legal action against property tax in five federal states. This is according to various media reports. One of the reasons for this is a study commissioned by the two associations. In this study, it becomes clear that the constitutional lawyer Gregor Kirchhoff considers the tax system applied in numerous...
A tenant may not rent an apartment in order to sublet it to a third party. This also applies if the letting is only for a short period of time. This was recently decided by the Local Court of Frankfurt am Main (AZ: 940 OWi 862 Js 45753/22). In this case, the defendant rented a three-room apartment in Frankfurt am Main and sublet it. He offered the three-room apartment to...
Removal companies that drop unauthorized advertising material in letterboxes or in front of houses could be in for a price. The Munich Local Court has now threatened a removal company with a fine of up to EUR 250,000 or, alternatively, imprisonment for up to six months (case reference: 142 C 12408/21). In the case in question, all the letterboxes of a...
For a compulsory portion penalty clause in a so-called Berlin will to be valid, third parties must actually inherit something. If this is not the case, they do not face any penalties. This has now been decided by the Higher Regional Court (OLG) of Frankfurt am Main (decision of 21.2.2023, 21 W 104/22). In this case, the spouses appointed each other as sole heirs. The man had inherited from his previous marriage...
The Hamburg-based agency for financial and corporate communications Kirchhoff Consult AG recently published the "Real Estate Stock Sentiment Indicator 2023". The sentiment indicator shows that analysts' basic sentiment remains at a low level of 3.8 points (H1 2023). Previously (H2 2022), analysts' basic sentiment was still at 4.5 points, with the possible scale...
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...
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