WEG without a property manager: what to do now

Why associations suddenly find themselves without a manager

The market explains it. The number of professional property managers is falling, thousands of firms have no succession plan, and a considerable share of managers are actively giving up properties because they cannot find staff. Small associations with fewer than twenty units are hit first — for overstretched providers they are the obvious thing to cut.

Typical triggers:

• The manager resigns, often at the end of the year
• The manager closes down or becomes insolvent
• The appointment expires without a timely reappointment — by far the most common case
• Removal without a successor at the same meeting
• The manager is effectively unreachable, without a formal end

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What happens immediately — and what does not

The owners' association continues to exist. It has legal capacity, accounts, contracts and liabilities. What is missing is the body that can represent it.

Without a manager, all owners represent the association jointly (§ 9b(1) sentence 2 WEG). In practice, that means every statement to third parties needs everyone's participation. With eleven owners that is laborious; with forty it is impossible.

What gets left undone:

• Payments to utilities, insurers, caretaker, metering company
• Collecting Hausgeld and chasing arrears
• Annual statement and budget
• Damage reports to the buildings insurer
• The manager's consent to the sale of a unit — sales stall immediately
• Repair orders

What does not happen: the association's bank accounts are not seized. They belong to the association. However, the bank only changes who can access them once a new manager has been appointed and the resolution is proven.

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The four ways out

It is not just a matter of "finding a new manager". Four routes are open, and they are not mutually exclusive — most associations combine two of them.

1. The previous manager continues for the time being

If there was a management contract and the relationship has not broken down, a time-limited continuation is the simplest route. It requires a fresh appointment by resolution, usually for six or twelve months.

The catch: the previous manager is not obliged to agree. If they resigned because they lack capacity, they will decline. Asking costs nothing, but do not count on it.

2. An owner is appointed as manager

The association can appoint one of its own members — permanently as self-management, or temporarily until an external manager is found. The resolution follows § 26 WEG, as for any other manager.

If this is unpaid and not commercial, no licence under § 34c GewO is needed. The right to a certified manager applies only in part here: with fewer than nine units and an owner acting as manager, it only arises once at least a third of the owners demand it.

What an in-house manager actually owes:

With eight units this is manageable if someone brings time, organisation and a basic understanding of bookkeeping. From around twenty units it becomes a second job.

And someone is liable. The appointed owner has the same duties as an external manager. Mistakes in statements, deadlines or implementing resolutions can lead to damages claims by the association — without the professional liability insurance a commercial manager has under § 15 MaBV. Anyone taking on the role should first clarify whether and how they are insured.

3. Interim management as a bridge

A special form of route 2: an owner is expressly appointed for a limited period, solely to keep the association able to act while the search continues. Suitable candidates are people with prior experience, often from the advisory board.

The advantage over permanent self-management is mainly psychological: nobody commits for years, and the search stays on the agenda.

4. Appointment by the court

If no appointment resolution is passed — because there is no majority, because nobody calls a meeting or because the association is divided — any single owner can ask the court to substitute the missing resolution (§ 44(1) sentence 2 WEG).

What you need:

• Proof that the association has no manager
• Proof that an attempt to appoint one was made or was hopeless
• Ideally a specific proposal with a quote — courts are reluctant to appoint blindly

The local court responsible for WEG matters where the property is located has jurisdiction. Expect several months and court costs that the association ultimately bears. This is the last route, not the first.

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The quick route: a meeting called by the advisory board

All four routes need a properly convened owners' meeting. If there is no manager, the chair of the advisory board — or their deputy — is entitled to call it (§ 24(3) WEG). If there is no advisory board, an owner authorised by resolution can call it; if that resolution does not exist either, only the court route remains.

1. Invitation in text form, at least three weeks' notice. Agenda: appointment of a manager, approval of the management contract, authorisation to sign, and if necessary election of an advisory board.
2. Get quotes beforehand. At least two, preferably three, so a real decision can be made. The process for an orderly change, including a draft resolution, is under changing your property manager. A meeting that only decides "in principle" costs another three months.
3. Resolution by simple majority. There is no quorum; the meeting can pass resolutions regardless of how many shares are represented.
4. Keep careful minutes. The appointment resolution is the proof for banks, insurers and the land registry. Do not forget the signatures under § 24(6) WEG; for the land registry they must be publicly certified (§ 26(4) WEG).

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Why the search has become so hard

Before you take twenty rejections personally: the problem almost never lies with your association.

Staff shortages. A considerable share of managers cannot fill vacancies, especially in WEG bookkeeping. A firm that cannot find bookkeepers takes on no mandates — however attractive the association.

Minimum sizes. Many managers no longer take on anything below a certain number of units. The reason is arithmetic: the annual statement, meeting, minutes and resolutions register cost almost the same for eight units as for eighty, but are shared among ten times fewer payers.

Portfolio clean-ups. Overstretched managers are actively handing back properties — small associations and those with high workloads first.

Old prices. A mandate that has run at €18 per unit for twelve years is not viable for any manager. If you are getting rejections, check what fee you are offering. A request that states a market-rate fee from the outset gets answered far more often than one that wants to carry the old price forward.

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If you search externally: four points not to give up

Small associations are in a weak negotiating position and therefore tend to accept any offer. We take on WEG management from four units. Even so, these four points are non-negotiable:

The third point is the most important and the least often asked. Client money belongs in accounts held by the owners' association. With pooled accounts of the manager, it is no longer possible in an insolvency or fraud case to separate whose money is where — and that is exactly how the cases you later read about in the paper arise.

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Organising the interim period: a checklist

To clarify	Why it is urgent
Who has access to the association's accounts?	Without authority to sign, no payments to utilities
Where are the records?	Declaration of division, resolutions register, contracts, insurance policies
Is the buildings insurance still running?	Check the premium, rule out cancellation for non-payment
Who takes damage reports?	A named person and an email address are enough for now
Is Hausgeld still being paid?	Ask owners in writing to keep paying — and check whether the advance payments were resolved to continue beyond the year
Are maintenance contracts running (lift, heating, smoke detectors)?	Safety duties do not end with the manager
Are sales coming up?	Inform sellers early; the manager's consent cannot be obtained without a manager

Important: the duty to keep the property safe — winter service, lighting, tree checks, lift inspections — remains with the association. Personal injury during a period without a manager is not a theoretical risk.

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How to protect yourselves in future

• Put reappointment on the agenda in good time. The resolution may be passed no earlier than one year before the appointment expires — use that year.
• Fill the advisory board and name a deputy. Without a board chair, the emergency exit for calling a meeting is missing.
• A standby authorisation resolution. The association can authorise an owner in advance to call a meeting if there is no manager.
• Secure the successor before removal. Never remove a manager before the successor's contract is ready to sign.
• Digital records. If records are kept in the owners' portal rather than in the manager's filing cabinet, a handover takes days rather than months.

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Ravenica also takes on associations in difficult situations — without a manager, with a backlog of statements or after the previous manager closed down. Nuremberg, Fürth, Erlangen.