General Terms and Conditions
Edition of 01/2010
§ 1 Object of the agreement, parties - A housing arrangement and indication agreement is concluded between the housing agency HOME TO HOME (referred to hereinafter as agent), represented by the owner, and the contracting party.
§2 Purpose of the agreement - The task of the agent is to arrange or indicate limited or unlimited rental or sub-tenancy conditions in accordance with §§ 652 et seq BGB. While fulfilling this task, the contracting party receives housing offers from the agent, of which he was previously not aware. This confirmation can be provided in any form, e.g. via email or telephone. The contracting party has no right to demand that opportunities only be presented to him. The conclusion of a rental or sub-tenancy relationship is the sole responsibility of the contracting party.
§ 3 Contract duration, termination - The agreement is concluded for an indeterminate period. The contractual activity of the agent ends upon the successful arrangement of housing or if one party makes a written declaration of termination. No notice period must be complied with. If the contracting party finds a house in another manner, the agent must be notified immediately, including information regarding the property in question.
§ 4 Commission - Upon the conclusion of a rental agreement (subtenancy, use and occupation, or transfer of possession agreement) the contracting party must pay the agent a commission in the amount of up to a maximum of 2 months‘ rent plus value added tax. The basis for calculation for the arrangement commission is the total rent including additional expenses if the additional expenses are not listed separately. Changes in the rent after the conclusion of the rental agreement have no effect on the basis for calculation for the commission payment. The arrangement commission is due within 14 calendar days after receipt of the invoice upon conclusion of the rental agreement, even if the rental relationship begins at a later date. The conclusion of a verbal rental agreement (subtenancy, use and occupation, or transfer of possession agreement) is the same as the conclusion of a written rental agreement.
With a rental duration of up to 7 months, on the other hand, the following commission table is in effect:
rental duration up to 1 month 25% of a month‘s rent plus VAT
rental duration up to 2 months 50% of a month‘s rent plus VAT
rental duration up to 3 months 75% of a month‘s rent plus VAT
rental duration up to 4 months 100% of a month‘s rent plus VAT.
rental duration up to 5 months 125% of a month‘s rent plus VAT
rental duration up to 6 months 150% of a month‘s rent plus VAT
rental duration up to 7 months 175% of a month‘s rent plus VAT
rental duration from 8 months 200% of a month‘s rent plus VAT
The rental duration subject to commission is the contractual rental duration, the actual rental duration or the announced intended rental duration. If an original rental duration up to 7 months leads to a contractual extension of the rental duration, the commission is determined by the actual total rental duration according to the commission table, but is limited to the amount of 2 month‘s rent plus value added tax. This is also in effect for extension options that are utilized. Any increase in provision due to an extension is due upon agreement regarding the extension, utilization of the extension option, or from the time that the rental object is used beyond the timeframe originally agreed upon. In the case of premature termination of the rental agreement, the housing agency, HOME TO HOME retains the right to the full agency fee.
§ 5 Alternative dealings - The broker is not responsible for providing confirmation for a particular property; instead, the broker must provide confirmation of the conditions necessary to close a contract. Accordingly, the commission as agreed upon must also be paid if the client closes a contract relating to another property belonging to the same landlord/provider. If the client selects an offer other than the offer provided, the commission will be determined according to Section 4. If an alternative dealing occurs instead of the prepared dealing, the commission referred to in § 4 is due. An example of this would be the renting of another property of the same lessor that was not named by the agent. If the contracting party should initially search for a property only for one or more concretely named persons and simultaneously or later for additional persons (such as employees, colleagues, etc.) whose names are not known to the agent and additional rental relationships are concluded in a property or with a lessor that was indicated by the agent, these dealings shall be considered to have been indicated by the agent. These dealings are also subject to commission and the agent must be informed in accordance with § 8 and § 9.
§ 6 Processing fees - The services of the agent are free of charge until successful arrangement of housing, meaning the conclusion of a rental, subtenancy, use and occupation, or transfer of housing possession agreement.
§ 7 Liability of the agent - The information contained in the offers of the agent are based on the information relayed to the agent by the respective lessor. The agent will attempt to obtain the most correct and complete information possible regarding property and contract partners. However, the agent does not accept any responsibility for the correctness or completeness. This is especially true for illustrations with photo material. The contracting party is definitely advised to investigate the condition of the property by means of direct inspection or by inquiring from the lessor, regardless of the description and/or photographic portrayal. The agent also assumes no liability from the existing or intended housing relationship or for cancellation of an assurance of a lease. The furnishings provided in the property in question are the responsibility of the property owner and may vary.
§ 8 Confidentiality obligation, liability of the contracting party - The contracting party is obligated not to forward offers received from the agent to third parties. In case of unauthorized forwarding, the contracting party is liable to the agent for the resultant damages. The amount of the damages corresponds to the arrangement commission for the forwarded offer. The client is expressly permitted to demonstrate that no damage has been incurred or that the value of the existing damage is far less than the charge for the damage. The contracting party retains the right to demonstrate that lesser damages were incurred. Representative contracting parties acting on behalf of another party are excluded from this. However, forwarding is limited to the person or persons, on whose behalf the agent is employed. In these cases, the contracting party (company, parents, etc.) is responsible for compliance with the confidentiality obligation on the part of the represented persons (employees, children, etc.). Forwarding persons are liable for all contracts caused by the forwarding.
§ 9 Duty to inform, liability of the contracting party - If a transfer of possession agreement or rental agreement is not made or the housing indication agreement was terminated for other reasons, the contracting party is obligated to immediately – on the following workday at the latest – inform the agent in any case of the reasons for the failure or cancellation. If the contracting party is already aware of the opportunity indicated by the agent to conclude a rental agreement or transfer of possession agreement, he must inform the agent of this immediately, including the source. The agent must be informed of the conclusion of a rental agreement or transfer of possession agreement for one of the properties indicated immediately after conclusion – on the following workday at the latest – and a copy of the rental agreement must be sent to him. If the contracting party does not fulfill this obligation within the next three workdays, he recognizes the work of the agent in this matter as the reason for the conclusion of the contract.
§ 10 Changes - Changes to this agreement must be in written form to be valid.
§ 11 Jurisdictional venue - The court of jurisdiction for all disputes involving this contract is the location of the broker, provided that the client is a merchant or has no domestic court of general jurisdiction.