The master’s thesis addresses the issue of consumer protection in real estate transactions, particularly in relation to the purchase of apartments and single-dwelling houses, within the framework of the general Obligations Code (OZ) and the special Act on the Protection of Buyers of Apartments and Single-Dwelling Buildings (ZVKSES). The purpose of the research is to present the differences and similarities between both legal frameworks regarding the definition of material defects, the procedures for their rectification, and the instruments ensuring effective legal protection for buyers.
The introductory part outlines the general characteristics of real estate purchases under the OZ, with a particular emphasis on the categorisation of material defects into obvious, hidden, and insignificant defects, as well as on the legal remedies available to the buyer in cases of improper performance by the seller.
The central part of the thesis focuses on the ZVKSES, which aims to strengthen the position of the buyer as a consumer in transactions with professional real estate sellers. The conditions for the application of the Act, the definitions of the seller and the buyer, and the specific regulation of material defects are examined. Differences compared to the OZ are analysed, particularly in relation to the classification of obvious, hidden, and insignificant defects, as well as to the procedures for their rectification.
Special attention is devoted to the instruments of buyer protection, such as the rules on the (non-)simultaneity of contractual performance, the retention of part of the purchase price until the delivery of the property or until the rectification of defects, and especially the instrument of the irrevocable bank guarantee. Within this framework, the legal nature of the bank guarantee, its essential elements, the risks of abuse, and the different methods of fulfilling the seller’s obligation to remedy hidden defects under the ZVKSES are analysed.
The concluding part summarises the findings, highlighting that the ZVKSES, as a special regulation, provides stronger protection to buyers of residential real estate than the OZ, particularly through the introduction of mechanisms such as purchase price retention and the bank guarantee.
Nevertheless, the analysis also reveals open issues concerning the circumvention of the mandatory provisions of the ZVKSES, especially in relation to alternative methods of fulfilling the seller’s obligation to issue a bank guarantee for the rectification of hidden defects.
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