One in five auctions whose background is visible in the file has no creditor behind it, but co-owners who cannot agree. The partition auction, in German Teilungsversteigerung, is the procedure by which communities of heirs, separated couples and other co-owners turn a property into money when they fail to settle. It runs before the same court and under almost the same rules as a creditor-driven foreclosure auction, but differs in three places that cost bidders real money. This article explains who can apply, how the procedure runs step by step, what the 193 current cases actually show and how bidders spot the traps.
A partition auction is a forced auction run not by a creditor but by a co-owner who wants to dissolve the co-ownership of a property (section 180 ZVG, the German Forced Sale Act). Because a house cannot be divided in kind, it is auctioned and the proceeds take its place (section 753 BGB, the Civil Code). No enforceable title is required (section 181 (1) ZVG).
For communities of heirs, section 2042 BGB applies in addition: every co-heir may demand the partition of the estate at any time, unless the deceased excluded it for up to 30 years (section 2044 BGB). For spouses under the statutory property regime, section 1365 BGB can block the application if the co-ownership share is almost the applicant's entire property. The Federal Court of Justice held in its decision of 16.11.2022 (XII ZB 100/22) that a partition auction is possible during the separation period before the divorce.
Anyone registered in the land register as a co-owner may apply, as may an heir of a registered owner who proves the succession (section 181 (2) ZVG). The size of the share is irrelevant; a tenth is enough. Guardians and legal custodians need the approval of the family or custodianship court. The competent court is the local court (Amtsgericht) acting as enforcement court in whose district the property lies. A lawyer is not required.
Three differences carry everything: the applicant is a co-owner rather than a creditor, there is no enforceable title, and there is no enforcing creditor whose rank determines the minimum bid. As a result, registered land charges usually survive the auction (section 182 ZVG), the proceeds go to the co-owners, and a co-owner can have the procedure suspended temporarily under section 180 (2) ZVG.
| Feature | Foreclosure auction | Partition auction |
|---|---|---|
| Who applies | a creditor with an enforceable title, usually a bank, the tax office or a homeowners' association | a co-owner, without a title (section 181 (1) ZVG) |
| Purpose | satisfy a claim out of the property | dissolve the co-ownership, turn the property into divisible money |
| Minimum bid | rights ranking ahead of the enforcing creditor survive, junior rights are extinguished (sections 44, 52 ZVG) | all rights encumbering the applicant's share and all rights ranking ahead of them survive (section 182 ZVG), in practice all land charges |
| Proceeds | to the creditors by rank | after costs and creditors, to the co-owners by share; deposited with the court if they disagree |
| Suspension by those affected | debtor protection under section 30a ZVG, at most six months | section 180 (2) to (4) ZVG: six months, repeatable once, for spouses protecting a child repeatedly, five years in total at most |
| 5/10 and 7/10 value limits | apply (sections 85a, 74a ZVG) | apply as well (section 180 (1) ZVG) |
| Security deposit | 10 percent of the appraised value on request of a party (sections 67, 68 ZVG) | waived for a co-owner who holds a mortgage or land charge covered by the bid (section 184 ZVG) |
| How to recognise it | entry "forced auction ordered" in section II of the land register | the public notice says "auction to dissolve the co-ownership" |
In a foreclosure auction, the rank of the enforcing creditor is the cut: whatever is registered ahead of that creditor survives, whatever comes after is extinguished by the award (sections 52 (1), 91 (1) ZVG). In a partition auction there is no creditor, only shares. Section 182 (1) ZVG therefore orders that all rights encumbering the applicant's share, wholly or jointly, become part of the minimum bid. A land charge on the whole property encumbers every share. It survives, and the successful bidder takes it over on top of the cash bid.
That has a consequence many bidders underestimate. The Federal Court of Justice ruled on 29.01.2016 (V ZR 285/14) that the successful bidder is liable for the full nominal amount of a surviving land charge, whether or not the underlying loan is still outstanding. Taking it over is part of the price paid for the property. Anyone who fails to establish before the auction how much debt remains and whether the bank will consent to cancellation is bidding on an unknown number. If the shares are encumbered unequally, the minimum bid rises further by a balancing amount (section 182 (2) ZVG). How assumed land charges count towards the value limits is explained in The minimum bid at a foreclosure auction.
The procedure mirrors a foreclosure auction: application to the local court, order with an auction notice entered in the land register, appraisal and setting of the market value, public notice six weeks before the hearing, bidding period of at least 30 minutes, award, payment of the cash bid and distribution hearing. In the current cases, a median of 553 days lies between the land register notice and the auction date.
Longer than most guides say. Klaava is a German platform for forced-sale auction dates and evaluates the documents of current proceedings. For 106 of the 193 current partition auctions, the date of the land register notice is in the data set. Between that notice and the scheduled hearing, the median is 553 days, a good year and a half. For the 448 creditor-driven foreclosures with the same information, it is 568 days. As of 05.09.2026.
A second gap adds to this: between the valuation date of the appraisal and the hearing, partition auctions show a median of 375 days. The report is therefore a good year old on auction day. Every suspension under section 180 (2) ZVG extends the procedure by up to six months.
A co-owner may apply for a temporary suspension if, weighing the interests of all co-owners, it appears appropriate (section 180 (2) ZVG). The suspension lasts at most six months and may be repeated once. Where spouses or registered partners are auctioning against each other, it must additionally be ordered if necessary to avert a serious risk to the welfare of a joint child, and then repeatedly (section 180 (3) ZVG). In total, the procedure may not be suspended for more than five years (section 180 (4) ZVG). For bidders, every suspension means a cancelled hearing. What then happens to preparation and security deposit is covered in Suspension of the procedure.
On 05.09.2026, Klaava listed 3,609 upcoming hearings at 427 local courts. For 946 of them, the background of the procedure can be read from the evaluated documents. 193 of these 946 cases, or 20.4 percent, are partition auctions. They differ from the rest of the stock far more than the identical procedure would suggest.
The median appraised value of a partition auction is 292,200 euros. For the 751 creditor-driven foreclosures it is 192,000 euros, and for the whole stock 175,000 euros. Half of all partition auctions fall between 109,500 and 472,500 euros. Part of the gap is the property mix: single-family houses are auctioned more often and apartments less often, because communities of heirs and couples tend to own houses. Within the same property type, however, a difference remains.
| Property type | Partition auction: count | Median appraised value | Foreclosure: count | Median appraised value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family house | 61 (31.6 %) | 394,000 euros | 216 (28.8 %) | 235,000 euros |
| Apartment | 22 (11.4 %) | 300,000 euros | 230 (30.6 %) | 145,700 euros |
| Two-family house | 17 (8.8 %) | 385,000 euros | 35 (4.7 %) | 283,000 euros |
| Apartment building | 17 (8.8 %) | 353,000 euros | 83 (11.1 %) | 263,500 euros |
| Semi-detached house | 16 (8.3 %) | 304,000 euros | 28 (3.7 %) | 307,500 euros |
| Land without buildings | 24 (12.4 %) | 31,000 euros | 43 (5.7 %) | 67,000 euros |
The high share of undeveloped land stands out: together with 15 agricultural and forestry plots, one in five partition auctions concerns land without a building. These are typically inherited fields and building plots that nobody in the community of heirs wants to use.
Regionally the cases are concentrated: 55 are running in North Rhine-Westphalia, 44 in Bavaria, 35 in Hesse and 18 in Berlin. These four states account for 152 of the 193 partition auctions, or 78.8 percent, against a 50.6 percent share of the total stock. An overview by state is available at Forced-sale auctions in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Two further differences concern the quality of the documents. In 124 of 190 partition auctions with a clear statement, or 65.3 percent, the expert saw the building from the inside. For creditor-driven foreclosures the figure is 357 of 728, or 49.0 percent. Co-owners who want a high price let the expert in more readily than a debtor who is losing their home. Rented out are 28 of 171 properties with a statement, or 16.4 percent, against 25.8 percent for foreclosures. Most documents are silent on the trigger: in 26 of the 193 cases a community of heirs is named explicitly, in 45 there are references to spouses or a separation.
For bidders, the partition auction is usually the better procedure: the appraisals are more often based on an interior inspection, the properties are less often rented out, and no creditor defends a claim. Against this stand two risks: surviving land charges that add to the cash bid, and a co-owner who knows the property and bids themselves.
The applicant advances the costs; in the end they are paid out of the proceeds and thus borne by all co-owners in proportion (section 109 ZVG). Court fees and the appraisal depend on the appraised value. The successful bidder additionally pays the award fee, real estate transfer tax and land register costs; a lawyer is not required on either side.
Under the schedule of fees to the Court Fees Act (GKG), court costs consist of 100 euros for the order (no. 2210) and four value-based fees of 0.5 each for the procedure, the hearing, the award and the distribution (nos. 2211 to 2215). At an appraised value of 300,000 euros, one full fee under Annex 2 GKG is 2,878 euros, so the four half fees add up to 5,756 euros. The award fee among them is owed by the successful bidder alone (section 26 GKG). Add the expert's report, whose advance the applicant pays and which costs a mid to high four-figure amount depending on the property.
The successful bidder faces the same ancillary costs as in any foreclosure auction, detailed in Ancillary costs at a foreclosure auction. One peculiarity concerns co-owners who buy at their own auction: a co-heir who acquires an estate property to partition the estate is exempt from real estate transfer tax (section 3 no. 3 GrEStG), as is a spouse (section 3 no. 4 GrEStG) and a former spouse acquiring as part of the property settlement after divorce (section 3 no. 5 GrEStG). An outside bidder pays the full rate of the respective state, see Real estate transfer tax at a foreclosure auction.
Which partition auctions are coming up and which appraisals have been evaluated is shown in the property overview.
What is the difference between a partition auction and a foreclosure auction? In a foreclosure auction, a creditor with an enforceable title collects a claim. In a partition auction, a co-owner applies for the auction to dissolve the co-ownership, without a title and without debt (sections 180, 181 ZVG). The procedure is the same, but land charges usually survive and the proceeds go to the co-owners.
Who may bid at a partition auction? Anyone, including the co-owners themselves. A co-owner who holds a mortgage or land charge covered by their bid does not have to provide a security deposit under section 184 ZVG. All other bidders can be asked to deposit 10 percent of the appraised value.
Can a partition auction be prevented? Permanently only by agreement, for example by selling the share to the other co-owner or selling the whole property privately. Temporarily, any co-owner may apply for a suspension under section 180 (2) ZVG for at most six months, repeatable once. A permanent exclusion of dissolution requires an agreement that binds third parties only if entered in the land register (section 1010 BGB).
What happens to the land charge in a partition auction? It usually survives, because section 182 ZVG includes all rights on the applicant's share in the minimum bid. The successful bidder takes it over on top of the cash bid and, under the Federal Court of Justice ruling of 29.01.2016 (V ZR 285/14), is liable for its nominal amount even if the loan has been repaid.
Do the 5/10 and 7/10 limits also apply to partition auctions? Yes. Section 180 (1) ZVG makes the general provisions applicable, including sections 85a and 74a ZVG. At the first hearing the award may not be granted below half of the appraised value, and between 5/10 and 7/10 a party may have it refused.
How long does a partition auction take? In the current cases, a median of 553 days lies between the land register notice and the hearing, a good year and a half (106 cases with both dates, as of 05.09.2026). Suspensions under section 180 (2) and (3) ZVG can add up to five more years.
Who receives the money from a partition auction? Procedural costs and registered creditors are paid first out of the proceeds. The remainder belongs to the co-owners by share (section 753 BGB). The enforcement court distributes it only if everyone agrees; otherwise the amount is deposited and the dispute is fought before the civil court.
The complete auction process is explained in How a foreclosure auction works. What happens in the courtroom on auction day is covered in How the auction hearing works.
This article is for general information only. It does not replace legal advice from a qualified lawyer.
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How a foreclosure auction hearing runs at a German local court: the opening reading, the bidding hour, the bid deposit and the award, with every statute and deadline.
What is the minimum bid at a German foreclosure auction? The 50 % and 70 % thresholds under §§ 74a and 85a ZVG, explained plainly, with worked examples for bidders.
What deposit do you need at a German foreclosure auction? Amount, accepted means of payment and what happens if you do not pay. All under § 67 ZVG.