If a property is getting on in years, the owners may not wait so long with modernization or renovation measures until it can no longer be entered. This is the result of a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). It states that the "condominium owners [are] obligated to arrange for the elimination of serious structural defects in the common property that significantly impair or even preclude the use of the special property for the agreed purpose."
The current case concerned a decades-old parking garage in need of renovation. Three of the total of eleven floors belonged to the special property of the plaintiff, who rented them out to a hotel. The other floors had not been in use for years. Now, however, the building regulations office demanded proof of compliance with fire protection. As a result, the owners' association decided that the plaintiff could no longer use the floors.
The latter filed an action against the majority resolution. With success. The Federal Court of Justice ruled that owners must also renovate if properties are outdated or need to be maintained. In this case, the owners cannot claim that the costs are too high. Only in rare cases - for example, after a fire, flood or explosion - is a building that can no longer be used considered destroyed.
Source: BGH (V ZR 225/20)
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