Permit for real estate agents, loan brokers, property developers, building supervisors and residential property managers Apply for a permit
Service description
You need a permit if you want to offer your services commercially:
- Real estate brokerage
- The brokerage of loan agreements (except real estate loans for consumers),
- The management of residential properties or common property of condominium owners
- The preparation or execution of construction projects in its own name or on behalf of third parties.
In this sense, you must apply for a permit if you wish to carry out one of the following activities, for example:
- Brokerage of real estate and rights equivalent to real estate, brokerage of the sale, encumbrance, letting or leasing of real estate, of residential property and of contracts relating to mortgages and land charges,
- Brokerage of commercial and residential premises, i.e. all types of room rentals including leases and subleases, i.e. also apartment and room brokerage (except accommodation brokerage).
- Brokerage of loans (except real estate financing for consumers).
- Planning or implementation of construction projects using third-party assets (e.g. with assets of tenants, leaseholders or other beneficiaries or of applicants for acquisition or usage rights). It makes no difference here whether you act in your own name vis-à-vis contractual partners (property developer) or whether you make it clear that you are acting on behalf of a third party (building supervisor). This includes, for example, submitting a building application, commissioning architects and craftsmen, as well as obtaining and drawing down financing, taking out insurance, calculating future rents, etc.).
- Management of rented apartments or the common property of condominium owners within the meaning of the German Condominium Act. You are an administrator, for example, if you
- implement resolutions of the condominium owners and ensure that the house rules are enforced;
- take the measures necessary for the proper maintenance and repair of the common property;
- arrange for and receive all payments and services associated with the ongoing management of the common property;
- manage the funds collected.
No permission is required for:
- credit institutions for which a license has been granted in accordance with the KWG and their branches.
- Capital management companies for which a license has been issued in accordance with the German Investment Code.
- Traders who only arrange loans to finance the sale of goods or services provided by them or provide evidence of the opportunity to conclude such contracts,
- Branches of companies domiciled in another Member State of the European Union that are permitted to broker loans between credit institutions under the German Banking Act, insofar as their activities are limited to brokering loans between credit institutions under the German Trade Regulation Act, and
- the conclusion of contracts for the timeshare use of residential buildings within the meaning of the Civil Code or the brokering of such contracts.
For the brokerage of real estate consumer loan agreements, you require a different, separate license in accordance with the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act. Real estate consumer loan agreements are loan agreements for a fee between an entrepreneur as lender and a consumer as borrower.
Special information for - City of Idar-ObersteinPrerequisites
- You have the necessary reliability for the business operation. As a rule, you do not have this if you have been convicted of a criminal offense listed in § 34c Para. 2 No. 1 GewO within the last 5 years.
- You live in good financial circumstances: No insolvency proceedings have been opened against your assets or rejected due to lack of assets.
- If you want to work as a residential property manager, you need professional liability insurance of at least EUR 500,000 for each insured event and EUR 1,000,000 for all insured events in a year.
What documents are required?
- Copy of identity card or passport with registration certificate, or presentation on site.
Proof of orderly financial circumstances
- usually for residents of Germany:
- Extract from the debtor register
- Certificate from the insolvency court
- Certificate in tax matters (from the tax office)
- if you live abroad: documents from your home country that prove your orderly financial circumstances
Proof of the legal form of the company:
- with registered office in Germany:
- for companies entered in a register: Extract from the commercial register or the partnership register or the register of cooperatives
- if the company is based abroad: documents from the country of domicile that prove the legal form
Proof of personal reliability:
- If you are resident in Germany:
- Applying for a certificate of good conduct for submission to an authority
- Applying for an extract from the central trade register for submission to an authority
- If you live abroad: documents from your country of residence that prove your personal reliability
The competent authority may request further documents to verify personal reliability.
In the case of legal entities (e.g. limited liability companies, business companies, stock corporations, registered cooperatives), you must submit the personal documents for all natural persons authorized to manage the company (e.g. identity papers) or apply for them (e.g. extract from the central trade register for submission to an authority in accordance with Section 150 (5) of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act). For legal entities, you also need an excerpt from the central trade register for submission to an authority in accordance with Section 150 (5) of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act.
Partnerships (GbR, KG, OHG, PartG, GmbH & Co. KG) are not eligible for a permit as such. Therefore, each managing partner requires a permit. Submit a completed application form and all personal documents for each of these persons.
If you wish to work as a residential property manager, you must also provide proof of professional liability insurance of at least EUR 500,000 for each insured event and EUR 1,000,000 for all insured events in a year.
Permit extension (an existing permit for a person/company is extended within the scope of §34c of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act):
If you extend the scope of your license in accordance with § 34 c GewO within 3 months of the license being issued, the simplified procedure applies and you no longer need to submit all the required documents.
Documents required for the extension application for residential property managers:
- Certificate of the existence of professional liability insurance additionally for the extended scope of authorization applied for
If the permit was issued more than 3 months ago, the following evidence and certificates must be provided for the extension application:
- Extract from the Federal Central Criminal Register for submission to an authority (document type 0)
- Extract from the central trade register for submission to an authority (document type 9)
- Certification in tax matters
- Extract from the debtor register of the central enforcement portal (Section 882b ZPO)
- Confirmation of the insolvency court on freedom from insolvency
- Current excerpt from the commercial register, if an entry exists
Legal basis
What else should I know?
Only with regard to real estate agents and apartment managers:
While exercising the activity, you are obliged to undergo 20 hours of further training within a period of three calendar years. The same applies accordingly to persons directly involved in the activity requiring a license. If you have acquired a training qualification as a real estate agent or a further training qualification as a certified real estate specialist, the obligation to undergo further training only begins three years after acquiring the respective qualification. You must keep proof of further training for five years and submit it to the competent authority upon request.
As a construction supervisor and property developer, you are obliged to carry out an annual audit in accordance with the Real Estate Agent and Property Developer Ordinance.
As a real estate agent, property developer and construction supervisor, you have special accounting, recording, information and notification obligations.
Only with regard to apartment managers:
You must maintain professional liability insurance of at least € 500,000 for each insured event and € 1,000,000 for all insured events in a year.