Running a WEG without a property manager in Germany

A German owners' association (WEG) may run without a property manager: the Condominium Act provides for one but does not require it. Without a manager, all owners jointly represent the association (section 9b(1) WEG). If an owner demands a certified manager, the association must appoint one, except in small buildings managed by one of the owners.

The question comes up more often now. In the 2025 survey of the German property managers' association VDIV, 57 per cent of firms said they were dropping mandates that do not pay, and almost 14 per cent take no new mandates at all. For a six-flat building owned partly by people abroad, that often means no offer.

Who signs for the association

Since the reform of December 2020 the association is a legal entity that signs contracts and can sue and be sued (section 9a(1)). Without a manager, every owner has to join in for the insurance policy, the heating engineer or the roofer, unless the owners resolve that one of them may handle defined matters alone. Put that authorisation in writing with a name, a spending limit and the kind of transactions, for example "orders up to 2,000 euros and payments from the association's account". The bank will need it before it opens an account in the association's name, and that account is not optional: running the Hausgeld through one owner's private account backfires at the first sale, death or dispute.

The duties that stay

• At least one owners' meeting a year (section 24), called by the advisory board chair, their deputy or an owner authorised by resolution
• The register of resolutions, kept by the chair of the meeting unless the owners pick someone else (section 24(8))
• An annual budget and, after the year end, the Hausgeld statement
• The maintenance reserve and the annual asset report

Split the work. One owner runs the account and chases arrears, another deals with tradespeople and quotes, a third sends invitations and keeps the minutes and the register. The register is the one people neglect, and it matters: past resolutions bind a buyer even though they are not in the land register (section 10(3)), so whoever buys a flat will ask to see it.

When one owner wants a professional

Each owner can demand proper administration (section 18(2)), which includes appointing a certified manager. The exception is narrow: fewer than nine units, one owner appointed as manager, and fewer than a third of owners asking for a certified one (section 19(2) no. 6). An association with no manager at all does not qualify. If the majority refuses, the owner can ask a court to pass the resolution instead (section 44(1)).

Self-management also stops making sense with a roof renovation and subsidy applications, a fast turnover of owners and tenants, or growing arrears. Our guide to changing the property manager in Germany covers what a firm costs and how the switch works.

Settle who may sign for the association before anything else. Vecinly keeps invitations, resolutions, Hausgeld and documents in one place and in each owner's language, which is what a mixed German and foreign ownership usually lacks; see our page on international owners' associations.

Information current as of September 2026. This article is general information on German WEG law and is not legal advice.