Lawyer Hansjörg Mader from Innsbruck can only shake his head at the Tyrolean Basic Traffic Act. The reason: the lawyer was handling a case in a village in the Oberinntal. His client owns a plot of land and a house there. The owner is not allowed to transfer half of it to her brother. Both are Swiss, but have lived in Tyrol since birth.
“She inherited this property from her mother, who became a Swiss citizen through her marriage and had to give up her Austrian citizenship due to the legal situation at the time,” the lawyer explains to the “Tiroler Krone”.
For this reason, the house owner also has Swiss nationality, but of course she has lived in the Tyrolean village since birth and is also well integrated into village life.
The contract was refused by the authorities and the court
Because the house is in need of renovation, the owner decided to carry out renovation work together with her brother – also a Swiss citizen. “Since the brother needed to raise significant funds, it was agreed that half of the property would be transferred into his ownership,” Mader continues.
The contract, which would transfer half of the share to the brother, was refused by the Land Traffic Authority of the Innsbruck County Council and then by the State Administrative Court. The justification states that “according to the Tyrolean Land Transfer Act, EU foreigners are not allowed to buy real estate in Tyrol”. There would have been an exception if there had been a public interest in acquiring real estate.
Mayor supports the siblings
The mayor of the village was also heard as a witness. He confirmed that the acquisition was in the public interest. But that didn’t help either.
Are there double standards here?
Lawyer Hansjörg Mader now asks whether there is a double standard here. After all, “many EU foreigners, especially Russian citizens, have acquired a number of properties in Tyrol with the approval of the real estate authorities”.
The fact that the transfer of half a part of a real estate from a sister to a brother is rejected, while at the same time the purchase of real estate for foreign millionaires is approved, raises the question whether the provisions of the Tyrolean Real Estate Law and their interpretation by the authorities are really still current,” concludes the Innsbruck lawyer.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
