Revocation joker and processing fee for loans

In 2014, the Fede­ral Court of Justice (BGH) start­led credit insti­tu­ti­ons and borro­wers alike with two ground­brea­king decis­i­ons. On the one hand, it ruled that flat-rate proces­sing fee clau­ses in consu­mer contracts can be inva­lid, in which case proces­sing fees can be reclai­med. On the other hand, it has given borro­wers the so-called “revo­ca­tion joker”: By rely­ing on forms that alle­gedly deviate from the legal requi­re­ments, custo­mers are suppo­sed to be able to escape long-term fixed inte­rest rates even a long time after the loan has been valued. This trig­ge­red avalan­ches of custo­mer complaints, parti­cu­larly at the turn of the year 2014/2015.