Use (law)
Use is the legal technical term for an expense (voluntary and purposeful sacrifice of property) in favor of a thing . In contrast to damage , which consists of an involuntary loss of rights or legal interests, use is a deliberate expenditure of assets that benefits the thing by restoring, maintaining or improving it.
The expenses incurred for the legal acquisition of a thing are not used. The same applies, in the absence of a loss of property, to additions that do not become essential components ( Section 93 BGB) of the item.
definition
According to § § 994 ff. BGB , the owner of an item can demand compensation for use from the respective owner , provided that he was not entitled to possession at the time of his asset expenditure (so-called owner-owner relationship ) . A distinction must be made between the replacement of necessary uses and the (merely) useful uses according to § 996 BGB. Use is necessary if it was objectively necessary for the maintenance or management of an item at the time it was used.
In contrast to the necessary uses, replacement can only be requested for the useful uses if the user (1.) was in good faith with regard to his property right when making his property sacrifice and (2.) the value of the thing at the time of return to the owner was still through the usage is increased.
In this sense, the owner is in good faith who is neither sued at the time of making use of the item nor who was grossly negligent in knowing that he actually lacked the right to own the item.
Finally, there are so-called luxury uses, which are uses that are neither necessary nor useful. The user will not receive any replacement for these.
Examples : someone buys a used car and has it repainted. It later emerges that the car was stolen. The owner rightly claims the car back. But the user wants money for the painting. A differentiation now has to be made: if the paint on the car was old and needed to be repainted to prevent the car from rusting through, then the painting represents a necessary use that must be replaced. If, on the other hand, the car was previously only one color that was out of fashion while the new one is being sought and the value of the car is thereby increased, the paint is a useful use. If it is simply a different color, the value of the car is increased does not change, there is a luxury use which cannot be replaced. In this case, the user has no right of removal according to Section 997 (2) BGB, as the separation is of no use to him.
Regardless of the distinction between § 994 BGB on the one hand and § 996 BGB on the other, according to the established case law of the Federal Court of Justice , the owner can only demand compensation for uses on a property if this has not been fundamentally changed as a result (narrow use term). The development of someone else's property, for example, generally does not lead to a claim for reimbursement of use - with a few exceptions. This case law is criticized by jurisprudence . The prevailing view in the literature uses the broad term of use, which also includes uses that change the subject matter.
Who uses a strange and initiating any in his possession thing reimbursement of expenses may according to the principles of enrichment law (§ § 812 require ff. BGB).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Palandt / Bassenge , § 994 Rn. 2.
- ^ Herrler: Civil Code . Ed .: Palandt. 77th edition. 2018, § 994, Rn. 3 .
- ↑ Use. In: rechtslexikon.net. Retrieved July 21, 2018 .
literature
- Medicus, Dieter Civil law. 21st edition. Carl Heymanns Verlag, Cologne 2007, ISBN 3-452-26430-0 .
Web links
- Federal laws on the Internet - provided by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Juris
