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Berlin (dpa) - Debtors of small amounts in particular should be relieved of collection fees.
The Bundestag in Berlin decided on a corresponding reform with the votes of the CDU / CSU and SPD coalition groups.
AfD, FDP, Left and Greens voted against.
"A collection procedure must not become a cost trap for consumers," said Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD).
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Criticism came from both consumer advocates and debt collection agencies.
The CDU member Sebastian Steineke assessed this as evidence of a good design.
Debt collection companies ensure that five to ten billion euros find their way back into the economic cycle every year.
"That is important, and not only for large companies, but especially for small companies that do not have their own legal department."
In the future, debt collection service providers will generally have to inform debtors at the first contact, among other things, on whose behalf they are acting, which contract is involved and which costs could arise in the event of default.
In the case of small claims of up to 50 euros, the collection costs that debtors have to pay in addition should not be higher than the claim itself.
Creditors who employ both lawyers and debt collection agencies may only reclaim costs up to the amount that would have been incurred if only one lawyer had been employed.
So you are no longer allowed to settle both - provided that the debtor still disputed the claim when a debt collection service provider was already involved, and the lawyer was only then called in.
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From the point of view of the parliamentarians, the problem of identity theft remains largely unsolved for the time being, in which those affected have to grapple with orders in their name and at their expense, which they have not given up at all - this should be improved with a new approach if necessary.
The supervision will be strengthened, said Minister Lambrecht.
"In the future, the supervisory authorities should also intervene, for example, if debt collection service providers appear aggressive or misleading."
In addition, certain types of behavior could be prohibited and fines imposed.
The federal government should also examine whether supervision should be centralized nationwide.
Consumer advocates consider this to be overdue.
"The supervision of debt collection companies is currently fragmented and weak, among other things because it is dealt with as a secondary activity by a large number of civil courts," said the Federal Association of Consumers (vzbv).
Overall, however, the innovations fell short.
"From the point of view of the vzbv, the debt collection reform will only lead to slight relief for stumbling consumers in extreme cases," explained the association.
It is therefore good that the effect of the amendment should be re-examined in two years.
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The Federal Association of German Debt Collection Companies called the reform fatal for the economy and payment practices.
"It is incomprehensible that the focus of the legislature is not on the majority of the bill-abiding consumers and the economy, but on the obstructive debtor", criticized association president Kirsten Pedd.
The MPs had not succeeded in differentiating between consumers worthy of protection and debtors who deliberately violated the contract.
The consumer protection policy spokeswoman for the FDP parliamentary group, Katharina Willkomm, also accused the coalition groups: “They are limiting themselves to unilaterally reducing costs.
The debt collection service provider should pay for the fact that you can't think of anything to save financially weak consumers from new debts. "
The steps taken to protect consumers did not go far enough, but criticized the AfD, the Greens and the Left.
There are steps in the right direction, but the "hold-up" is not being pushed, said AfD MP Jens Maier.
His group would have liked a further cost limit.
"The business of hardship must no longer be worthwhile."
Left parliamentary group leader Amira Mohamed Ali said that poor people were being left alone and that their situation was worsening during the corona crisis.
Unfair business practices are the order of the day among debt collection companies, which is why supervision urgently needs to be strengthened.
It is also wrong that the costs for employees are based on the remuneration of lawyers.
"Collection agencies do not provide serious legal advice," said Mohamed Ali.
The consumer protection policy spokeswoman for the Green Group, Tabea Rößner, made a similar statement: reminders are sometimes even sent automatically.
"It is really not a protection against rip-offs," she said, referring to the novella.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201127-99-488111 / 2
Bundestag on the subject
Current law on extrajudicial legal services