Covering Your Bases: No More Early Repayment Fees for Savings Bank Loans?
Sparkasse Doesn't Require Upfront Payments - Contractual Condition Falls Short
In a surprising twist, the Federal Court of Justice might just have dealt a significant blow to savings banks across Germany. A recent ruling has deemed a common contract clause used in real estate loans as insufficient, meaning customers who've paid early repayment fees may stand a chance of getting their money back.
When you sell a property financed through a running interest rate tie, banks can levy an early repayment fee to make up for their inability to reinvest the repaid money profitably. But with the hurdle set by the German legislature — proper customer information on the early repayment fee calculation — many banks are falling short. The Federal Court of Justice (Az.: XI ZR 22/24) has now declared that the clause used in a savings bank's credit agreement does not sufficiently inform the customer, leading to banks losing their claim to the early repayment fee.
The Magic Clause Found in Multiple Credit Agreements
The implications of this ruling are far-reaching as most German savings banks use similar templates for their construction financing. The text approved by the Federal Court of Justice can be traced in numerous credit agreements, primarily from 2016 to 2020. If you've financed a property with a savings bank during this period and have paid an early repayment fee, there's a good chance you might reclaim that money. This applies particularly if your loan was terminated after 2021, as in this case, the payment cannot have expired. For earlier cases, you'd need to examine them individually. With this decision, the Federal Court of Justice continues to put banks in their place when it comes to prematurely terminated mortgage loans.
The Fallout: Even Volksbanks and Commerzbank Aren't Safe
Previously, there have been high court decisions against Commerzbank and a bank from the cooperative association. Given this precedent, if you've taken out a real estate loan with a savings bank, Volks- and Raiffeisenbank, Sparda- or PSD-bank, or Commerzbank since 2016 and sell your financed property before the end of the interest rate tie, you could be entitled to a refund of the early repayment fee.
Do I Qualify for a Refund?
Impacted consumers are advised to have an expert review their circumstances to determine if the mentioned rulings apply. Such a check can be done, for example, free of charge and without obligation, at the Interest Group Refund.
Source: ntv.de
Related Topics- Banks- Mortgage lending- Judgments- Real estate- Real estate loans- Savings banks- Building finance- Legal issues- Cooperative banks
[Note: The available recent news does not offer any evidence explicitly aligning with a German court-mandated refund of early repayment charges for real estate loans between 2016 and 2020 from savings banks, Volksbanks, or Commerzbank.]
About the author: Roland Klaus is the founder of the Interest Group Refund. It provides assistance in enforcing consumer rights in financial matters and works in collaboration with specialized lawyers.
- In light of the recent court ruling, individuals who financed a property with a savings bank, Volks- und Raiffeisenbank, Sparda- or PSD-bank, or Commerzbank between 2016 and 2020 and paid an early repayment fee may be eligible for a refund, especially if their loan was terminated after 2021.
- The employment policies of various banks, including savings banks, Volksbanks, Raiffeisenbanks, Spardabanks, PSD-banks, and Commerzbank, might need to be adjusted to ensure compliance with the community policy and business regulations, following the significant court ruling regarding early repayment fees in real estate loans.
