Last Updated on June 27, 2021 by LawEuro
German Civil Code (BGB) German law
Title 10
Brokerage contract
Subtitle 1
General provisions
Section 652
Accrual of fee claim
(1) A person who promises a brokerage fee for evidence of the opportunity to enter into a contract or for negotiating a contract is obliged to pay the fee only if the contract comes into existence as a result of the evidence or as a result of the negotiation of the broker. If the contract is entered into subject to a condition precedent, the brokerage fee may only be demanded if the condition is fulfilled.
(2) The broker is only to be reimbursed for expenses if this has been agreed. This also applies even if the contract does not come about.
Section 653
Brokerage fee
(1) A brokerage fee is deemed to have been tacitly agreed if in the circumstances the task entrusted to the broker can only be expected for remuneration.
(2) If the amount of remuneration is not specified, then if a tariff exists, the tariff rate of remuneration is deemed to have been agreed; if no tariff exists, the customary fee is deemed to have been agreed.
Section 654
Forfeiture of the fee claim
The claim to a brokerage fee and reimbursement of expenses are excluded if the broker, contrary to the contents of the contract, also worked for the other party.
Section 655
Reduction of the brokerage fee
If a disproportionately high brokerage fee has been agreed for the evidence of an opportunity to enter into a service contract or for negotiating such a contract, then it may, on the application of the party owing it, be reduced to the appropriate amount by court decision. Reduction of the fee is excluded after it has been paid.
Subtitle 2
Intermediation of consumer credit agreements
Section 655a
Credit intermediation contract
(1) A contract by which an entrepreneur agrees for a fee to be paid by the consumer or a third party to intermediate a consumer credit agreement or nongratuitous financing assistance or to give the consumer evidence of an opportunity to enter into such a contract is governed, subject to sentence 2, by the following provisions. This does not apply to the extent specified in section 491 (2).
(2) The credit intermediary must inform the consumer of the particulars set out in Article 247 section 13 (2) of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code [Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche] in the form provided for therein. The credit intermediary is obliged vis-à-vis the consumer additionally in the same way as a lender under section 491a. Sentence 2 does not apply to goods suppliers or service-providers who operate as a credit intermediary in a solely subordinate function, for instance by intermediating, as an ancillary service, the conclusion of a linked consumer credit agreement.
Section 655b
Written form in the case of a contract with a consumer
(1) The credit intermediation contract with a consumer must be in writing. The contract may not be linked to the application for the loan to be granted. The credit intermediary must notify the consumer in text form of the contents of the contract.
(2) A credit intermediation contract with a consumer that does not satisfy the requirements of subsection (1) sentences 1 and 2, or where the obligations under Article 247 section 13 (2) of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code [Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche] have not been met prior to it being entered into, is void.
Section 655c
Remuneration
The consumer is only obliged to pay the fee if as the result of the negotiation by or evidence from the credit intermediary the loan is granted to the consumer and the loan has been paid out to the consumer and revocation by the consumer under section 355 is no longer possible. To the extent that, with the knowledge of the credit intermediary, the consumer credit agreement is intended for the early repayment of another loan (debt rescheduling), a claim to remuneration arises only if the effective annual rate of interest is not increased; when the effective for the loan to be repaid is calculated, any possible brokerage costs are disregarded.
Section 655d
Ancillary payment
For services that are linked to negotiating the consumer credit agreement or giving evidence of an opportunity to enter into a consumer credit agreement, the credit intermediary may not agree any payment except for remuneration in accordance with section 655c sentence 1. However, it may be agreed that the credit intermediary is reimbursed necessary expenses that were incurred. This right may not exceed the amount or the maximum amounts which the credit intermediary has notified to the consumer under Article 247 section 13 (2) sentence 1 no. 4 of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code [Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche].
Section 655e
Deviating agreements, application to founders of new businesses
(1) Deviation from the provisions of this subtitle to the disadvantage of the consumer is not allowed. The provisions of this subtitle apply even if they are circumvented by other constructions.
(2) In this subtitle, consumers are deemed equivalent to founders of a new business within the meaning of section 512.
Subtitle 3
Marriage broking
Section 656
Marriage broking
(1) No obligation is established by promising a fee for giving evidence of an opportunity to contract a marriage or for acting as a broker in arranging a marriage. What has been paid on the basis of such a promise may not be claimed back on the grounds that there was no obligation.
(2) These provisions also apply to an agreement by which the other party has entered into an obligation in relation to the broker for the purpose of fulfilling the promise, including without limitation to an acknowledgement of a debt.
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