Out-of-court dispute resolution

Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank AG participates in the mandatory dispute resolution procedures before the following official consumer dispute resolution bodies:

In the case of disputes covered by section 14 (1) nos. 1 to 5 of the Unterlassungsklagengesetz (UKlaG –

German Act on Incjunctive Relief), relating to the provisions governing consumer distance selling contracts for financial services, consumer loan contracts and payment services contracts, the competent authority is the Conciliation Board of the German Federal Bank (Schlichtungsstelle bei der Deutsche Bundesbank). In the case of complaints relating to a dispute about a payment services contract (sections 675c – 676c of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB – German Civil Code)), clients that are not consumers can also call on the Conciliation Board of the German Federal Bank. Further details are set out in the Schlichtungsstellenverfahrensverordnung (German Procedural Regulation Governing Dispute Resolution Bodies), which can be obtained from German Federal Bank (procedural rules available only in German). Applications for a dispute resolution procedure to be performed must be submitted in text form (Textform in accordance with section 126b of the BGB, e.g. by letter, fax or e-mail).

The contact details are as follows:

Deutsche Bundesbank

- Schlichtungsstelle –

P.O. Box 11 12 32

60047 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

E-mail:             schlichtung@bundesbank.de

Fax:                 +49 (0) 69 709090-9901

Internet:http://www.bundesbank.de/Navigation/DE/Service/
Schlichtungsstelle/schlichtungsstelle.html

 

In the case of disputes covered by section 14(1) nos. 6 and 7 of the UKlaG involving consumers and resulting from the application of provisions of the Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch (KAGB – German Capital Investment Code) or other provisions relating to contracts for banking transactions as defined by with section 1(1) sentence 2 of the Kreditwesengesetz (KWG – German Banking Act) or financial services as defined by section 1(1a) sentence 2 of the KWG, the competent authority is the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority Conciliation Board (Schlichtungsstelle bei der Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – BaFin). Applications for a dispute resolution procedure to be performed must be submitted in text form (Textform in accordance with section 126b of the BGB, e.g. by letter, fax or e-mail).

 

The contact details are as follows:

Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht

P.O. Box 1253

53002 Bonn, Germany

E-mail:             schlichtungsstelle@bafin.de

Fax:                 +49 (0) 228 4108 62299

Internet:           www.bafin.de

 

Effective 1 January 2017, VÖB Customer Complaints Office no longer responsible for (new) applications to perform out-of-court dispute resolution procedures relating to disputes with Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank AG

In the past, disputes with Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank AG could be resolved by calling on the Ombudsman at the Association of German Public Banks (Bundesverband Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands - VÖB) as an alternative or priority to the procedures before the above-mentioned consumer dispute resolution bodies. Effective 1 January 2017, the VÖB’s Customer Complaints Office is no longer responsible for future applications for the out-of-court resolution of disputes with Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank AG. Complaints that were received by the VÖB’s Customer Complaints Office in the period up to 31 December 2016, or that are already pending at that authority, will be finally resolved by the latter even if this taken place after 31 December 2016