Good advice

Property owners in Neuwied now have to dig much deeper into their pockets. This is because the Koblenz Administrative Court ruled that the city can raise the assessment rate for property tax B from 420% to 610% (5 K 1000/21.KO & 5 K 999/21.KO). Owners of residential properties had filed a complaint against this. However, without success. The judges from Koblenz ruled that the...

A gas heater for an apartment is a one-off requirement that the Jobcenter must pay for. This was decided by the Essen Regional Social Court (LSG) (L 19 AS 1736/21). In this case, a tenant had sued because the gas heater in her apartment had broken down after almost 50 years. However, the rental agreement with the landlord stipulated that the rented property did not include the...

Two common ash trees over 100 years old are living up to their name in the town of Andernach. Because of them, an owner is not allowed to build a detached house on his adjacent property. This was recently decided by the Koblenz Administrative Court (1 K 1047/21.KO). The reason for this is that the common ash trees are listed as a natural monument. The Koblenz Administrative Court states: "The...

A castle in Thuringia may be referred to as a "lost place". This was decided by the Munich Local Court (AZ: 142 C 14251/20). In this case, an American company that owns the castle sued for damages due to copyright infringement. The defendant showed photos of the castle on its website, including the interior, and referred to it as a "lost place".

An estate agent cannot demand payment of the commission if he looks after prospective buyers who purchase the property at a later date at a lower price from another estate agent. This was decided by the Darmstadt Regional Court (LG Darmstadt; 29 O 326/19). In the case at hand, an owner had entrusted a real estate agent with the sale of his property by contract until January 31, 2019. In this...

An heir does not necessarily have to move into the family home within six months in order to benefit from an inheritance tax exemption. This has now been decided by the Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof, BFH) (II R 6/21). In this case, the sole heiress of a two-family home with two apartments and land moved into one of the two apartments not six months later, but around one and a half years later....

If landlords modernize a rented apartment, they must make the costs transparent. However, a breakdown of the individual items is not required, as the BGH recently ruled (VIII ZR 337/21, VIII ZR 339/21 and VIII ZR 361/21). In the cases in question, modernization measures had been implemented by landlords in Bremen and had resulted in tenants having to pay...

In Berlin, tenants benefit from a ten-year protection against dismissal whenever a rented apartment is to be converted into a condominium. In a recent ruling (VIII ZR 356/20), the Federal Court of Justice clarified that "the period of non-termination after the formation and sale of condominiums within the meaning of Section 577a (1) BGB is limited to ten years for the entire area of...

An architect commissioned to carry out the basic assessment and design planning is not obliged to protect his client from possible tax damages. This was recently decided by the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main (OLG, Ref. 29 U 185/20). In this case, clients wanted to renovate their attic apartment and commissioned an architect to provide services. They paid the architect...

Hartz V recipients are not allowed to live permanently in housing that is too expensive - despite a special regulation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was recently decided by the North Rhine-Westphalia Regional Social Court (LSG). The reason for this is that the so-called "SGB appropriateness test" can be suspended for a maximum of six months. After that, Section 22, Book 2 of the SGB applies again. This states the following:...