General terms and conditions (CTG)

 DocEstate GmbH (status: 24.01.2023)

§ 1 Provider and contracual partner

(1) The provider is DocEstate GmbH (hereinafter referred to as “DocEstate” or “we”). Further information about our company can be found in our imprint, available at https://www.docestate.com/imprint/.

(2) Our offer is aimed exclusively at entrepreneurs within the meaning of § 14 BGB (German Civil Code), i.e. natural or legal persons or partnerships with legal capacity who, when concluding the contract with us, are acting in the exercise of their commercial or independent professional activity (hereinafter: “Client”).

§ 2 Subject matter and contractual language

(1) On our order platform, the Client has the option of engaging and authorizing us with the procurement and provision of selected information from authorities, as well as optionally with the evaluation of the documents ordered. We act as an intermediary between the Client and the authorities and procure documents and information from the authorities on behalf of the Client.

(2) The contractual language is German.

§ 3 Order process, conclusion of contract, client’s obligation to cooperate and DocEstate’s right of withdrawal

(1) Our order platform https://connect.docestate.com/login can be accessed via a password-protected login.

(2) The service descriptions on our order platform merely represent a non-binding invitation to place corresponding orders with us.

(3) After logging in, the Client can select the “Order placement” section on a dashboard and, by clicking on the service descriptions in this section, select the desired services and place them in the shopping cart.

(4) As part of the ordering process, the Client must provide proof of his legitimate interest or the legitimate interest of his own client, e.g. in the form of proof of ownership (excerpt from the land register) and, if necessary, a corresponding power of attorney from his own client. The provision of this proof is the sole responsibility of our Client. If the documents supplied by our Client are not considered sufficient by the authorities subsequently contacted by us, the Client shall be given the opportunity to rectify the issue. If he fails to do so, we may terminate the contract unilaterally.

(5) In the order summary, the Client can check his order data and his shopping cart and, if necessary, change them at any time before sending the order. Only when the Client clicks on the green button “ORDER BINDING” is the order placed with us bindingly and subject to a charge of fees and costs.

(6) As soon as we have received the Client’s order and we accept the order, an order confirmation will be sent to the Client, usually by email. The contract is concluded with our order confirmation.

(7) However, we reserve the right to refuse to accept an order without giving reasons.

(8) Since we have no influence on internal processes and working methods of the authorities and it may happen in individual cases that the documents ordered are not available from the competent authority, we reserve the right to inform the Client immediately in such a case and to terminate the contract unilaterally in this respect. In this case, the Client shall have no claim to the ordered service and the Client shall not incur any fees in this respect. Further claims of the Client against us in this connection are excluded. The same applies if the competent authority does not provide any information or only incomplete information despite requesting the documents and three additional corresponding requests by us.

§ 4 Provision of documents, destruction of physical documents and duration of storage of digital documents

(1) After receipt of the documents from the competent authorities, physical documents are scanned and made available as PDF files in the Client-specific and secured cloud. The Client is notified of updates in the cloud by email. The client is solely responsible for downloading and securing the documents provided.

(2) With the provision of the documents in the cloud and the corresponding notification of the Client or with the sending of the documents to the Client by post, the contract is fulfilled by DocEstate.

(3) Unless we have agreed otherwise in writing with the Client, we will properly destroy physical documents that have been entered into the cloud as PDF files no later than three months after the last document of the order has been made available. After this three-month period has expired, we shall also irrevocably delete the documents stored in the cloud and, if applicable, the documents stored in our other storage media.

§ 5 Processing time and delivery time

(1) Due to the individual processing by the respective competent authorities, no binding delivery times can be specified.

(2) However, we undertake to procure the contractual documents as quickly as possible and with the diligence of a prudent businessman in accordance with section 347 of the German Commercial Code (HGB) and to make the information and documents received, which are no larger than A3 format, available to the Client on our platform as quickly as possible, but no later than the next working day, and to notify the Client of this.

§ 6 Price, fees, costs, invoicing and due date

(1) The respective package and individual prices on our platform at the time of the order shall apply to the Client’s order.

(2) The official fees and costs are laid out by us and passed on to the Client with the invoice. We are entitled to demand an advance payment from the Client for the official fees and costs.

(3) Our invoices are provided in the cloud and are also sent to the email address provided by the Client. Payment is due immediately after receipt of the respective invoice by email to the Client.

§ 7 Liability and disclaimer

(1) Claims for damages by the Client against us and our agents are generally excluded. This does not apply to claims for damages of the Client due to injury to life, body, health or essential contractual obligations, which must necessarily be fulfilled in order to achieve the contractual objective. The exclusion also does not apply for claims for damages due to grossly negligent or intentional breach of duty by us or our agents.

(2) We shall not be liable in the event of delays or non-fulfillment of information processing by authorities or public offices.

(3) The Client shall be responsible for ensuring that the information provided to us is correct and truthful and, if necessary, updated.

(4) The Client shall bear all damages, in particular third-party costs, arising from false or incorrect information provided by the Client, in particular with regard to property data and powers of attorney. In such cases, the client shall also bear the service fee.

 § 8 Confidentiality agreement and data protection

(1) We are obliged to treat all Client data as strictly confidential.

(2) The Client data shall be used exclusively for the fulfillment of the order (sending, processing and subsequently evaluating requests from authorities) and for internal training of the software. Confidential information will not be passed on to third parties or made accessible in any other way.

(3) Further information can be found in our privacy policy, which is available at https://www.docestate.com/private-policy/.

§ 9 Information on recording in accordance with §§ 12/12a GBO and § 43 GBV

(1) We inform the Client that a record must be kept of inspections pursuant to sections 12/12a GBO and section 43 GBV in land registers, land register files and auxiliary registers. The data of the person making the inspection shall be stored at the office granting the inspection.

(2) The same applies to the provision of land register copies of copies from the land register files and the provision of information therefrom.

(3) The owner of the property concerned or the holder of the right equivalent to real property shall be provided with information from this record upon request, unless disclosure would jeopardize the success of criminal investigations or the performance of tasks by a constitution protection authority, the Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst), the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (Militärischer Abschirmdienst) or the Central Office for Financial Transaction Investigations (Zentralstelle für Finanztransaktionsuntersuchungen).

§ 10 Applicable law, place of performance, place of jurisdiction and written form

(1) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply to the exclusion of standards that refer to foreign legal systems. 

(2) The place of performance and jurisdiction is our registered office, currently Frankfurt am Main. We remain entitled to sue the client at his place of business. 

(3) Deviations, amendments or supplementary agreements to these terms and conditions must be made in writing. This also applies to the waiver of this written form requirement. The written form requirement is met by sending declarations by email or fax, provided that the signature of the issuer is provided in the case of a declaration sent by fax or at least a simple electronic signature is provided in the case of a declaration sent by email.