BGH decision of September 26, 2024: Only a property in the legal sense can be the subject of a partition auction

Today I would like to refer to a decision of the V. Civil Senate on the subject of partition auctions: BGH, decision of 26.09.2024 - V ZB 8/24 Guiding principle: A partition auction can only be carried out in relation to plots of land in the legal sense that are entered in the inventory of a land register sheet under a separate number. The auction of a single parcel of land that is part of a larger property consisting of several parcels is excluded. The decision is hardly surprising. A plot of land within the meaning of property law is only one that is entered in the inventory of the land register under its own number. A parcel of land as defined in the land register is a prerequisite for this; however, a plot of land can also consist of two or more parcels of land. Apparently, a co-owner only wanted to have one of several parcels auctioned off due to the assumed better saleability. However, this does not work if no division of the property is carried out beforehand in the land register; and for such a division, the cooperation of all owners is required. A claim for such a division will not often exist; and if it does, it must be enforced. A contractual division is better, in which independent parcels of land can of course also be sold (the division must not result in any conditions that violate building law).