Exchange with authorities: Property purchases should be able to be completed digitally

In the future, notaries should be able to carry out the steps necessary to prepare a property purchase with courts and authorities completely digitally. This is provided for in a draft from the Federal Ministry of Justice, which was sent to states and associations for comment on Tuesday. It should then be possible to transmit or obtain the notifications, applications and approvals necessary for such a transaction electronically.

The federal government leaves it to the discretion of the state governments as to when the procedures should run completely digitally, which can issue legal regulations on this matter. However, the date should not be after January 1, 2027, according to the draft. However, there is one exception: the tax offices. They only have to send certificates showing that the buyer has paid the real estate transfer tax electronically when the technical and organizational requirements exist, but no later than January 1, 2028.

According to the information, the exchange between notaries and the tax administration should take place via the Elster platform. The notaries should exchange documents with the administration or the courts via the electronic court and administrative mailbox, which can only be used by authenticated participants.

Notarization at the notary remains unchanged

If the draft is approved by the cabinet and passed in the Bundestag, nothing would change for buyers and sellers – except that the purchase can probably be completed a little faster. The notarization of the purchase on site at the notary should continue to be carried out as before, i.e. with a personal appearance.

“Notaries, authorities and courts should no longer have to laboriously write letters after the certification before a property can change ownership,” says Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP). This will strengthen the German real estate market – “and the stacks of paper will become a bit smaller again.”