Public auc­tions in the event of default

Public auc­tion in the event of default of accep­tance, default of per­for­mance or immi­nent spoi­la­ge

In com­mer­cial tran­sac­tions, situa­tions can always ari­se in which the per­for­mance of a con­tract is delay­ed or refu­sed by the deb­tor. Par­ti­cu­lar­ly serious are cases of default of accep­tance, default of per­for­mance or when goods are sub­ject to immi­nent spoi­la­ge and thus threa­ten con­sidera­ble eco­no­mic los­ses.

In the­se cases, the public auc­tion repres­ents a legal­ly secu­re, fast and eco­no­mic­al­ly effi­ci­ent solu­ti­on. It enables cre­di­tors to enforce their jus­ti­fied claims prompt­ly wit­hout having to rely on leng­thy court pro­cee­dings.

If the buy­er has not taken deli­very of the con­trac­tual­ly agreed goods on time, the sel­ler can arran­ge for a public auc­tion in order to obtain com­pen­sa­ti­on. This is done in accordance with the legal requi­re­ments in order to achie­ve an eco­no­mic­al­ly via­ble rea­liza­ti­on. If a con­trac­tual­ly owed per­for­mance does not take place, the cre­di­tor can take mea­su­res to mini­mi­ze the dama­ge incur­red. The public auc­tion offers an effec­ti­ve way of rea­li­zing out­stan­ding claims by sel­ling the goods in ques­ti­on.

Pre­ven­ting the thre­at of spoi­la­ge: A fast and legal­ly com­pli­ant pro­ce­du­re is essen­ti­al, espe­ci­al­ly when tra­ding peri­s­ha­ble goods such as food, plants or peri­s­ha­ble raw mate­ri­als. The public auc­tion enables rapid rea­liza­ti­on befo­re the goods beco­me unusable and eco­no­mic los­ses are incur­red.

We car­ry out:

Pur­su­ant to Sec­tion 383 (1) sen­tence 1 BGB, the deb­tor may have a mova­ble item that is not sui­ta­ble for depo­sit auc­tion­ed off in the event of the cre­di­tor’s default of accep­tance.

Accor­ding to para. 1 sen­tence 2, he is also entit­led to do so if the­re is a con­cern that the item will spoil or if its sto­rage would invol­ve dis­pro­por­tio­na­te cos­ts (cf. Marx/Arens Der Auk­tio­na­tor, 2004, p. 280).

Accor­ding to § 885a ZPO (4): If the ten­ant-deb­tor does not cla­im his pro­per­ty from the cre­di­tor within a peri­od of one month after the cre­di­tor has been ins­truc­ted to take pos­ses­si­on, the cre­di­tor may rea­li­ze the pro­per­ty. Sec­tions 372 to 380, 382, 383 and 385 of the Ger­man Civil Code shall app­ly accor­din­gly. The­re shall be no thre­at of auc­tion.

Accor­ding to Sec­tion 373 (2) of the Ger­man Com­mer­cial Code (HGB), the sel­ler may have the goods sold at public auc­tion in the event of the buy­er’s default of accep­tance. (Cf. Marx/Arens Der Auk­tio­na­tor, 2004, p. 274)

(1) If it is sti­pu­la­ted that the per­for­mance of one par­ty is to be effec­ted exact­ly at a fixed time or within a fixed peri­od, the other par­ty may, if the per­for­mance is not effec­ted at the fixed time or within the fixed peri­od, rescind the con­tract or, if the deb­tor is in default, cla­im dama­ges for non-per­for­mance ins­tead of per­for­mance. He can only cla­im per­for­mance if he noti­fies the other par­ty imme­dia­te­ly after the expiry of the time or dead­line that he insists on per­for­mance.

(2) If dama­ges are clai­med for non-per­for­mance and the goods have an exch­an­ge or mar­ket pri­ce, the dif­fe­rence bet­ween the purcha­se pri­ce and the exch­an­ge or mar­ket pri­ce at the time and place of the per­for­mance owed may be clai­med.

(3) The result of a sale or purcha­se effec­ted else­whe­re may, if the com­mo­di­ties have a stock exch­an­ge or mar­ket pri­ce, be taken as the basis of the cla­im for dama­ges only if the sale or purcha­se is effec­ted imme­dia­te­ly after the expiry of the sti­pu­la­ted time or peri­od for per­for­mance. If the sale or purcha­se is not made by public auc­tion, it must be made at the cur­rent pri­ce by a com­mer­cial bro­ker aut­ho­ri­zed to make such sales or purcha­ses or by a per­son aut­ho­ri­zed to make such sales or purcha­ses by public auc­tion.

(4) The pro­vi­si­on of sec­tion 373 (4) shall app­ly to the sale by public auc­tion. The cre­di­tor shall noti­fy the deb­tor of the sale or purcha­se wit­hout delay; in the event of fail­ure to do so he shall be lia­ble to pay dama­ges.

§ Sec­tion 376 of the Ger­man Com­mer­cial Code (HGB ) Default in per­for­mance in a fixed-date tran­sac­tion:
In the case of a fixed-date purcha­se, the sel­ler or the buy­er can buy or sell the goods owed at public auc­tion in the event of default in per­for­mance by the other con­trac­ting par­ty in accordance with Sec­tion 376 HGB and use the dif­fe­rence as the basis for dama­ges for non-per­for­mance. (Cf. Marx/Arens Der Auk­tio­na­tor, 2004, p. 281).

If the goods or rights have a stock exch­an­ge or mar­ket pri­ce, a pri­va­te sale is car­ri­ed out ins­tead of an auc­tion in accordance with Sec­tion 1221 BGB.

In the cases of Sec­tions 65, 214 and 228 AktG, the sale is man­da­to­ry at least at the offi­ci­al stock exch­an­ge pri­ce. (If goods or rights do not have a stock exch­an­ge pri­ce, the sale must be car­ri­ed out by public auc­tion).

In the cases of Sec­tions 23 and 27 GmbHG, the sale of the com­pa­ny share by pri­va­te con­tract is only per­mit­ted with the con­sent of the excluded share­hol­der or the share­hol­der who has relin­quis­hed his share. The sale by the stock­bro­ker, com­mer­cial bro­ker or stock­bro­ker is only per­mit­ted if the lat­ter is publicly aut­ho­ri­zed to do so under sta­te law.

In all cases of sale by pri­va­te trea­ty, the gene­ral­ly publicly appoin­ted, sworn auc­tion­eer is aut­ho­ri­zed to do so (legal defi­ni­ti­on accor­ding to § 383 BGB).

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