Reader question: What must I organise and clarify legally after a first default judgment, instead of merely repeating my earlier objection?
The court has issued a default judgment in your German tenancy dispute. The eviction is ordered in that judgment, although you had so far only sent your objections to the landlord. It is now about the concrete court decision. Another copy of your old complaint to the property management does not address this new stage of proceedings.
This article deals with a first default judgment with service within the country. Whether this type of judgment actually applies must be determined from the complete document. Different limits apply in the case of a second default judgment: § 345 excludes a further objection in the case regulated there. [ZPO345]
Have the service processed immediately
§ 338 opens the remedy of objection to the affected party. § 339 generally provides two weeks from service and designates the period as an urgent deadline. The provision contains different rules for service abroad and for service by public announcement. [ZPO338][ZPO339]
Therefore secure the judgment, all notices and the service documents. Note the actual date of service and forward the complete file immediately to suitable legal assistance. The date on the judgment is not automatically the start of your deadline. This article does not calculate an individual deadline and does not confirm any retrospective rescue where the deadline has already been missed.
Against which judgment and to what extent?
According to § 340 the statement of objection must be filed with the court of the proceedings. It must designate the judgment and contain the declaration of objection; where only a partial challenge is made, its scope must be specified. [ZPO340]
Therefore check file numbers, the exact decision and the claims pronounced. A judgment can concern payment as well as eviction. A passing statement concerning only a single amount should not be inadvertently understood as a full handling of all parts of the decision. Who is entitled to file effectively and which filing route is appropriate will be clarified in the specific proceedings.
Do not confuse grounds and the objection period
§ 340 requires, according to the procedural situation, also means of attack and defence. It contains a limited possibility to extend the period for giving reasons. [ZPO340] No general extension of the statutory urgent objection period may be derived from this.
Prepare the tenancy agreement, the termination, the payment status and prior court responses. Mark missing documents. An as yet incomplete account of the facts is not a reason to postpone the time‑bound processing until the last invoice. A consultation request alone, however, does not yet prove an objection has been received by the court.
Set the enforcement question expressly apart
A admissible objection restores the proceedings, to the extent of the challenge, to the position before the default. [ZPO342] Provisional enforcement nevertheless requires a separate examination. § 719 provides for a temporary suspension and special conditions for default judgments, generally with security and statutory exceptions. [ZPO719]
Therefore provide any enforcement notices already received. Do not assume without examination that an objection you have sent will automatically halt any further enforcement step. Likewise, an applied-for eviction period does not replace the necessary remedy against the judgment.
Fictitious case with two confirmed instructions
A tenant returns and finds a served first default judgment. They first submit the judgment and service documents for immediate deadline checking. At the same time they attach an enforcement notice already received. The further handling is expressly clarified for the objection and possible suspension.
Thereafter they work through the substantive objections and observe new court dates. The objection is not a final victory over the eviction claim. Under its conditions it opens the further contested examination, which now must actually be conducted.