Berlin Rent Scan: Automatic monitoring of property adverts for breaches of the rent cap

Ber­lin auto­ma­ti­cal­ly checks pro­per­ty adverts for brea­ches of the rent con­trol sche­me. Almost half of the adverts che­cked were suspec­ted of brea­ching the scheme.

Federal Court of Justice: No entitlement to commission for property managers who also act as estate agents

Fede­ral Court of Jus­ti­ce ruling: Pro­per­ty mana­gers who also act as estate agents are not entit­led to com­mis­si­on – not even from the landlord.

Federal Court of Justice: Flat owners are entitled to air conditioning on their balconies

Fede­ral Court of Jus­ti­ce: Flat owners are, in prin­ci­ple, entit­led to per­mis­si­on to install an air-con­di­tio­ning unit on their balcony.

Federal Court of Justice: Semi-detached houses are not covered by the principle of equal division of estate agent’s commission

The Fede­ral Court of Jus­ti­ce (BGH) cla­ri­fies: a two-fami­ly house is not a sin­gle-fami­ly house. The prin­ci­ple of half-sha­ring the estate agent’s com­mis­si­on appli­es only under cer­tain conditions.

Allocation of CO₂ costs: Landlords to bear a greater share of the burden in future

The new Buil­ding Moder­ni­sa­ti­on Act extends the scope of the CO2 Cost Act: in future, land­lords will bear more cos­ts that can­not be pas­sed on to tenants.

Federal Court of Justice: Who pays the estate agent’s commission on a two-family house?

The Fede­ral Court of Jus­ti­ce (BGH) has ruled that anyo­ne who fails to sta­te that they are purcha­sing a pro­per­ty for their own use in good time loses their entit­le­ment to half the estate agent’s commission.

Hedges, branches and trees on the property boundary: what neighbourly law actually permits

Hedges, over­han­ging bran­ches, sha­de from trees: what neigh­bour law per­mits and what recent court rulings have to say on the matter.

Rent increases in residential tenancies: What landlords need to bear in mind

Rent increa­ses: The time limits, caps and for­mal requi­re­ments land­lords need to be awa­re of in order to pro­ceed effectively.

Domestic violence: Draft bill makes it easier to terminate a joint tenancy agreement

In future, vic­tims of dome­stic vio­lence should be able to ter­mi­na­te a joint ten­an­cy agree­ment wit­hout the perpetrator’s consent.