Partial payment
Partial payment (formerly: piece payment ) is in the economy the term for a partial payment of the debt by the debtor , which does not reach the amount of the payment owed.
General
In the law of obligations , the debtor is generally not entitled to make partial payments; the obligee can reject them ( § 266 BGB ). With a partial payment, the debtor offers a different service than the one owed. The purpose of this provision was to protect the creditor from harassment through minor partial performance. The creditor therefore does not come with a rejection in default of acceptance , on the other hand, the debtor is at a rejected partial payment in default of payment . Since this provision speaks neutrally of "partial services", the incomplete deliveries and services are also meant as partial services by the seller. When the purchase agreement and other important contract types of obligations such as rent or lease is assumed that both parties contractually owed their performance at maturity fully train to train provide.
Because of this absolute prohibition of partial performance, partial payments can only be made if the obligee agrees - for example in the context of a deferral . As part of the freedom of contract , contractual agreements on partial services are possible if both contracting parties agree on this, for example in the case of a general loan agreement or an installment loan . While payments or prepayments contractual arrangements represent about partial services, subject to payments legislation.
Exceptions
There are special statutory exceptions to the general legal prohibition of partial payments. Rich in consumer loans , the repayments of the borrower to repay the entire debt due not, the creditor may not refuse (partial payments § 497 para. 3 sentence 2 BGB). This is to prevent a “modern debt tower”. In Section 497, Paragraph 3, Clause 2 of the German Civil Code, this provision offers an order of priority that deviates from Section 367 (1) of the German Civil Code. The partial payments are therefore initially offset against the costs of legal proceedings, then against the remaining amount owed (paragraph 1) and finally against the interest (paragraph 2). These provisions also apply to real estate financing ( mortgage loans ). In the case of partial payment transactions, according to Section 506 (1) BGB, an entrepreneur grants a consumer a deferred payment or other financial assistance against payment. The entrepreneur delivers and allows the buyer to pay in installments .
Further exceptions arise from the bill of exchange law and the check law . According to Art. 34 Para. 2 SchG and Art. 39 Para. 2 WG, the drawee may make partial payments, the creditor “may not reject them”. The drawee can demand that their partial services are noted on the bill of exchange or check and that a receipt is issued to them.
International
In Switzerland , according to Art. 69 para. 1 OR, the obligee does not have to accept a partial performance if there is a single debt and this is due. In unmatured debt is to reverse the creditor obliged to accept partial payments. If partial payments are accepted, Art. 85 Para. 1 OR requires that these be offset first against outstanding costs, then against interest and finally against the debt amount. In Austria , the creditor of a monetary claim according to § 1415 sentence 1 ABGB is not entitled to reject repayment partial payments by the debtor in payment transactions by transfers to bank accounts if this does not involve any significant effort or special expenses; such payments partially discharge the debt.
