German judicial dunning procedure (“Mahnverfahren”)
But attention: European citizens (exept those from Denmark) who want to claim against a German party have the possibility to use the European judicial procedures instead of the German judicial dunning procedure.
There is a standardized form for this procedure. You have to fill in the details of the debtor (especially a postal address) and the sum in dispute. No documents will be required to prove your claim and you don’t have to be represented by a lawyer.
You have to be aware though that the defendant has got the possibility to file a notice of opposition against the “Mahnbescheid”. Then the dunning court passes the case on to the competent court, if one of the parties requests a normal legal proceeding.
If the defendant doesn’t file a notice of opposition within the time limit of two weeks, you as a creditor can apply for an enforcement order. You have to be aware though that the application for an enforcement order must be filed within the time limit of six months after the “Mahnbescheid” has been delivered. The enforcement order is already a preliminary enforceable title.
You need to file your application to the Amtsgericht Wedding, Brunnenplatz 1, 13357 Berlin. You can also apply online under: www.online-mahnantrag.de
Since the form is only provided in German and also has to be filled out in German, we have provided a German and an English version of the questionnaire which will facilitate it for you to complete the online form or the German version of the questionnaire (please note that for the procedure you have to fill in the original).
For further information please contact
Euro-Info-Verbraucher e.V.
Europäisches Verbraucherzentrum Deutschland
Rehfusplatz 11
D-77694 Kehl
Phone: 00 49-7851 991 48 0
Fax: 00 49-7851 991 48 11
