Consumer situation in the market

• Author: Pinkel, Tobias
• Pages: 61-63

Consum er mar ket stud y on the fun ctio ning of the r eal estate servi ces for consum ers in the EU – Coun try Fiche Germ any

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11. Consum er situation in th e mar ket

11.1 Consum er right s

Ta ble 26: Co nsu me r r igh ts

Ar e t he re specif ic con sum er ri ght s in

th e con text of re al est ate

tr an sact ion s an d r eside ntia l

ten ancie s in yo ur cou ntr y?

I n pa rticular : a re r esid ent ial te na nts

tre at ed as consum e r s?

Wit h r espect to buy ers

In general, no special consu mer con tra ct law applies. The inv olvem ent of a

publi c not ary incl udin g the dut y t o give legal adv ice is su pposed to off er t he

main pr otect ion. Only in r are si tuat ions such as selling of flat s in “door step”

sit uations, consum er law w ould be ap plicabl e.

If a real esta te age nt is inv olved, th e con sum er bu yer and t he r eal esta te

agent consum er law app ly, in par ticu lar th e con trol of standard t erm s

accor ding to section s 30 5 et seq. Germ an Civ il Code ( BGB). Accor ding to

th ese p rov ision s, cl auses int erpret ed as un fair or sur pri sing clauses by th e

cou rt are forbidd en.

Conc erni ng th e est ablish men t of the n otar ial deed, which is n ecessar y f or th e

valid ity of th e contr act of sales an d for t he co nvey ancin g deed, sect ion 17 l it.

2a Nota risat ion Act ( Beur kG) cont ains a special pr ovision if t he bu yer is a

con sum er. The nota ry is r equi red to pr ovide the draft of th e deed ah ead of

ti me so th at th e con sumer has t im e to examine it. Regular ly, t he d raft must

be available 14 d ays befor e not arisa tion. However , if it is in the obj ecti ve

intere st o f al l pa rti es in volv ed, t his period can b e sho rte r. However, th e

par ties cannot wai ve t his per iod by m ut ual agr eement .7 0

Wit h r espect to selle rs

In general, no special consu mer con tra ct law applies.

Conc erni ng rea l est ate a gent s an d not arial deeds t he same app lies as for the

buyer.

Wit h r espect to ten ants

In respect of th e ren t o f resid enti al dwel lings, sections 549 et seq., th e

German Civil Code ( BGB) int roduce an elevat ed l evel of tena nt prot ect ion. In

th is con tex t, the tenant is t ypically a con sumer. How ever , th is is not legally

required.

70 Cf . BGH judg emen t of 07 Feb ru ar y 2013 , BGHZ 1 96, 166-1 79 .