BHW-Bausparkasse may not charge an annual fee during the savings phase of home loan and savings contracts. This was recently decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH, AZ: XI ZR 551/21). In this case, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) had filed a lawsuit against the building society in question. The building society had demanded an annual fee of 12 euros from its customers with a building society account.
Wrongly, as the BGH ruled. The imposition of an annual fee during the savings phase of a home loan and savings contract is incompatible with the fundamental principles of the statutory regulation and unreasonably disadvantages home loan and savings customers contrary to the requirements of good faith. Although the current ruling from Karlsruhe only concerns a contractual clause of BHW Bausparkasse, it is also considered to be groundbreaking for other building societies. This is because corresponding contractual clauses of other building societies could also be declared invalid.
According to the Association of Private Building Societies, there are around 24 million building society contracts in Germany and, according to the consumer advice center, "many building societies [...] charge an account fee during the savings phase". The consumer advice center now advises affected customers to reclaim the account fees paid - preferably by registered letter.
Sources: bundesgerichtshof.de/AZ: XI ZR 551/21; vebraucherzentrale.de; bausparkassen.de
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