Last Updated on June 28, 2021 by LawEuro
German Civil Code (BGB) German law
Subtitle 6
Finding
Section 965
Duty of the finder to notify
(1) A person who finds a lost thing and takes possession of it must without undue delay notify the loser or the owner or another person entitled to receive.
(2) If the finder does not know the person entitled to receive or does not know that person’s whereabouts, the finder must without undue delay notify the competent authority of the finding and the circumstances that may be material to determine the person entitled to receive. If the thing is not worth more than ten euros, no notification is necessary.
Section 966
Duty of safekeeping
(1) The finder has a duty to keep the thing in safe custody.
(2) If spoilage of the thing is to be feared, or if safekeeping is associated with disproportionately great costs, the finder must have the thing publicly auctioned. Before the auction, the competent authority must be notified. The proceeds of sale take the place of the thing.
Section 967
Duty to deliver
The finder is entitled and on the order of the competent authority obliged to deliver the thing or the auction proceeds to the competent authority.
Section 968
Extent of liability
The finder is responsible only for intent and gross negligence.
Section 969
Return to the loser
By the return of the thing to the loser, the finder is also released from liability in relation to the other persons entitled to receive it.
Section 970
Reimbursement of expenses
If the finder, for the purpose of safe custody or preservation of the thing or for the purpose of tracing a person entitled to receive it, incurs expenses which he may in the circumstances regard as necessary, he may require reimbursement from the person entitled to receive.
Section 971
Finder’s reward
(1) The finder may require a finder’s reward from the person entitled to receive. The finder’s reward is five per cent of the value of the thing up to five hundred euros, three per cent of the value above this, and three per cent in the case of animals. If the thing is of value only for the person entitled to receive, the finder’s reward is to be determined as appears just.
(2) The claim is excluded if the finder violates the duty of notification or conceals the finding on being questioned.
Section 972
Right of retention of the finder
The claims defined in sections 970 and 971 are governed by the provisions applying to the claims of the possessor against the owner for outlays in sections 1000 to 1002, with the necessary modifications.
Section 973
Acquisition of ownership by the finder
(1) On the expiry of six months after the notification of the finding to the competent authority, the finder acquires the ownership of the thing, unless before this a person entitled to receive has become known to the finder or has notified the competent authority of his right. On the acquisition of ownership the other rights in the thing are extinguished.
(2) If the thing is worth no more than ten euros, the six-month period begins on the finding. The finder does not acquire ownership if he conceals the finding on being questioned. The notification of a right to the competent authority does not conflict with the acquisition of ownership.
Section 974
Acquisition of ownership after concealment
If, before the expiry of the six-month period, persons entitled to receive have become known to the finder or if, in the case of a thing that is worth more than ten euros, they have notified their rights to the competent authority in good time, the finder may require the persons entitled to receive under the provision of section 1003 to make a statement on the claims to which the finder is entitled under sections 970 to 972. On the expiry of the period laid down for the statement, the finder acquires the ownership and the other rights in the thing expire, unless the persons entitled to receive state in good time that they are prepared to satisfy the claims.
Section 975
Rights of the finder after delivery
The delivery of the thing or of the proceeds of the auction to the competent authority does not affect the rights of the finder. If the competent authority has the thing auctioned, the proceeds take the place of the thing. The competent authority may hand over the thing or the proceeds to a person entitled to receive only with the approval of the finder.
Section 976
Acquisition of ownership by the municipality
(1) If the finder waives in relation to the competent authority the right to acquire the ownership of the thing, the finder’s right passes to the municipality of the location of the finding.
(2) If, after delivering the thing or the proceeds of auction to the competent authority under the provisions of sections 973 and 974, the finder has acquired ownership, the ownership passes to the municipality of the location of the finding unless the finder, before the expiry of a period granted to him by the competent authority, requests the return.
Section 977
Claim in enrichment
A person who, under the provisions of sections 973, 974 and 976, suffers a loss of rights, may require, in the cases of sections 973 and 974 from the finder, in the cases of section 976 from the municipality of the location of the finding, the return of the property acquired as a result of the change of rights, under the provisions on the return of unjust enrichment. The claim is extinguished on the expiry of three years after the ownership passes to the finder or the municipality, unless it is judicially asserted prior to this.
Section 978
Finding in public authority or transport agency
(1) A person who finds a thing on the business premises or in the means of transport of a public authority or a transport agency serving public transport and takes possession of the thing must without undue delay deliver the thing to the authority or the transport agency or to one of their employees. The provisions of sections 965 to 967 and 969 to 977 do not apply.
(2) If the thing is worth no less than fifty euros, the finder may require a finder’s reward from the person entitled to receive it. The finder’s reward consists of half the amount that would result from applying section 971 (1) sentences 2 and 3. The claim is excluded if the finder is an employee of the authority or the transport agency or the finder violates the duty to deliver. The provision of section 1001, which applies to the claims of the possessor against the owner for outlays, applies with the necessary modifications to the claim to a finder’s reward. If there is a claim to a finder’s reward, the authority or the transport agency must notify the finder of the return of the thing to the person entitled to receive.
(3) If the proceeds of auction or the money found passes to the person entitled under section 981 (1), there is a claim to a finder’s reward under (2) sentences 1 to 3 above against the person entitled. The claim is extinguished on the expiry of three years after it arises against the person entitled under sentence 1.
Section 979
Sale; authorisation to issue an ordinance
(1) The authority or the transport agency may have the thing delivered to it publicly auctioned. The public authorities and the transport agency of the [Reich], the states [Bundesstaat] and the municipalities may have the auction carried out by one of their officials.
(1a) The auction may also take place on the Internet as a public auction, subject to the provisos of the following provisions.
(1b) The Federal Government is authorised to designate by means of a legal ordinance without the consent of the Federal Council [Bundesrat] auction platforms for the area falling within its remit for the auctioning of lost-and-found items; it may assign this authorisation by means of a legal ordinance to the supreme federal authorities with specialist responsibility. The Land governments are authorised to make corresponding arrangements for the areas falling within their remit by means of a legal ordinance; they may assign the authorisation to the supreme Land authorities with specialist responsibility. The Länder may designate auction platforms which they use nationwide. They may agree to assign processing tasks to the competent agency of another Land.
(2) The proceeds of sale take the place of the thing.
Section 980
Public notice of the finding
(1) The auction is admissible only after the persons entitled to receive have been called on in a public notice of the finding which stipulates a time limit to notify their rights, and the time limit has passed; it is inadmissible if notification was made in good time.
(2) The notice is not necessary if the spoilage of the thing is to be feared, or if safekeeping is associated with disproportionate costs.
Section 981
Receipt of the proceeds of auction
(1) If since the expiry of the time limit stipulated in the public notice three years have passed, the proceeds of the auction, unless a person entitled to receive has notified his right, in the case of [Reich] authorities and [Reich] transport utilities fall to the [Reich] fiscal authorities, in the case of Land authorities and Land transport agencies fall to the fiscal authorities of the state [Bundesstaat], in the case of municipalities and municipality transport agencies fall to the municipality, in the case of transport agencies that are operated by a private person, fall to the private person.
(2) If the auction takes place without the public notice, the three-year period only begins after the persons entitled to receive have been called on in a public notice of the finding to notify their rights. The same applies if found money has been delivered.
(3) The costs are deducted from the amount to be returned.
Section 982
Provisions for implementation
The public notice prescribed in sections 980 and 981 is made in the case of [Reich] authorities and [Reich] agencies under the provisions enacted by the Federal Council [Bundesrat], and in the other cases under the provisions issued by the central authority of the state [Bundesstaat].
Section 983
Undeliverable things in the possession of authorities
Where a public authority is in possession of a thing that it is obliged to return, and the obligation is not contractual, then if the authority is unaware of the person entitled to receive or of the whereabouts of that person the provisions of sections 979 to 982 apply with the necessary modifications.
Section 984
Treasure trove
If a thing that has lain hidden for so long that the owner can no longer be established (treasure) is discovered and as a result of the discovery it is taken into possession, one half of the ownership is acquired by the discoverer, and the other half by the owner of the thing in which the treasure was hidden.
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