Compensation for building encumbrance - right of way

Hello forum,

the following situation:
we are being transferred a building plot by my parents-in-law (acquired in 2000).
Neither the land register nor the encumbrance register show any burdens,
and the purchase contract from 2000 also states the property as free of encumbrances.
Now, during the construction planning, we found out that according to the route plans of the utility providers, the power and telephone lines run about 0.5m from the street/sidewalk across our property.
This doesn't really bother us, but I would be interested if anyone has experience whether one can perhaps negotiate a small compensation for the registration of the right of way for the lines.

Regards Ben

no

The BGH rejects the request of the property owners to remove the cable from their property.
The property owners cannot demand the removal of the lines. Such a claim is excluded because the plaintiffs

[*]as electricity connection customers,
[*]are the property owners,
[*]were obliged under § 8 para. 1 sentence 1 and 2 AVBEltV,
[*]to allow the laying of the lines free of charge.

BGH, judgment of 28.4.2010, VIII ZR 223/09

Hi,

regarding something like this

according to the route plans of the utility providers, the power and telephone lines run about 0.5m from the street / sidewalk across our property.

there was already a longer thread here. The legal situation is somewhat complex but the basic tenor is probably: If those are the lines your property depends on, you have to tolerate it. If the lines have nothing to do with you, they have no business being there and must be removed. There are legal requirements under which utility providers can lay lines on your property, but then they must have them registered. If they missed that, that's their problem, away with the lines. However, you will need persistence and major legal firepower to enforce this. Of course, you are not allowed to simply cut the lines. (That would also not be a good idea with the power line!)

Best regards,

Andreas

Thank you very much for your answers,

in principle, the lines don’t bother us; we are even rather glad that they are there and not on the other side of the street. I just thought that the utility providers might possibly be persuaded to make an entry in the [Baulastenverzeichnis] and maybe contribute to the development costs
(even though that is not necessary – but having 1 cent and not having 1 cent does make 2 cents)

I could also plant a hedge over them or pour a wall on top of them (a villain who thinks evil about this ....)

best regards

Ben

Although this doesn't really bother us, I would be interested to know if anyone has experience with whether one might be able to negotiate a small compensation for the registration of the right of way.

Hello Ben,

in principle, this is possible, but first it must be clarified how the property and the line "came together."

It could be that no attention was paid during the construction of the line, it could be that the legal securing was not carried out properly, but it could also be that an error occurred during a later subdivision of the property – or a combination of these possibilities. Or also: everything is legally and technically okay.

It would be a complete coincidence if the judgment linked/named above helps you; your individual case is probably different.

To get an idea, one must first do some root cause analysis, i.e., find out when the line was built, what planning was behind it, and what the property and legal situation was like at that time.

Only when you have this can you even roughly say whether your claim has a chance of success or not.
The first step would therefore be to write to the utility company and obtain the information. Nowadays, this is possibly even free of charge through planning offices/architects, etc.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe