LEXIKON

In its decision of October 23, 2025, 2Ob52/25y, (www.ris.bka.gv.at/jus), the Austrian Supreme Court dealt with excessive loan processing fees: The plaintiff took out a loan of EUR 695,000.00 from the defendant bank. For this, he had to pay “processing fees” in the amount of EUR 20,850.00. According to the loan agreement, this was a one-time, term-independent payment for processing the loan application, checking creditworthiness, and preparing the loan documents. In the opinion of the Supreme Court, it is permissible to stipulate fixed amounts that are explained by the specific costs (“expenses”) of the credit institution, even if the actual costs are lower in individual cases. However, such a clause violates Section 879 (3) of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB) if the agreed additional fee grossly exceeds the actual costs of providing the service in question. Since, according to the defendant’s submission, the conclusion of a mortgage loan agreement requires an average of 20 to 23 hours of work, the defendant bank had to repay the processing fees.