General Terms and Conditions

STRATON Real Estate Advisory UG (haftungsbeschränkt) & Co. KG · As of: June 2026

§ 1 Scope of Application and Contracting Parties

1. These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter "GTC") apply to all contracts for real estate valuations, appraisal reports, expert opinions, investment analyses and other expert services provided by STRATON Real Estate Advisory UG (haftungsbeschränkt) & Co. KG, Schmiedweg 5, 85457 Wörth (hereinafter the "Contractor") to clients.
2. "Client" within the meaning of these GTC means any natural or legal person who commissions the Contractor to provide a service. If the client is a natural person who commissions the service for purposes that are predominantly outside their trade, business or profession, they are a consumer within the meaning of § 13 BGB (German Civil Code) (hereinafter "Consumer Client"). All other clients are entrepreneurs within the meaning of § 14 BGB.
3. Conflicting or deviating terms and conditions of the client shall not become part of the contract unless the Contractor expressly agrees to their validity in writing. This also applies if the Contractor performs services without expressly objecting.
4. Individual contractual agreements (e.g. in the engagement letter or in a service description) shall always take precedence over these GTC.

§ 2 Conclusion of Contract and Placement of Orders

1. Offers made by the Contractor are non-binding and subject to change unless expressly designated as binding.
2. A contract shall be concluded when the client accepts an offer of the Contractor in writing, by email or by electronic means, or when the Contractor confirms an order of the client in writing. The Contractor's written order confirmation shall be decisive.
3. Verbal side agreements, amendments and modifications require written confirmation by the Contractor to be effective. Text form (email) is sufficient.
4. By placing an order, the client confirms that they are authorised to place the order (e.g. as owner, authorised representative or insolvency administrator). If it is subsequently established that authorisation was lacking, the Contractor's claim to remuneration shall remain unaffected.
5. The Contractor is entitled to decline orders without giving reasons, in particular where conflicts of interest exist or where the independence of the valuer would be jeopardised.

§ 3 Scope of Services

1. The Contractor provides, in particular, the following expert services:
   • Market value appraisals pursuant to § 194 BauGB (German Building Code) based on the applicable Real Estate Valuation Ordinance (ImmoWertV) and the published application guidelines thereto
   • Condensed appraisal reports and value indications
   • Reports on remaining useful life (RUL reports)
   • Mortgage lending value reports pursuant to § 16 PfandBG (German Pfandbrief Act)
   • Expert opinions and plausibility reviews
   • Investment valuations, feasibility/profitability calculations and project appraisal
   • Feasibility studies and real estate fund analyses
   • Residual value determinations
2. The specific scope of services shall be set out in the order confirmation or the individual offer. Services not expressly agreed shall not form part of the contract; this applies in particular to legal opinions, tax advice, and the verification of the authenticity or completeness of documents provided.
3. Each appraisal report and each expert opinion is prepared exclusively on the basis of the available market data, the documents provided, and the findings of the property inspection. The Contractor is not obliged to commission soil samples, environmental reports, structural calculations or similar expert reports by third parties, or to verify their accuracy, unless expressly agreed.
4. Appraisal reports prepared by the Contractor are drawn up exclusively for the agreed purpose of use (e.g. tax evidence, divorce proceedings, loan collateralisation). Any use beyond the agreed purpose would require written approval and may result in an adjusted fee.
5. The Contractor's obligation is limited to the professionally competent preparation of the agreed appraisal report in accordance with recognised principles of real estate valuation. Acceptance or adoption of the appraisal report by courts, authorities, tax offices, credit institutions or other third parties, as well as any particular economic, tax or legal outcome, is not owed. The decision as to the usability, evidentiary value or consideration of the appraisal report lies exclusively with the respective competent body.
6. The Contractor is entitled to engage qualified subcontractors or vicarious agents to fulfil the order, provided that the independence and quality of the service remain assured.

§ 4 Client's Duties to Cooperate

1. The client is obliged to provide the Contractor promptly and in full with all documents required for the performance of the service. These include, in particular:
   • Current land register extract (not older than three months)
   • Site plan and cadastral map extract
   • Building permits, construction plans and building descriptions
   • Calculation of living area and calculation of gross volume
   • For income-generating properties: current lease agreements, statements of operating costs, vacancy information
   • Information on easements, encumbrances (Baulasten) and public-law restrictions
   • Known defects and obligations
2. The client shall grant the Contractor or its representatives access to the property being valued at the agreed inspection appointment, including all cellar, attic and ancillary rooms. If access is refused or cannot be provided, the Contractor is entitled to prepare the appraisal report on the basis of the available documents and an external inspection, or to withdraw from the contract.
3. The client warrants that all information and documents it provides are complete and accurate. If an appraisal report shows an incorrect value on the basis of false or incomplete information provided by the client, the client shall bear the resulting risk alone; the Contractor shall not be liable in such case.
4. Delays in the performance of services caused by the client's late or incomplete fulfilment of its duties to cooperate shall not be to the Contractor's detriment. The agreed deadlines shall be extended accordingly. Additional expense resulting from incomplete documents or additional inspection requirements shall be invoiced separately to the client.
5. When commissioning a market value appraisal for the purposes of court or administrative proceedings, the client shall provide the contractor with the relevant case file or deadline information in good time.

§ 5 Remuneration and Payment Terms

1. Remuneration is based on the individually agreed fee as set out in the order confirmation or offer. Unless otherwise agreed, the contractor's fixed prices shall apply. For consumers within the meaning of § 13 BGB, the stated prices are final prices including 19% VAT. For businesses within the meaning of § 14 BGB, the prices are net prices plus statutory value-added tax at the applicable rate. For court-appointed valuers, the Judicial Remuneration and Compensation Act (JVEG), as amended, shall apply, unless the court permits a deviating agreement.
2. In addition to the agreed fee, expenses (in particular travel costs, copying costs, register extracts, land registry documents) shall be separately reimbursable, unless they are expressly stated as included in the offer. Travel costs shall be invoiced based on the official mileage rate or on the basis of actual costs (train, flight).
3. For assignments with a fee of EUR 2,000 net or more, the contractor is entitled to demand an advance payment of 30% of the agreed net fee upon placement of the order. Preparation of the appraisal report shall commence upon receipt of the advance payment.
4. Invoices are due for payment without deduction within 14 calendar days of the invoice date. Should the client default on payment, the contractor is entitled to charge default interest at a rate of 9 percentage points above the base rate (for businesses) or 5 percentage points above the base rate (for consumers), as well as a dunning fee of EUR 5 per reminder. The right to assert further default damages remains reserved.
5. Set-off against counterclaims of the client is only permissible if such claims are undisputed or have been legally established. The client is only entitled to a right of retention if and to the extent that its counterclaim arises from the same contractual relationship.
6. If an order is cancelled by the client after it has been placed, the following cancellation flat fees shall be due:
   • Cancellation more than 7 business days before the agreed inspection date: 25% of the agreed net fee
   • Cancellation 3–7 business days before the agreed inspection date: 50% of the agreed net fee
   • Cancellation less than 3 business days before the agreed inspection date or after commencement of the performance of services: 75% of the agreed net fee

   The client reserves the right to prove that no damage or significantly less damage was incurred. The contractor reserves the right to prove that greater damage was incurred.

§ 6 Delivery and Performance Deadlines

1. Delivery or completion deadlines stated by the contractor are non-binding estimates, unless expressly confirmed in writing as binding. The deadline shall commence once the client has fully submitted all necessary documents and after receipt of any agreed advance payment.
2. The contractor shall not be in default as long as the performance of services is prevented by force majeure, illness of the valuer, unforeseeable official measures, or delayed cooperation on the part of the client. In such cases, the agreed deadlines shall be extended by the duration of the impediment, but by no more than four weeks. If the impediment persists longer, both parties are entitled to withdraw from the contract.
3. Binding expedited deadlines may be agreed separately; this requires an explicit written agreement and may justify an expedited service surcharge.

§ 7 Liability and Limitation of Liability

1. The contractor shall be liable without limitation for damages arising from intent or gross negligence on the part of the contractor or its vicarious agents, as well as for damages resulting from injury to life, limb, or health.
2. For damages arising from the breach of material contractual obligations (cardinal obligations) due to ordinary negligence, the contractor's liability shall be limited in amount to the typically foreseeable damage, capped at three times the net fee agreed for the specific assignment, but not exceeding EUR 500,000 per claim. Material contractual obligations are those whose fulfillment is essential to the proper performance of the contract in the first place and on whose observance the client may regularly rely.
3. Liability of the contractor for damages arising from the breach of other (non-material) contractual obligations due to ordinary negligence is excluded.
4. Liability for indirect damages, lost profits, missed savings, and consequential damages is excluded to the extent legally permissible, unless the damage is based on intent or gross negligence.
5. Appraisal reports and expert opinions of the contractor are prepared exclusively for the client and the agreed intended use. Liability towards third parties who use the appraisal report without the knowledge and consent of the contractor is excluded. If the appraisal report is to be used vis-à-vis third parties (e.g., banks, courts, buyers), this must be specified when placing the order.
6. The above limitations of liability shall also apply if the appraisal report or valuation is not recognized, or only partially recognized, by courts, authorities, credit institutions, or other third parties, provided that the non-recognition is not due to a breach of duty attributable to the contractor.
7. Liability of the contractor shall not apply insofar as the damage was caused by deficient, incorrect, or incomplete information provided by the client, or by circumstances unknown to the contractor (e.g., hidden defects, contaminated sites, undisclosed third-party rights).
8. Claims arising from defective performance shall become time-barred within two years after acceptance of the appraisal report, but no later than five years after the claim arose. For consumer clients, the statutory limitation periods shall apply.
9. The contractor maintains professional indemnity insurance with a coverage amount that meets the usual standards for freelance real estate valuers.

§ 8 Copyright and Rights of Use

1. Appraisal reports, expert opinions, analyses, and other written work products of the contractor are copyrighted works within the meaning of § 2 (1) No. 1 of the German Copyright Act (UrhG). Copyright shall remain with the contractor.
2. Upon full payment of the agreed fee, the contractor grants the client a simple, non-transferable right of use for the agreed intended purpose. This includes the disclosure to third parties, public distribution, or submission to authorities, courts, banks, and insurance companies for the agreed purpose.
3. Any further use – in particular reproduction, publication on the internet, use for advertising purposes, or the transfer of rights to third parties – requires the prior written consent of the contractor.
4. Substantive changes to the appraisal report by the client or third parties are prohibited without the written approval of the contractor. If changes are made, the contractor shall not be liable for the consequences of the modified version.
5. The contractor is entitled to use the valuation object and the appraisal report (in anonymized form, i.e., without allowing conclusions to be drawn about the client or the property) for reference and training purposes.

§ 9 Confidentiality

1. The contractor shall treat all information obtained in the course of the assignment regarding the client, the valuation object, and the valuation result as confidential. It shall not disclose this information to third parties without the prior written consent of the client.
2. Excepted from this are: (a) information that is already publicly known or becomes publicly known through no fault of the contractor; (b) information which the contractor is legally obliged to disclose (e.g., to courts, tax authorities, professional supervisory bodies); (c) the submission of the appraisal report to the competent court or authority as part of the agreed intended use.
3. The confidentiality obligation shall apply for the duration of the contractual relationship and for five years after its termination.
4. The client shall likewise treat any information regarding the contractor's methods, calculation bases, and trade secrets as confidential.

§ 10 Data Protection

1. The contractor processes personal data of the client exclusively for the performance of the contract and for the pursuit of legitimate interests in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).
2. Further information on data processing, the rights of data subjects, and storage periods can be found in the contractor's privacy policy, available on the website at bewerter-immobilien.de/datenschutz is available.

§ 11 Right of Withdrawal for Consumer Clients

1. Right of withdrawal: You have the right to withdraw from this contract within fourteen days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period is fourteen days from the day the contract was concluded.
2. To exercise your right of withdrawal, you must inform us (STRATON Real Estate Advisory UG (haftungsbeschränkt) & Co. KG, Schmiedweg 5, 85457 Wörth, e-mail: ts@bewerter-immobilien.de) of your decision to withdraw from this contract by means of a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or an e-mail). You may use the attached sample withdrawal form, although this is not mandatory.
3. To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
4. Effects of withdrawal: If you withdraw from this contract, we shall reimburse to you all payments received from you without undue delay and at the latest within fourteen days from the day on which we received notification of your withdrawal from this contract. For this reimbursement, we will use the same means of payment that you used for the original transaction, unless expressly agreed otherwise with you; in no event will you be charged any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
5. Premature expiry of the right of withdrawal (§ 356 (4) BGB): If you have requested that the service should begin before the end of the withdrawal period, and you expressly agree that we may begin performing the service, you shall lose your right of withdrawal once we have fully performed the agreed service. In the case of partial performance, you shall be liable to pay a proportionate compensation for the services already rendered up to the point of withdrawal.
6. Sample Withdrawal Form (to be completed and returned only if you wish to withdraw from the contract):

   To: STRATON Real Estate Advisory UG (haftungsbeschränkt) & Co. KG, Schmiedweg 5, 85457 Wörth, e-mail: ts@bewerter-immobilien.de

   I/we (*) hereby give notice that I/we (*) withdraw from the contract concluded by me/us (*) for the provision of the following service:

   Ordered on (*)/received on (*):

   Name of consumer(s):

   Address of consumer(s):

   Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper):

   Date:

   (*) Delete as applicable.

§ 12 Acceptance and Delivery

1. The appraisal report or expert opinion shall be deemed accepted if the client has received the work product and does not raise any written, substantiated complaints of defects within 14 working days.
2. Complaints of defects must be raised in writing and must specifically identify the alleged defect. The contractor is entitled to remedy legitimate defects by way of rectification.
3. No defect exists if the appraisal report reaches a conclusion that differs from what the client had envisaged in terms of content, provided that the valuation is methodologically correct and comprehensibly substantiated on the basis of the available data. A specific valuation amount is not owed and is not the subject of any express or implied agreement as to quality. Likewise, no specific tax, regulatory, judicial or bank-related recognition, usability, or use of the appraisal report is owed.

§ 13 Retention and Access to Files

1. The contractor shall retain a copy of the completed appraisal report together with the associated working documents for a period of ten years, calculated from the date of delivery of the appraisal report.
2. Shorter or longer periods may apply under commercial and tax law retention obligations.

§ 14 Dispute Resolution

1. We are neither obliged nor generally willing to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.

§ 15 Applicable Law and Place of Jurisdiction

1. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply exclusively, to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
2. For all disputes arising from or in connection with contracts concluded on the basis of these General Terms and Conditions, the exclusive place of jurisdiction, insofar as the client is a business entity, shall be the registered office of the contractor (Wörth, Munich Local Court [Amtsgericht München]). The contractor is furthermore entitled to bring proceedings against the client at the client's general place of jurisdiction.
3. For consumer clients, the statutory jurisdiction provisions apply; in particular, the consumer may bring proceedings before the court of their place of residence.

§ 16 Final Provisions

1. Should any individual provisions of these General Terms and Conditions be or become wholly or partially invalid or unenforceable, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The invalid or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by the statutory provision that comes closest to the economic purpose of the invalid provision.
2. Amendments and additions to these General Terms and Conditions must be made in writing; this also applies to any waiver of this written form requirement.