The next flat has been found and the move out of the German cooperative flat is being prepared. Now you want to know whether you can remain a member and when you can reuse tied-up funds. Start with two separate processes: the termination of your specific residential use and the cooperative participation. This article deals with German cooperative law, not Austrian residential construction financing contributions.
What decision actually needs to be made?
Our practical recommendation: place the tenancy agreement, the current articles of association and the statement of participation side by side. Which shares do you hold, which obligations are tied to the previous flat and what do you want to continue to use after moving out? A changed address in the members’ register is not an express decision about all contracts.
You can initially consider different routes: keeping the membership or terminating it. If you have several shares, a partial reduction may also be relevant. These options are not interchangeable merely because you no longer need the previous flat. Have it explained which specific declaration path fits your objective.
Option one: remain a member but bind less money?
§ 67b GenG permits, under conditions, the termination of individual further business shares. Excluded in particular are participations to which you are obliged or which are a prerequisite for a service you continue to claim. Which shares could fall away therefore does not follow solely from their number. [TEIL]
Ask about the actual mandatory participation after moving out. Which further services do you want to receive and what participation do they require? A hoped-for future flat is to be distinguished from a concrete allocation. This practical decision is made by the cooperative with you on the basis of its relevant documents; a general internet figure does not replace it.
Option two: terminate membership completely
§ 65 GenG generally provides for termination at the end of the financial year with at least three months’ notice. The articles may replace the statutory text form with written form and the period with a longer permissible rule. Special statutory constellations must still be observed. The financial year does not have to end automatically on 31 December. [AUSTRITT]
Assign the declaration to the correct year and the actual statutory notice period. A termination of your residential use is not simply the same process. Ask for a comprehensible confirmation of the intended end of membership. Do not confuse the mere receipt of a message with an already checked confirmation of the date.
The end of the participation is not the payout day
§ 73 GenG links the settlement to the termination of membership and a balance-sheet-related consideration. The statutory default rule of a payout within six months contains reservations; in particular, the articles may regulate conditions, modalities and the period differently. A move-out therefore does not give rise to a blanket payout six months later. [GUTHABEN]
Ask both for the expected date and for the actually relevant credit balance. Do not equate original payments without verification with a guaranteed unchanged payout. A still outstanding settlement is carried as open, instead of already being fully spent on the next flat.
A hypothetical transition with an obvious cash gap
In the fictional case Karim wants to move out in spring. For the move and the new flat he plans €5.200. Of that he has €2.200 freely available, he expects a further €3.000 from his participation. His transition would only be fully covered if this money actually flows in on time.
The initially assumed calculation therefore does not resolve itself solely by moving out. Karim has the end of membership, the applicable payout rule and the expected amount clarified. For the still unsecured inflow he needs another viable plan or an adjusted decision. The example does not assert either a usual payout amount or a fixed timetable for periods.
Your result should in the end link the flat handover, membership and available funds with your own confirmed data. That way you consciously decide whether to keep the membership or leave and do not make the next housing decision dependent on an uncertain refund expectation.