Court wants to judge in the dispute over account fees
Created: 02/15/2022, 09:03
View of the Justitia above the entrance of a regional court.
© Hendrik Schmidt/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/Symbolbild
A verdict by the Federal Court of Justice on fee practices at banks caused a stir last year.
Now a Stuttgart court is to decide in a specific case.
Stuttgart – The Stuttgart district court wants to announce a judgment on Tuesday (February 15, 1 p.m.) in the dispute between the consumer center* Baden-Württemberg and the Volksbank Welzheim (Rems-Murr district).
The core of the complicated dispute is the retrospective reimbursement of account management fees.
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) made an important judgment on this last year.
Welzheimer Bank: Dispute over account management fees
The Welzheimer Bank had offered around 7,000 customers not to raise their account management fee if they waived the reimbursement of fees.
Otherwise, the termination of the account is threatened.
A customer did not want to accept this and turned to consumer protection.
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As an expert from the consumer advice center said, it was the first judgment in Stuttgart after the fundamental decision of the Federal Court of Justice.
In April 2021, he decided that the previous practice of increasing fees by banks* was not legal.
According to the judges, changes in a bank's general terms and conditions are invalid if they only take effect on the basis of tacit consent.
A customer must actively say yes to a fee increase in order for it to be legal.
dpa
*Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.