If individual condominium owners sue their community of owners and win the case, they must contribute to the legal costs. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice in a recent judgement.
Since the 2020 WEG reform, legal action against community resolutions is no longer directed against the other condominium owners, but against the community. As the legal costs are part of the community's administrative costs, they must be borne by all members of the community - including the complaining condominium owners themselves. This regulation is intended to reduce disputes.
In the specific case, the three plaintiffs are members of the defendant condominium owners' association and each own one of a total of eight flats. The community rules from 2019 stipulated that the administrative costs were to be divided equally between the condominium units.
In 2021, the plaintiffs challenged a resolution before the local court. The court ordered the homeowners' association to bear the costs. In April 2022, the condominium owners decided to finance these costs through a special levy in which the plaintiffs were to participate. The plaintiffs challenged this resolution with their action for annulment, which was unsuccessful before the local court. On appeal by one of the plaintiffs, the Regional Court upheld the action. The defendant community of condominium owners contests this with the appeal on points of law authorised by the Regional Court.
In its final judgement (19.07.2024, V ZR 139/23), the Federal Court of Justice ruled that legal costs imposed on the unsuccessful community of condominium owners in an action for a resolution are part of the costs of administration pursuant to Section 16 (2) sentence 1 WEG. Therefore, unless otherwise agreed, they must be apportioned according to the general cost allocation formula. This means that the victorious plaintiff must also bear the legal costs of the losing community of condominium owners on a pro rata basis.
Photo: © Grabener Verlag, Kiel, 2024
