HS Turku The seller did nothing wrong, but has to pay an invoice of almost 100,000 euros – A special mess in Turku

Turku the court of appeal has ordered the seller of the apartment to pay the buyer back the majority of the price of the apartment sold. The apartment located in the center of Turku changed owners in 2017 for approximately 90,000 euros.

Now the seller has to return 50,000 euros with interest on the sale price and pay the litigation costs.

Price reduction there is a special dispute over incorrect information in the authorities’ registers.

The seller of the apartment began selling the 40-square-foot apartment in the summer of 2017. The apartment had previously operated as a hairdresser, and the seller initially assumed the apartment was a commercial apartment.

The real estate agent who took over the apartment explained the purpose of the apartment from the building control of the City of Turku. It was reported that the apartment has been entered in the building register as a residential apartment. Also in the articles of association and the property manager’s certificate, the purpose of the apartment was Residential Apartment.

Because the apartment was intended for housing, its value was considerably higher than that of a commercial apartment.

When the apartment changed owners, both parties were of the opinion that the apartment was fit for living.

The buyer assumed that he would only have to apply for a building permit for the apartment to build showers and windows. After the renovation, the apartment would be in living condition.

At this point, the true purpose of the apartment was revealed.

When the building inspector who handled the building permit excavated the original building permit drawings for the site, it was revealed that the apartment was indeed intended for business. The information in the city’s building register was incorrect, and the error had even traveled to the Digital and Demographic Information Office.

Housing dispute was dealt with twice in the district court, where the buyer’s claims for cancellation or reduction of the purchase price were ultimately dismissed.

However, the Turku Court of Appeal changed the verdict.

According to the Court of Appeal, the apartment did not correspond to the information provided by the seller to the buyer prior to the transaction. As the error was not due to the negligence of the seller, the buyer is not entitled to damages. However, the buyer is entitled to a price reduction of 50,000 euros. In addition, the seller has to pay the buyer’s legal costs of about 30,000 euros. Accordingly, the buyer must pay the real estate agent’s legal costs in excess of EUR 6,500, as the error was not caused by the realtor’s negligence.

The judgment of the Court of Appeal can be appealed to the Supreme Court.