The property sale is prepared or already notarised. Then you learn of an insolvency on the buyer’s side. Quick conclusions are risky: a missing payment, an insolvency filing and an opened insolvency proceeding are different statuses. This article helps to prepare the German process in an orderly way for qualified legal advice. It does not provide an independent instruction to withdraw, make a claim or resell.
Have the confirmed insolvency status established
Secure the specific notification and any official information available to you. Note which person or company is actually the contractual partner. A message about an affiliated company is not, without examination, the same information as an opening of proceedings against your buyer.
Our editorial recommendation: Pass the actual content promptly to the involved notary and the appropriate legal advice. Speculation should be identified as such. The article does not present an unknown debtor as insolvent.
Record both performance statuses precisely
Gather the deed of sale, amendments and current execution notices. Which payment has actually been made? Which performance has been rendered? Which registry or possession status is confirmed? A transfer order must be distinguished from a documented receipt of payment.
§ 103 InsO deals with mutual contracts that have not been or have not been fully performed on both sides at the opening of proceedings and a choice right of the insolvency administrator. [INSO-103] Whether this rule and which further protective or special provisions apply in the specific real estate transaction must be examined in light of the actual situation of performance and security. A blanket contract annulment is not derived from this.
An invented change of buyer with an open flow of money
A company concluded the purchase contract. The seller receives a message that insolvency proceedings have been opened. She wants to offer the house again immediately, but does not know which entries already exist and which conditions have already been fulfilled.
She submits the complete status for review. Any part payment and its actual allocation are also disclosed. Only individual legal advice can classify the further handling of the transaction, securities and possible claims. The article does not recommend any self-determined repayment or a new competing contract.
Reset your own schedule to open prerequisites
Check organisationally which of your own next steps so far depended on an expected payment or handover. Re-mark them with their actual status. An anticipated proceeds will not be replanned as if present.
This is not permission to unilaterally change existing obligations. Give the concrete timing dependency to the advice. This allows necessary reactions to be examined on the real facts, rather than acting solely under the pressure of a booked move.
Keep communication and documents centralised
Decide which involved body receives new notifications and who gives coordinated feedback to the parties. Keep new responses with their business context. A cordial contact with the previous buyer’s representative does not replace every now necessary verification of authority.
The ordered interim status does not create a guarantee for money or a quick completion. It ensures that the legal advice can assess the specific contract and the performances actually rendered. Especially in the event of insolvency, this is the basis for not making further decisions based on an unsecured assumption.