Withdrawal of a written bid in a forced sale procedure

Facts

This case concerns the withdrawal of a written bid submitted in the context of a forced sale procedure for real estate. The debt collection office had ordered the forced sale of the real estate by public auction on December 7, 2001. Company [T. AG] submitted a written bid on December 4, 2001, but then wanted to withdraw it. The disputed issue is whether this written bid could be validly withdrawn or whether company [T. AG] remained bound by it.

Considerations

The Federal Court considers that the written bid only becomes legally effective at the moment it is brought to the attention of the participants at the beginning of the auction, in accordance with Art. 58 para. 4 of the Ordinance on the Forced Sale of Real Estate (ORFI). Until that moment, the bid can be validly withdrawn, as the public auction procedure constitutes a single, unified legal transaction, in which the auction supervisor must announce all written bids received before the start of the auction.

The Court rejects the plaintiff's argument that the submission of the written bid to the debt collection office should already give it a…