References without law book default to BGB.

Case - Chartering Fishing Boat

Facts

Daniel (D) is an enthusiastic hobby fisherman. He decides to charter a fishing boat on Lake Starnberg for next Saturday. On Monday afternoon, he rings Bert’s boat rental (B) to discuss boats and rental fees.

B tells D he is in a hurry because they would close for two days. They would have three boat types available; all further information (boat types and prices) is available on B’s website.

On Monday night, D writes the following letter to B: “… Hereby, I charter a boat (type “medium size”) for Saturday, 24 May 2026.” The postman puts the letter into B’s post-box on Tuesday morning.

On Wednesday afternoon, D is informed by his boss that D will have to work on that Saturday. D immediately sends an e-mail to B and informs him that, with deep regret, he has to cancel the “reservation” of the boat.

B, who hasn’t read D’s letter yet, refers to the “formed contract” and demands the payment of the rent. Is B right?

Solution

Slides Solution

• Issue: Can B demand the payment of the rent according to § 535 II BGB?
• Rule: For such a claim to succeed, there would need to be a valid rental contract (offer and acceptance, both with the intention to be legally binding).
• Application:
  • A. Offer by D:
    • The letter is an offer (§ 145 BGB).
    • Effectiveness: Under § 130 I 1 BGB, the DoI becomes effective when it reaches B (the addressee).
    • Receipt: When DoI reaches B’s zone of control (1) AND B can be expected to take notice under ordinary circumstances (2).
      • (1) Zone of control: B’s postbox.
      • (2) Expectance to take notice: Not later than Tuesday early afternoon (businesspeople empty their postboxes several times a day).
    • Revocation: Under § 130 I 2 BGB, an offer is not effective if a revocation reaches the other party previously or at the same time.
      • When was the revocation received? Zone of control: E-mail inbox. Expected notice: Wednesday afternoon. → Not prior to or at the same time as the offer.
    • It is not relevant that B hasn’t actually read the letter yet! The binding offer effectively reached B.
  • B. Acceptance by B:
    • Explicit: → (-)
    • Implicitly: → (+), by demanding the payment.
• Conclusion: A valid rental contract was formed. B can demand payment of the rent from D according to § 535 II BGB.

Write-Up

Issue: Can B demand the payment of the rent from D pursuant to § 535 II BGB?

Rule: B has a claim for the payment of rent under § 535 II BGB if a valid rental contract was formed between the parties. A rental contract requires two matching declarations of intent: an offer and an acceptance. Since D and B were communicating as absent parties, any declaration of intent becomes effective only at the point in time when it reaches the other party (§ 130 I 1 BGB). However, it does not become effective if a revocation reaches the other party previously or at the same time (§ 130 I 2 BGB).

Application:
1. Offer by D
D’s letter sent on Monday night clearly stated his intent to charter a specific medium-sized boat for a specific date. This constitutes a binding offer under § 145 BGB. For the offer to become effective, it must have legally reached B. A declaration “reaches” the recipient when it enters their zone of control such that they can reasonably be expected to take notice of it under normal circumstances.

D’s letter was placed into B’s postbox on Tuesday morning. The postbox belongs to B’s zone of control. In standard business practice, it is expected that a business owner checks their physical mailbox by the early afternoon of the same day. Thus, the offer effectively reached B on Tuesday afternoon at the latest. The fact that B had not actually read the letter yet is legally irrelevant.

2. Attempted Revocation by D
D attempted to cancel the reservation via an email sent on Wednesday afternoon. For this revocation to prevent the offer from becoming effective, it must have reached B before or at the same time as the original offer (§ 130 I 2 BGB). Since the email arrived in B’s inbox (zone of control) on Wednesday afternoon, it reached B a full day after the initial offer had already become effective (Tuesday afternoon). Therefore, the revocation was too late, and D remained bound by his offer.

3. Acceptance by B
For the contract to be concluded, B must have accepted the offer. While B did not explicitly say “I accept,” he referred to a “formed contract” and demanded payment of the rent. By demanding performance of the contract, B implicitly (konkludent) declared his acceptance of D’s offer.

Conclusion: Because there was a valid, unrevoked offer by D and an implicit acceptance by B, a valid rental contract was formed. B can rightfully demand the payment of the rent from D under § 535 II BGB.