1896de Book2 Chapter07 Title01 Part03 No02

GERMAN CIVIL CODE OF 1896

• Based on the English Translation by: Wang, Chung Hui (1907). The German Civil Code, translated and annotated with historical introduction and appendices. London: Stevens and Sons. [available on Archive.org]

BOOK II. Law of Obligations.

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Chapter VII. Particular Kinds of Obligations.

Title I. Sale, Exchange.

Section 497.

• [I] If a seller, in a contract of sale, has reserved to himself the right of re-purchase, the re-purchase is effected by a declaration made by the seller to the purchaser that he exercises his right of re-purchase. The declaration need not be in the form prescribed for the contract of sale.
• [II] In case of doubt the price at which the sale has been made is also the price of re-purchase.

Section 498.

• [I] The original purchaser is bound to deliver to the original seller the purchased object and its accessories.
• [II] If, before the exercise of the right of re-purchase, the return of the purchased object has become impossible on account of deterioration, destruction, or for any other reason through some fault of the original purchaser, or if he has essentially altered the object, he is responsible for any damage arising therefrom. If the object has deteriorated without any fault on the part of the original purchaser, or if it is only unessentially altered, the original seller may not demand reduction of the purchase price.

Section 499.

• If the original purchaser has disposed of the purchased object before the exercise of the right of re-purchase, he is bound to extinguish the rights of third parties thereby created. A disposition which is effected by means of compulsory execution or distraint, or by a trustee in bankruptcy is equivalent to a disposition by the original purchase.

Section 500.

• The original purchaser may demand compensation for outlay which he has incurred on the purchased object before the re-purchase in so far as the value of the object is increased by such outlay. He may remove an attachment with which he has provided the thing to be returned.

Section 501.

• If the estimated value which the purchased object has at the time of re-purchase is agreed upon as the price of re-purchase, the original purchaser is not responsible for any deterioration, destruction, or impossibility of returning the object arising from any other cause; and the original seller is not bound to compensate him for outlay incurred.

Section 502.

• If several persons have a right of re-purchase in common, it may be exercised only as a whole. If it is extinguished in respect of one of the persons entitled, or if one of them does not exercise his right, the others are entitled to exercise the right of re-purchase as a whole.

Section 503.

• The right of re-purchase may be exercised, in the case of land, only before the expiration of thirty years, or, in the case of other objects, only before the expiration of three years after the formation of the agreement reserving the right. If a period is fixed for its exercise, this takes the place of the statutory period.