Slapped on the ear during the property purchase

I would be interested to know if you have tried to contact the seller

Of course, as soon as we found out from the building authority, we immediately contacted the seller and the broker. But there is little understanding that they cheated us.

Good evening,

We didn't question much because the notary himself said that the easement was secured since it would be nonsense to buy the property if you couldn't get up there. So everything was clear to us as laymen.

An easement says little to nothing about the potential buildability of a property.

You assumed that with rudimentary knowledge you would draw the right conclusions. Now the cat is out of the bag; I really hope that in the future you will ask until you are sure you can make the right decision for yourself!

Now that we have asked the seller and notary, the statement came that it was assumed that no building encumbrances would be necessary here.

Unfortunately, you only asked now... I have been wondering all along why you did not seek a discussion with the building authority _before the purchase_. Is the property price really EUR 15,000?

Not knowing is not a bad thing – but there are always people who are familiar with the respective issue; not questioning always costs a lot. The proof of one as well as the other probably tends towards zero.

So if an architect (seller) and a notary don’t know, then who does?

In the best case, the two also cannot walk on water.

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Rhenish regards

(...) There is not much insight that they fooled us.

Easy, not so fast...

What exactly is the wording of the mentioned easement by the city for the benefit of the public?

Yes – and it would have been the notary’s duty to explain that in German for laypeople. I bet 1€ that it didn’t happen or only happened in a completely inadequate way. If it did, the OP was a gambler and now has a small task ahead.

At least this will be (time-)consuming. Not exactly beneficial as a start to a harmonious neighborhood.

Regards
Dirk Grafe

I only had contact with a notary twice (contract), but both times critical matters were explained by the notary without being asked and without prompting, in terms laypeople could understand. This would have been such a case where the notary should have explained to the buyer (thread starter) exactly what they were getting themselves into. Because that is exactly what the notary is there for; otherwise, one could save oneself the cost of such an expensive lawyer :)

So if an architect (seller) and a notary don’t know, then who does?

A surveyor with public-law authorization (publicly appointed surveyor) and/or a public surveying office. ;)

But it is normal that we as surveyors only find out about such things when the damage is already done. In my 8 years of experience, I have never yet encountered a notary who called us to inquire about the sensibility of a purchase contract regarding subdivision/buildability – but I have already had several clients with notarized purchase contracts in my office whose projects I had to dismiss after one minute of review with a clear "no" or due to significant (unexpected by the clients) additional requirements/costs/efforts.

In the best case, the two can’t even walk on water.

They should always know, especially together or at least point out any potential problems with the development.

As explained in the forum some time ago, private easements and public-law building encumbrances must be considered such that only together they form a complete legal basis – and a notary must know this, or at least point it out. Even unsolicited.

Notaries and we surveyors as "publicly appointed" have a duty to inform in this regard, that is, it basically does not matter whether the client asks or not – I must point out the possible disadvantages. Or have it confirmed in writing (e.g. by clause in the contract) that certain risks pass to the buyer (e.g. waiver of building encumbrance extract in the purchase contract, which is often done). But then also clearly ask whether the respective clause and its legal consequences have been understood.

Of course, that does not mean that a layperson should not ask if something is not understood – but as publicly appointed surveyors and notaries, we prepare documents daily that contain things most people encounter only once or a few times in life and that are partly completely incomprehensible for laypersons if not explained multiple times.

Sure, sometimes one feels like a broken record because it’s repeated daily, but that does not relieve one of the duty to inform in the end. I have experienced about 3-4 times that I did not accept a signature because I realized the person did not understand what it was about or what they were notarizing. In such cases – e.g. with very old people or persons who would need a guardian/caretaker but do not have or want one – one could possibly become criminally liable if you take their signature although as the negotiating officer you notice they cannot comprehend the consequences of their actions.

Ok, that was quite extensive and I do not assume that the OP in this case falls into the category of completely clueless – but the duty to inform of notaries/publicly appointed surveyors is legally anchored and (in my humble opinion) a high good that should not be put at risk too lightly.

Regards
Dirk Grafe