House raffle

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A house raffle is a procedure that was first used in Austria at the end of 2008 and is now popular in several EU countries, whereby a property is not sold in the conventional way such as a purchase contract or auction, but through a lottery .

House raffles quickly gained a large media presence in Austria and Germany.

As of May 2010, only four houses have been successfully raffled in Austria, but several hundred raffles have been canceled.

The reason for the slack is the media disinterest and increasing fraud raffles via offshore letterbox companies (bogus companies) mainly from the Spanish area, which have caused great uncertainty.

legality

EU : The European Court of Justice has already ruled on September 8, 2009 that the national legislature may prohibit Internet gambling.

In Germany , raffles are illegal for violating the State Treaty on Gambling and are punishable as illegal gambling according to Sections 284 and 287 StGB . The District Court of Munich I sentenced the organizer of a German house raffle to a two-year suspended prison sentence on March 29, 2010.

In Austria , house raffles are presented as criminally controversial because of their gambling character, although no final decision has yet been initiated. However, the Austrian Federal Ministries of Finance and Justice have stated that a one-time raffle by private sellers with no intention of making a profit is legal. Commercial raffles without a state license are also prohibited.

chronology

The first house raffle in Austria started in December 2008 in Klagenfurt. 9,999 tickets were sold at a price of 99 euros each, and the lottery item was handed over to the winner in mid-January 2009.

Due to the strong media presence due to this new type of sale, further objects were advertised for raffle until summer 2009. This large supply made it increasingly difficult to sell tickets and to carry out the drawing in a reasonable time. To make matters worse, the seller incurs a legal transaction fee of 12% on the total lot amount at the beginning of the lottery sale, which must be paid to the tax office. This "lucky tax" must be paid in full even if the raffle is canceled.

Procedure for a house raffle

In contrast to an auction , it is not the highest bidder who wins the bid, but luck decides the lot.

The price of the property consists of the calculated market price , the various fees , taxes , and costs for advertising and processing. This total price is divided by the ticket price and the number of participants is calculated. After the registration of the participant, the purchase price of the tickets is paid into an escrow account and in return the buyer receives his ticket number.

The period for the real estate raffle is precisely determined and is usually six to eight months. If there is an oversupply of house raffles, this period of time could increase. Once all the tickets have been sold, the house raffle takes place. The winner is the new owner of the property. If the tickets are sold before the deadline, the drawing can be brought forward.

In the event that not all tickets have been sold, the date can be postponed or the raffle can be canceled. In this case, the participants will receive back the amounts paid minus a processing fee. The gambling fee already paid by the ticket seller to the tax office is, in the opinion of the Ministry of Finance, non-refundable and is due in full even if the ticket is canceled. This will also be deducted from the amount to be paid back to the ticket buyer.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kleine Zeitung: Again someone pulls the "Hauslos" ( memento from July 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ - The black sheep of the house raffles ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www. Betrugs-verlosungen.com
  3. ↑ ECJ , judgment of September 8, 2009, Az. C-42/07 [1]
  4. ↑ Joint statement by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Justice on the topic of the house raffles from March 25, 2009
  5. ↑ Stephanie Dirnbacher: Wiener Zeitung: You can also attach a property in an unconventional way. A house becomes playful. In: Wiener Zeitung , January 9, 2009, accessed on November 7, 2013.
  6. ↑ Kleine Zeitung: House raffle: Walter Egger came, saw and was amazed on January 22, 2009 ( Memento from November 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ^ Wiener Zeitung : Slack after media hype about Carinthian 99-euro villa - The many imitators are now afraid - House raffles: fiasco instead of boom on March 21, 2009, accessed on November 7, 2013.

literature