Conveyance

Conveyance / Auflassung eines Grundstücks​

October 18, 2022

What is the conveyance?

Conveyance is a special formal requirement under German law for the agreement in rem on the acquisition of real estate and is of fundamental importance when buying real estate. According to the legal definition of section 925 of the German Civil Code (BGB), conveyance is the agreement in rem between the seller and the buyer on the transfer of ownership of land or real estate which must be declared in front of a notary public when both parties are present at the same time. In order for the buyer to be registered in the land register, the conveyance is necessary. The background for the conveyance, or for the fact that a further "in rem" agreement is necessary in addition to the agreement in the purchase contract, is the principle of separation and abstraction anchored in German law in the BGB. The transfer of ownership is independent of the commitment under the law of obligations (the purchase contract according to section 433 BGB).

How is the conveyance explained?

The conveyance is declared by the buyer and the seller according to section 925 BGB before the notary. As a rule, it is "co-explained" at the time of the notarial recording of the purchase contract. The notary certifies the purchase contract and the buyer and seller also declare "in the process" the conveyance of the property.

Conveyance can be neither limited in time nor conditional, it is unconditional. However, it is possible to make the execution of the entry in the land register dependent on a condition (e.g. payment of the purchase price) or a time limit.

In order to ensure that the conveyance actually takes place, a so-called notice of conveyance is entered in land register for the purchaser. By entering the priority notice in the land register, the purchaser's right to conveyance is protected in rem.