Who owns the reserves when selling a condominium?

Father-in-law sold a rented condominium in a 10-family house.

The whole thing is managed by a real estate company that, on behalf of all owners, also withholds reserves for major repairs or incidents from the monthly ancillary costs (not the tenants' ancillary costs). These currently have a balance of about €1,500 per residential unit.

Now, before the sale, he forgot to address the issue of reserves or to include it in the purchase price. The notarized contract is signed. Handover in March 2016.

Are the reserves "part of the sold apartment"? Who do they belong to after the sale?
Are they paid out to the father-in-law and the new owner must replenish the fund accordingly, or does it make sense to demand that, or must the father-in-law write off the money as lost because it passes into the ownership of the buyer with the apartment sale?

Hello,

... or does father-in-law have to write off the money as lost because it transfers to the ownership of the buyer with the apartment sale.

Yes. That is the so-called maintenance reserve.

Neither the seller nor the buyer can have the maintenance reserve paid out; it always remains with the apartment – it does not really belong to the new owner either. That is why your father should have taken it into account during the sale; unfortunately, he is now out of luck. He can discuss his mistake with the new owners – but they are not obliged to agree to any possible reimbursement.

Rhenish regards

Hello,

the accrued reserves belong to the community of owners as a legal entity - not to the individual owners.

Therefore, this money remains with the community of owners upon sale, which the new individual property owner enters into.

Usually, this is also fixed in writing in the notarial purchase agreement - here the notary probably "overslept" a bit.

It is similar with warranty claims for the sold apartment and/or sold accessories: these must also be listed in the notarial contract in order to be transferred to the new owner.

Regards,

Dirk

Jo stays in the owners' association. I'll say €1,500 is a lot of money but bearable

Why suffer? That is common and also the right thing to do.

why should they be listed, they are parts of the apartment like doors, windows, etc.
Reserves can have a positive effect on the purchase price. However, it is even better not to state them for the buyer, as they affect the real estate transfer tax.

Thank you for the answers.