After several unsuccessful follow-ups you want to pursue outstanding rent through the courts. At the same time the flat has not yet been returned. In conversation the word Mahnbescheid is mentioned as an apparent all-purpose solution. Before a petition is prepared, however, you need a clear objective and a documented sum of money.
Money payment and surrender of possession as different objectives
§ 688 ZPO opens the Mahnverfahren for claims for payment of a definite sum of money in euros and contains exclusions. [GELDANSPRUCH] A claim for return of the flat is therefore not simply another euro line in the same petition.
Our editorial recommendation: Write the objectives down separately. Is it about a rent amount, an alleged settlement underpayment, a surrender or multiple matters? The appropriate route is examined for each objective. A fully completed monetary procedure does not replace clarification of the status of possession and of the contract.
Trace the amount back to the individual claims
Put contract, amendments, incoming payments and objections together. Each item should have a period, a basis and an amount. Payments already made or legally attributable partial payments are taken into account; unclear postings are not treated as an additional arrear as a precaution.
Examine ancillary claims separately. An internally imposed dunning fee or interest requires its own basis. A desire for a round total is not an appropriate calculation method. For disputed items it must already be known before the judicial step what actual objection exists.
Do not confuse a court document with a confirmed claim
§ 692 requires the notice that the court has not examined whether the asserted claim is owed to the applicant. [BEDEUTUNG] A issued Mahnbescheid is therefore not a seal of substantive approval for a previously unexamined rent account statement.
Have the basis of the claim and the concrete suitability of the procedure assessed. § 688, for example, names cases in which a counter-performance not yet rendered or necessary public service of process exclude the route. [GELDANSPRUCH] This article does not examine any individual address, service, limitation or foreign counterparty.
Hypothetical case: The alleged arrears contain a duplicate line
In Ruth’s working account three monthly amounts and an additional back payment appear. When compiling the documents she finds a payment that had been allocated incorrectly up to now; furthermore the same back payment was recorded twice.
She corrects the reconcilable position before deciding on the Mahnverfahren. The former tenant has raised a concrete objection to a remaining position. Professional support includes this disputed status when choosing the procedure. The example does not contain any amount confirmed as justified and does not promise a quick payment success.
Include a possible objection in the planning
Under § 694 the claim or a part of it may be objected to. [WIDERSPRUCH] Further legal processing must therefore be prepared in case a contentious matter arises. Evidence and the facts should not be searched for only when the next stage of proceedings is already imminent.
Also clarify the cost and time planning with the engaged party. This contribution does not provide an original form nor does it lodge a petition. Your result is an intentionally chosen approach to a specific, examined monetary claim. It keeps payment requests, possible objections and separate surrender tasks apart.