Good advice

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:...

If an heir cannot use the family home themselves for health reasons, they do not lose the inheritance tax exemption for it. This was decided by the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH, judgment of December 1, 2021 - II R 18/20). In this case, a claimant had lived in the single-family home inherited from her father for a while. However, due to health problems, she had been living there...

Italy may oblige real estate agents such as Airbnb to withhold 21% tax on the rent and pay it to the tax authorities. The freedom to provide services does not preclude either the obligation to collect and transmit information or the obligation to withhold taxes. This is the opinion of Advocate General Maciej Szpunar of the European Court of Justice (ECJ)...