If spouses separate, one partner does not necessarily have to move out in order for a separation to actually be assumed. Rather, an appropriate degree of physical separation within the shared home is sufficient. This includes living and sleeping separately and the absence of significant personal relationships. This was decided by the Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court (AZ: 1 UF...
If a living room and a basement room are rented separately with two contracts, the rent cap does not apply to the basement room. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH; case reference: VIII ZR 94/21). In the case in question, tenants had paid an apartment for an initial basic rent of 850 euros. They also concluded a basement usage agreement with their landlord for 79 euros per month. The rent for the...
A 70-year-old owner will no longer have to walk the more than 100 steps to his apartment. Instead, he can now have an external elevator installed on his apartment building - even though it is a listed building and even received the City of Munich's façade award for the front building in 1983. This was recently decided by the Federal Court of Justice (AZ: V ZR 244/22 and V ZR 33/23). In the...
Construction companies cannot rely on material price increases to deviate from the agreed fixed price of a construction project. This was decided by the Palatinate Higher Regional Court (AZ: 5 U 188/22). In this case, a married couple took legal action against a construction company that did not want to carry out the agreed construction of a solid construction house at a fixed price of around 300,000 euros, but instead wanted to...
New regulations in the Condominium Act offer more flexibility in the allocation of costs for maintenance measures. According to the judgments V ZR 81/23 and V ZR 87/23 of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), condominium associations can now pass resolutions that provide for a specific cost allocation at the expense of individual owners for the maintenance of the common property. This makes it possible to...
The Berlin I Regional Court has ordered the confiscation of a property and other assets (case reference: 502 KLs 27/21). The basis for this was the suspicion of money laundering against the owner of the property, among others. The Berlin public prosecutor's office had suspected the accused of having invested illegally acquired funds in real estate in order to conceal their origin. Despite...
Resolutions passed during the coronavirus pandemic at a so-called representatives' meeting remain valid. This was recently decided by the Federal Court of Justice (AZ: V ZR 80/23). The decision is based on the fact that the resolutions are not invalid solely because some of the owners were only represented by proxies. In the present case, one...
An owner cannot necessarily be held liable for damage caused by a storm. This was decided by the Munich District Court (113 C 18489/22). In this case, a tree fell onto a parked car opposite a parking garage during a storm, the operator of which had a duty of care. The car suffered a total loss. The owner of the car...
Under certain circumstances, a local authority can demand the retransfer of a property assigned to an association. This so-called reversion can occur if the association does not fulfill its contractual obligations. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (V ZR 191/22). In this case, the local authority had allowed an association to build on a plot of land within four years by means of a leasehold...
If a house is sold with a covered terrace and rainwater penetrates through the terrace roof, this constitutes a material defect. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) (AZ: V ZR 43/23). The BGH is of the opinion that this is not just a symptom, but that the leakage of the patio roof itself constitutes the defect. The seller acts fraudulently if he does not inform the buyer about the...
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