Last Updated on June 27, 2021 by LawEuro
German Civil Code (BGB) German law
Title 2
Time-share agreements, contracts relating to long-term holiday products, brokerage contracts and exchange system contracts
Section 481
Time-share agreements
(1) A time-share agreement is a contract by which an entrepreneur procures or promises to procure for a consumer the right, in return for the payment of a total price, to use a building several times for a period that is specified or to be specified, for the purposes of overnight stays, for the duration of more than one year. All extension possibilities provided for in the contract are to be taken into account when calculating the term of the contract.
(2) The right may be a real right or another right, and may also in particular, without limitation, be granted through membership of an association or a share in a company or partnership. The right may also consist in opting to use one of a group of residential buildings.
(3) A part of a residential building is equivalent to a residential building, as is a moveable thing or a part thereof intended as overnight accommodation.
Section 481a
Contract relating to a long-term holiday product
A contract relating to a long-term holiday product is a contract for the duration of more than one year by means of which an entrepreneur procures or promises to procure for a consumer the right, in return for the payment of a total price, to receive price reductions or other benefits with regard to accommodation. Section 481 (1) sentence 2 applies with the necessary modifications.
Section 481b
Brokerage contract, exchange system contract
(1) A brokerage contract is a contract by which an entrepreneur has himself promised a fee for providing evidence of the opportunity to enter into a contract or for negotiating a contract by which the rights of the consumer from a time-share agreement or a contract relating to a long-term holiday product are to be acquired or sold.
(2) An exchange system contract is a contract by which an entrepreneur has himself promised a fee from a consumer for evidence of the opportunity to enter into a contract or for brokering a contract by which individual rights of the consumer from a time-share agreement or a contract relating to a long-term holiday product are to be exchanged or acquired or sold by other means.
Section 482
Preliminary contract information, advertising and prohibition of sale as an investment
(1) The entrepreneur must provide to the consumer in good time prior to the submission of his contract declaration on the conclusion of a time-share agreement, of a contract relating to a long-term holiday product, of a brokerage contract or of an exchange system contract preliminary contract information under Article 242 section 1 of the of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code [Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche] in text form. These must be clear and comprehensible.
(2) Any advertising for such contracts must state that preliminary contract information is available and where this can be requested. When inviting to advertising or sales events, the entrepreneur must clearly indicate the commercial nature of the event. The consumer must be provided at such events with the preliminary contract information at any time.
(3) A time-share agreement or a right from a contract relating to a long-term holiday product may not be advertised or sold as an investment.
Section 482a
Notification regarding revocation
The entrepreneur must inform the consumer in text form prior to conclusion of the contract of the right of revocation, including of the revocation period, as well as of the prohibition of advance payments under section 486. Receipt of the appropriate provisions of the contract must be confirmed by the consumer in writing. The details are regulated in Article 242 section 2 of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code [Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche].
Section 483
Language of the contract and of the preliminary contract information
(1) The time-share agreement, the contract relating to a long-term holiday product, the brokerage contract or the exchange system contract is to be drafted in the official language, or, where there is more than one official language, in the official language, selected by the consumer, of the Member State of the European Union or of the state which is a contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area in which the consumer has his residence. If the consumer is a national of another Member State, then instead of the language of the state in which he has his residence he may alternatively choose the official language or one of the official languages of the state of which he is a national. Sentences 1 and 2 also apply to the preliminary contract information and to the notification regarding revocation.
(2) If the agreement must be notarially recorded by a German notary, sections 5 and 16 of the Notarial Recording Act [Beurkundungsgesetz] apply with the proviso that the consumer must be provided with a certified translation of the agreement in the language chosen by him under subsection (1).
(3) Contracts that do not comply with subsections (1) sentences 1 and 2, or (2) above are void.
Section 484
Form and content of the contract
(1) The time-share agreement, the contract relating to a long-term holiday product, the brokerage contract or the exchange system contract must be in writing, except to the extent that other provisions contain more stringent formal requirements.
(2) The preliminary contract information provided to the consumer under section 482 (1) becomes content of the contract insofar as it is not altered in agreement or unilaterally by the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur may only unilaterally alter the preliminary contract information in order to adjust it to changes caused by force majeure. The amendments under sentence 1 must be provided to the consumer in text form prior to conclusion of the contract. They only become effective if they are included in the contract documents, indicating that they deviate from the preliminary contract information provided under section 482 (1). The contract documents are to include the following:
1. the preliminary contract information under section 482 (1), notwithstanding its validity under sentence 1,
2. the names of both parties and addresses where documents may be served on them, as well as
3. the date and place of the deposit of the contract declarations contained therein.
(3) The entrepreneur must provide the consumer with the contract document or a copy of the contract. In case of a time-share agreement, if the language of the agreement and the official language of the Member State of the European Union or of the Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area in which the residential building is situated are different, he must enclose a certified translation of the contract in an official language of the state in which the residential building is situated. The duty to enclose a certified translation does not apply if the time-share agreement relates to a group of residential buildings which are situated in different states.
Section 485
Right of withdrawal
In the case of a timeshare contract, a contract relating to a long-term holiday product, a brokerage contract, or an exchange system contract, the consumer has a right of withdrawal under section 355.
Section 486
Prohibition of down payment
(1) The entrepreneur may not demand or accept payments by the consumer prior to the expiry of the revocation period.
(2) No payments of the consumer in connection with a brokerage contract may be demanded or accepted until the entrepreneur has complied with his obligations from the brokerage contract or this contractual relationship has been terminated.
Section 486a
Special provisions for contracts relating to long-term holiday products
(1) With a contract relating to a long-term holiday product, the form designated in Article 242 section 1 (2) of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code [Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche] contains an instalment plan. The entrepreneur may not derogate from the payment methods designated therein. He may only demand or accept the annual instalment from the consumer due according to the form if he has previously requested the consumer in text form to pay this instalment. The payment request must be received by the consumer at least two weeks prior to the due date of the annual instalment.
(2) From the time which is provided for under subsection (1) for the payment of the second instalment, the consumer can terminate the contract within two weeks of receipt of the payment request at the due date under subsection (1).
Section 487
Deviating agreements
There may be no deviation from the provisions of this title to the disadvantage of the consumer. Unless otherwise provided, the provisions of this title apply even if they are circumvented by other constructions.
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