Mortgage brokers in Germany: the § 34i permit

What a mortgage broker does

An Immobiliardarlehensvermittler (property loan intermediary) brokers a loan between a borrower and a lender, or advises a third party on such loans. It is different from a lender and from a bank adviser: § 34i paragraph 3 lets credit institutions with a banking licence work without the § 34i permit. A broker either arranges the contract or advises for a fee. The law keeps these apart. A person who presents as an independent fee-based adviser (Honorar-Immobiliardarlehensberater) must compare a sufficient number of contracts on the market, may take no payments from the lender and may not depend on it; such an adviser may not also act as an intermediary, and the reverse (§ 34i paragraph 5).

To understand the loan itself, read how a mortgage works in Germany and try the mortgage calculator.

How the trade is regulated

§ 34i paragraph 1 GewO makes a permit necessary for anyone who, as a trade, wants to broker contracts of consumer loans on property (as defined in § 491 paragraph 3 BGB) or equivalent paid financing aids, or to advise third parties on them. The permit can be limited and tied to conditions.

Paragraph 2 lists the grounds for refusal. They include: lack of reliability (as a rule after a conviction within five years for a felony or an offence such as fraud, breach of trust or money laundering), disordered finances, no proof of professional liability insurance or equivalent guarantee, and no proof of expertise by an examination before the chamber of industry and commerce on “fachlichen und rechtlichen Grundlagen sowie über die Kundenberatung”. The applicant’s head office must be in Germany and the activity pursued there.

The examination is set out in the Immobiliardarlehensvermittlungsverordnung (ImmVermV). § 1 says passing it proves the product and advisory knowledge needed, and names three fields: customer advice, specialist knowledge, financing and credit products.

Other duties in § 34i: a broker may only employ people for brokerage or advice if they hold the same proof of expertise and have been checked for reliability (paragraph 6), and the pay structure must not stop them acting in the borrower’s best interests (paragraph 7). Brokers authorised in another EU or EEA state may work under paragraph 4, after the procedure in Directive 2014/17/EU.

How to check a broker yourself

The register exists for this. § 11a paragraph 1 GewO says its purpose is “der Allgemeinheit, vor allem … Darlehensnehmern und Darlehensgebern, die Überprüfung der Zulassung sowie des Umfangs der zugelassenen Tätigkeit … zu ermöglichen”. Entry is compulsory: § 34i paragraph 8 requires the broker to be registered “unverzüglich nach Aufnahme ihrer Tätigkeit”, and the same for people who take part directly in the brokerage or lead it.

1. Go to the register at https://www.vermittlerregister.info/ and choose the search.
2. Search by registration number, surname, first name or business name. The register’s own instructions add optional address fields (street, house number, postcode, town).
3. Read what it returns. § 6 ImmVermV lists what is stored: name, the statement that the person holds a § 34i paragraph 1 permit, whether he or she acts as fee-based adviser, the competent permit and register authorities, the business address, the registration number, and whether the person is a tied intermediary. Date of birth is stored but under § 8 ImmVermV must not be retrieved automatically.
4. Compare the registration number and the business address with the documents the broker gave you.

The register reports a status on a given day. It does not say whether the advice was good, and a registered broker is not recommended by Payotte.

The register’s terms of use

We read the Nutzungsbedingungen (version “Stand: 01. Januar 2023”). They say, word for word:

• “I. Die Nutzung der Daten zu werblichen Zwecken ist untersagt.”
• “II. Die über die Webseite des Vermittlerregisters abrufbaren Inhalte und Dokumente dürfen grundsätzlich gespeichert, weitergegeben und vervielfältigt werden. Etwas anderes gilt, sofern in den jeweiligen Inhalten oder Dokumenten abweichendes bestimmt ist. Die Weitergabe oder Vervielfältigung ist nur unter deutlicher Angabe der Quelle zulässig. Sofern am Dokument nicht anders vermerkt, ist als Quelle anzugeben: © DIHK”
• “VI. Den Nutzern des Vermittlerregisters ist es untersagt … b. jegliche Hilfsmittel wie Robots oder ähnliche Methoden einzusetzen, um Daten zu sammeln oder auszuwerten”
• “Die Datenbank wird täglich aktualisiert.” and “Es ist eine Wartezeit implementiert, um eine nicht autorisierte Nutzung des Registers zu verhindern.”
• The DIHK gives no guarantee of currency, accuracy or completeness (sections 1 and 6).

For this reason Payotte does not use the register’s data for advertising, does not collect it automatically and does not copy lines from it. It links to the register and tells you to search it yourself.

Which professional to consult

For the value of the property that secures the loan, see property valuers. The security itself is created at a notary’s office. A lawyer can read a brokerage or loan offer.