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Köparens möjligheter att utkräva ansvar av säljaren och mäklaren vid brister i förvärvad fastighet

Arvidsson, Max LU (2022) JURM02 20222
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
This essay examines to which extent a buyer of property can hold either the seller or the realtor, or both, accountable in cases where the real estate deviates from what the buyer expected at the time of the purchase. The investigation shows that a seller’s and a realtor’s responsibility differ, but in some cases overlap.
As regards to the question whether a buyer can hold a seller liable due to a deficiency in the property, the matter is governed by the content of the parties’ contract. The subject of the agreement is based primarily on what the parties have negotiated between themselves. In addition, the inquiry displays that if the seller has hired a realtor, the seller can also be bound be the information the agent provides to the... (More)
This essay examines to which extent a buyer of property can hold either the seller or the realtor, or both, accountable in cases where the real estate deviates from what the buyer expected at the time of the purchase. The investigation shows that a seller’s and a realtor’s responsibility differ, but in some cases overlap.
As regards to the question whether a buyer can hold a seller liable due to a deficiency in the property, the matter is governed by the content of the parties’ contract. The subject of the agreement is based primarily on what the parties have negotiated between themselves. In addition, the inquiry displays that if the seller has hired a realtor, the seller can also be bound be the information the agent provides to the buyer. The outer extent of the information which the seller can be bound by, is such information that the seller should have known that the realtor had provided to the buyer, for example information displayed in descriptions of the estate as well as advertisements.
In the common case that the parties have not at all, or only partly, regulated which deficiencies that should constitute a legal responsibility for the seller, the rules of the Swedish Land Code will fill out their agreement. These rules stipulate that the buyer, depending on the circumstances in the factual case, has the right to hold the seller liable for several different kind of deficiencies in the property, such as deficiencies that deviate from what the buyer had rea-son to expect at the time of the purchase.
For a buyer to be able to hold a realtor accountable for a deficiency in the property, the real estate agent must have broken the estate agent code of con-duct with intent or negligence during the sales process. Therefore, the essay includes a comprehensive investigation regarding both the content of the estate agent code of conduct and how the negligence assessment is carried out.
The inquiry shows that the estate agent code of conduct prescribes several obligations for the realtor towards the buyer, such as a duty to inform the pur-chaser of special conditions regarding the property as well as giving adequate advice to the buyer. As a result of this, the realtor can be liable to pay damages to the buyer, under certain circumstances, if the real estate agent has for ex-ample provided incorrect information about the property or neglected to share important information about the real estate to the buyer.
By analysing practice, it follows that there are some general criteria for how a careful realtor should act and when, deviating from these, the agent is considered to have acted negligently. Furthermore, it shows that the judicial bodies also apply ”the Hand rule” to assess whether the realtor has acted neg-ligent or not. Therefore, a real estate agent’s duty to act carefully may vary depending on the likelihood that the realtor’s action will cause harm, the size of the harm in question, the real estate agent’s knowledge about the risk as well as to what extent it was possible to prevent the injury. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Denna uppsats handlar om i vilken utsträckning en fastighetsköpare kan ut-kräva ansvar av antingen säljaren eller mäklaren alternativt bägge två i de fall fastighetens beskaffenhet avviker från vad köparen förväntade sig vid köptill-fället. Av undersökningen framgår att säljarens och mäklarens ansvar ser olika ut men att de delvis överlappar varandra.
Vad gäller frågan huruvida en köpare kan göra gällande en brist i en för-värvad fastighet gentemot en säljare styrs det av innehållet i parternas avtal, där avtalets innehåll baseras först och främst på vad parterna har förhandlat om sinsemellan. Därutöver visar utredningen att i det fall säljaren anlitat en fastighetsmäklare, kan säljaren även bli bunden i förhållande till köparen av... (More)
Denna uppsats handlar om i vilken utsträckning en fastighetsköpare kan ut-kräva ansvar av antingen säljaren eller mäklaren alternativt bägge två i de fall fastighetens beskaffenhet avviker från vad köparen förväntade sig vid köptill-fället. Av undersökningen framgår att säljarens och mäklarens ansvar ser olika ut men att de delvis överlappar varandra.
Vad gäller frågan huruvida en köpare kan göra gällande en brist i en för-värvad fastighet gentemot en säljare styrs det av innehållet i parternas avtal, där avtalets innehåll baseras först och främst på vad parterna har förhandlat om sinsemellan. Därutöver visar utredningen att i det fall säljaren anlitat en fastighetsmäklare, kan säljaren även bli bunden i förhållande till köparen av uppgifter som mäklaren lämnat till köparen. Gränsen för vilka uppgifter som säljaren kan bli bunden av går vid sådana uppgifter som säljaren bort känna till att mäklaren lämnande till köparen, såsom uppgifter i objektsbeskrivningar och annonser.
I det fall parterna inte alls eller endast delvis har avtalat om vad som ska anses utgöra ett fel i fastigheten – vilket är det vanligaste – fyller jordabalkens dispositiva felregler ut avtalet. Av reglerna följer att köparen beroende på om-ständigheterna i det enskilda fallet kan ha rätt att göra gällande flera olika typer av brister i fastigheten gentemot säljaren, däribland sådana brister i fastigheten som avviker från vad köparen med fog kunnat förutsätta vid köptillfället.
För att en köpare ska kunna göra gällande en brist i fastigheten gentemot en mäklare krävs att mäklaren kan anses ha uppsåtligt eller av oaktsamhet handlat i strid med god fastighetsmäklarsed vid fastighetsförmedlingen. I uppsatsen sker därav en omfattande utredning av vad som är god fastighetsmäklarsed och hur oaktsamhetsbedömningen utförs.
Av undersökningen framgår att mäklaren enligt god fastighetsmäklarsed har flertalet förpliktelser gentemot köparen såsom att upplysa köparen om särskilda förhållanden avseende fastighetens skick samt att ge adekvata råd till köparen. Till följd av detta kan mäklaren hållas skadeståndsrättsligt ansvarig gentemot köparen under vissa förutsättningar när mäklaren exempelvis har lämnat felaktiga uppgifter om fastighetens beskaffenhet eller underlåtit att delge viktig information om fastighetens skick till köparen.
Vid analys av praxis framgår att det finns vissa generella kriterier för hur en aktsam mäklare ska agera och avviker mäklaren från dessa anses vederbö-rande ha agerat oaktsamt. Vidare framgår att prövningsorganen även tillämpar en fri culpabedömning för att avgöra om mäklaren kan anses ha agerat oakt-samt eller inte. Därav kan mäklarens skyldighet att agera aktsamt i ett enskilt fall variera utifrån hur stor risk det finns för skada till följd av handlandet, hur stor skada som kan tänkas uppkomma samt mäklarens riskinsikt och möjlig-het att förebygga skadan. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Arvidsson, Max LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
The purchaser's possibility to hold seller and realtor accountable due to deficiencies in acquired real estate
course
JURM02 20222
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
avtalsrätt, fastighetsrätt, skadeståndsrätt, fel i fastighet, mäklarrätt
language
Swedish
id
9105234
date added to LUP
2023-01-25 10:04:54
date last changed
2023-01-25 10:04:54
@misc{9105234,
  abstract     = {{This essay examines to which extent a buyer of property can hold either the seller or the realtor, or both, accountable in cases where the real estate deviates from what the buyer expected at the time of the purchase. The investigation shows that a seller’s and a realtor’s responsibility differ, but in some cases overlap.
As regards to the question whether a buyer can hold a seller liable due to a deficiency in the property, the matter is governed by the content of the parties’ contract. The subject of the agreement is based primarily on what the parties have negotiated between themselves. In addition, the inquiry displays that if the seller has hired a realtor, the seller can also be bound be the information the agent provides to the buyer. The outer extent of the information which the seller can be bound by, is such information that the seller should have known that the realtor had provided to the buyer, for example information displayed in descriptions of the estate as well as advertisements.
In the common case that the parties have not at all, or only partly, regulated which deficiencies that should constitute a legal responsibility for the seller, the rules of the Swedish Land Code will fill out their agreement. These rules stipulate that the buyer, depending on the circumstances in the factual case, has the right to hold the seller liable for several different kind of deficiencies in the property, such as deficiencies that deviate from what the buyer had rea-son to expect at the time of the purchase.
For a buyer to be able to hold a realtor accountable for a deficiency in the property, the real estate agent must have broken the estate agent code of con-duct with intent or negligence during the sales process. Therefore, the essay includes a comprehensive investigation regarding both the content of the estate agent code of conduct and how the negligence assessment is carried out.
The inquiry shows that the estate agent code of conduct prescribes several obligations for the realtor towards the buyer, such as a duty to inform the pur-chaser of special conditions regarding the property as well as giving adequate advice to the buyer. As a result of this, the realtor can be liable to pay damages to the buyer, under certain circumstances, if the real estate agent has for ex-ample provided incorrect information about the property or neglected to share important information about the real estate to the buyer.
By analysing practice, it follows that there are some general criteria for how a careful realtor should act and when, deviating from these, the agent is considered to have acted negligently. Furthermore, it shows that the judicial bodies also apply ”the Hand rule” to assess whether the realtor has acted neg-ligent or not. Therefore, a real estate agent’s duty to act carefully may vary depending on the likelihood that the realtor’s action will cause harm, the size of the harm in question, the real estate agent’s knowledge about the risk as well as to what extent it was possible to prevent the injury.}},
  author       = {{Arvidsson, Max}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Köparens möjligheter att utkräva ansvar av säljaren och mäklaren vid brister i förvärvad fastighet}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}