Real estate agents

Real estate agents are subject to high competitive pressure. This pressure is being increased by the internet. In this context real estate agents are also increasingly confronted with cease and desist warnings from competitors, especially when operating websites or online real estate platforms. Aside from the general provisions regarding distance selling, real estate agents are also governed by specific rules which can often lead to infringements under competition law. To make things even more difficult for real estate agents, specifically in this area there are still major uncertainties regarding the legal situation and even jurisprudence in this area is contradictory in seemingly easy questions. For example, the Regional Court of Munich II (Landgericht München II) judged that real estate agents are not subject to the mandatory information duties stipulated by Sec. 16a of the Energy Saving Regulation [Energieeinsparverordnung] concerning energy certificates [Energieausweis] and received support from the Regional Courts of Bielefeld, Düsseldorf and Gießen, while the Regional Courts of Munich I, Tübingen, Traunstein, Münster and Würzburg contradicted this judgement by deeming the information as mandatory for real estate agents. The fact that not even the two Regional Courts of Munich are able to agree on a common position shows which legal risks real estate agents are faced with. The large real estate online platforms only partially make legally safe advertising easier for real estate agents, as conscientiously filling out the forms is often not enough. To avoid the legal risks of cease and desist warnings the real estate agent must present certain mandatory further information, e.g. in the object description. NIMROD can minimize this risk for you, e.g. by examining your websites and platform advertisements. Moreover, we will draft your general terms and conditions as well as other legal documents and are pleased to consult and represent you when you are faced with cease and desist warnings under competition law. At the same time we will actively pursue your claims in case of competition infringements committed by your competitors. (Alternative: At the same time, we can