Litigation interest
A money debt, the debtor in accordance with § 291 BGB of the entry of the lis pendens (date of service of the complaint at the defendant in the civil case , § 261 ZPO pay interest), even if he is not in default is. Litigation interest is not interest on arrears.
The amount of default interest is regulated in § 288 BGB . There it says: "The default interest rate for the year is five percentage points above the base rate" . If a consumer is not involved, "the interest rate for payment claims is nine percentage points above the base rate" (Section 288 (2) BGB). With a base interest rate of 3% according to § 247, for example, default interest (if a consumer is involved) results in a total of 8 percentage points above the base interest rate for obligations that arose before July 28, 2014 ( Art 229 § 34 EGBGB ) and 9 percentage points above the base rate for obligations that arose after July 28, 2014. In a lawsuit, interest on arrears should therefore also be applied for at the rate of five percentage points and not at the rate of five percent above the base rate. Otherwise, the plaintiff regularly demands significantly less than he is entitled to. Whether the court can also award interest at a rate of five percentage points above the base rate on an application that formulates “percent” is disputed because of the procedural principle ne ultra petita .
Individual evidence
- ↑ for this OLG Hamm , NJW 2005, 2238, 2239; on the other hand LAG Nuremberg , NZA-RR 2005, 492, 495; OLG Koblenz , NJOZ 2005, 2919, 2925 and NJW-RR 2007, 813, 815; doubtful also BAG , NZA 2004, 852 ff.
