Dispute over GDR garage: heirs demand compensation from Güstrow!

Dispute over GDR garage: heirs demand compensation from Güstrow!

In a bitter legal dispute over a garage in Güstrow, a couple from North Rhine-Westphalia has high hopes for compensation based on the intricacies of GDR property law. The dispute revolves around a double garage that Heiderose Horn and her co-heirs wanted to sell. It was purchased by her father in 2000, but they ran into conflict with the city of Güstrow, which prohibited the sale because the garage was on city property. The hunt for justice has begun because the heirs are convinced that they have been unfairly deprived of their property.

In the GDR, numerous buildings, including garages, were built on land that was owned by state-owned enterprises (VEB), agricultural production cooperatives (LPG) and other state institutions. After reunification, these special circumstances led to a need for clarification about property rights, which was addressed by the Law of Obligations Adjustment Act of 1995. According to Nordkurier, the city of Güstrow declared that the garage had become the property of the property owner in accordance with Section 11 Paragraph 1 of the law. However, the situation is clear for the heirs: Her father had a usage agreement from 2000 that identifies them as the owner of the garage.

The Law of Obligations Adjustment Act

The [Obligation Law Adjustment Act](https://www.bauroth-jura.com/kuendigung-pachtvertrag- Schuldrechtsadaptationgesetz/) regulates the continued validity and termination of old contracts that were concluded before reunification in the GDR. It plays a central role when it comes to the rights of former GDR citizens, who often operate in a legal gray area. The users of such contracts who have leased or used space in the GDR are often faced with uncertainty about their protection of their existing property. Although the norms of the law offer numerous protective provisions, formal errors and misunderstandings cannot be eliminated and can quickly lead to invalid terminations.

The law also stipulates that claims for compensation for changes in property value, for example due to garages, can be asserted within three years of the transfer of ownership. However, the city of Güstrow argues that this claim for compensation is only due to the original builder and not to the heirs, since the plaintiff's father had not filed any such claims. Another argument from the city is that there is no case in the city's records where compensation was actually paid under Section 12 of the law, which puts further obstacles in the path of the plaintiffs.

A look at the affected heirs

Heiderose Horn and her colleagues in the family's history are certain that the city is illegally benefiting from the sale of the garage. Your efforts are now aimed at proving that you, as heirs, have a legitimate claim to compensation. The legal hurdles around Berlin's streets are a challenge for many former GDR citizens. For usage contracts from the GDR, interested parties need legal support, such as that offered by the lawyer Sabrina Bauroth, in order to gain clarity about their claims.

In the midst of this legal dispute, the question arises: How many more citizens could suffer similar fates without a fair solution for them? The case in Güstrow is symptomatic of the lasting challenges associated with reunification and shows that the issue of real estate rights in the new federal states is far from over. The coming months will show whether the heirs will actually get their rights or whether the legal labyrinth will continue to deprive them of their claims.