BGH ruling strengthens the rights of real estate buyers

In this case, the buyer of several commercial units in a building complex that were sold at a price of around EUR 1.5 million felt that she had been fraudulently deceived when she was only informed shortly before signing the purchase agreement that she would incur considerable renovation costs. The minutes of a relevant owners’ meeting were only uploaded online three days before the purchase contract was notarized, on a Friday, the last working day before the final signing of the contract.

The buyer sued, but was unsuccessful before the Regional Court of Hildesheim and the Higher Regional Court of Celle. However, the civil judges at the BGH in Karlsruhe did not confirm the previous rulings and referred the case back. According to the BGH, the seller should have provided information about the considerable refurbishment costs of EUR 50 million without being asked and should not have merely provided this information via a file upload three days before signing the purchase agreement. According to the BGH, the cost of the upcoming renovation work was “undoubtedly of considerable importance” for the purchase decision.