Loans, payment reminders, payment orders and banks in Austria
In Austria a loan, an acknowledgement of debt, a settlement, a receipt and an instalment agreement need no form by statute; they are written for proof and signed by both sides. There are two exceptions. Between spouses and registered partners, a loan or an acknowledgement of debt to the other is valid only as a notarial deed (§ 1(1)(b) NotAktsG), and a private guarantor must sign in writing (§ 1346(2) ABGB), which is why the guarantee is a document of its own beside the loan agreement. A written out-of-court settlement attracts a 2 % stamp duty, 1 % if a case is pending (§ 33 TP 20 GebG); an acknowledgement of debt, where only one side gives way, is not a settlement.
The documents are written in German, under Austrian law, and each one's page describes it in English. If a debt stays unpaid, the final reminder announces the payment-order procedure, compulsory up to € 75,000 (§ 244 ZPO): the court issues a conditional payment order, and the debtor has four weeks to object (§ 248 ZPO). At a district court the objection needs no lawyer and no reasons; at a regional court a lawyer must file it. Courts take post, delivery in person or JustizOnline, never e-mail. Collection costs are owed only so far as they were necessary and proportionate (§ 1333(2) ABGB), and the reply to a collection agency disputes what is wrong.
A garnished account is protected only on application: the application for account protection to the enforcement court releases the part of the income that cannot be seized (§ 292i EO). An unauthorised payment is reported without delay and at the latest 13 months after the debit (§ 65 ZaDiG 2018); an authorised SEPA direct debit is refunded within eight weeks, no reason given. If the bank does not help after a complaint, the banks' free conciliation body and the Financial Market Authority come next. None of it is legal advice.
The documents
17 forms available to fill out or download.
Application to protect a garnished bank account (Austria)
Your application to the enforcement court in Austria when your bank account has been garnished and your wages, salary, pension or other income that is only partly garnishable is paid into it. Austria has no special protected account: on your application the district court lifts the garnishment under § 292i EO as far as the balance matches the protected part of your income until the next pay date, and if asked, in advance for what you urgently need. With the case number, bank, IBAN, income and pay dates. By post, in person or through JustizOnline — not by e-mail; you can also apply orally at the court. In German.
Complaint to a bank about payments, an account, a card or a loan (Austria)
Your written complaint to a bank in Austria — about a faulty transfer, a card payment, charges, a blocked account, a basic payment account (Basiskonto), a loan or an investment. It sets out what happened and the remedy you want, and sets the deadline for the answer: for payment services 15 business days, exceptionally 35 (§ 97 of the Austrian Payment Services Act, ZaDiG 2018). Complaining to the bank first is also the condition for a procedure before the joint conciliation body of the Austrian banking industry; a complaint to the Financial Market Authority (FMA) remains open alongside. In German.
Direct debit refund or standing order cancellation — instruction to the bank (Austria)
Your instruction to your own bank in Austria about a direct debit or a standing order: have a SEPA direct debit refunded, dispute a debit taken without a valid mandate, stop an announced debit, bar a payee's future debits or delete a standing order (Dauerauftrag). An authorised SEPA direct debit is refunded within eight weeks with no reason needed (§§ 70, 71 of the Austrian Payment Services Act, ZaDiG 2018), an unauthorised one within 13 months (§ 65 ZaDiG 2018). With payee, mandate reference, amount and date. In German.
Closing a current account, with or without switching banks (Austria)
A letter to your bank in Austria closing your current account (Girokonto), whether you are leaving altogether or moving to a new bank through the account-switching service. It gives the IBAN, the account holder and date of birth, the closing date and the account for the remaining balance, ends the cards, overdraft and online banking linked to the account, and asks for written confirmation. Under the Austrian Payment Services Act (§ 51 ZaDiG 2018) you may terminate at any time, on at most one month's notice, and free of charge for an open-ended account. A choice covers switching under §§ 14 ff VZKG. In German.
Conciliation request in a dispute with a bank (Austria)
Your application to the joint conciliation body of the Austrian banking industry (Gemeinsame Schlichtungsstelle der Österreichischen Kreditwirtschaft) in Vienna, when your bank has rejected your complaint or not answered it — over transfers, card payments, charges, an account or other banking business. It names the bank, the contract, the complaint and the answer, describes the dispute and the amount claimed, and contains the usual declarations, including releasing the bank from banking secrecy. The procedure is free for you and voluntary for the bank; the body proposes a solution. Foreign-currency loan disputes go to the consumer conciliation body. In German.
Revoking a direct debit mandate (Einziehungsauftrag) with the payee (Austria)
A letter to the payee in Austria — gym, insurer, club, online shop or collection agency — revoking your SEPA direct debit mandate, still often called an Einziehungsauftrag in Austria. It gives the mandate reference, the creditor ID and your IBAN, forbids further debits once it is received and says how payment continues: you transfer the money yourself, the contract has ended, or you pay from another account. Revoking the mandate ends neither the contract nor a debt. A debit taken anyway is unauthorised, and your bank refunds it under the Austrian Payment Services Act (§§ 65, 67 ZaDiG 2018). In German.
Complaint about a bank to the Financial Market Authority, FMA (Austria)
Your complaint to Austria's Financial Market Authority (FMA) about a bank that advised you wrongly, charged you incorrectly, refused a basic payment account or left a complaint unanswered. The FMA also offers its own complaint form on its website, free of charge. This letter is the alternative for post: it names the company, what happened, your complaint to it and the outcome, and encloses the company's statement. The FMA acts in the interest of consumers as a whole and does not obtain a solution for your individual case — that is what the banks' joint conciliation body is for. In German.
Reply to a debt collection letter — disputing the claim or the collection costs (Austria)
Your reply to a collection agency in Austria that demands money from you on a creditor's behalf: you dispute the claim in full or in part, or only the collection costs, give your reasons and ask for a breakdown of the principal, the interest and every cost item. Collection costs are owed only where they were necessary and proportionate to the claim (§ 1333 Abs 2 of the Austrian Civil Code, ABGB); the maximum rates set by ordinance for collection agencies are caps, not an entitlement. An undisputed amount is paid expressly towards the principal. In German.
Private loan agreement between individuals (Austria)
A loan agreement under Austrian law for money lent between private individuals — family, friends or acquaintances. It records the amount, payment by bank transfer, interest or an interest-free loan, repayment in one sum, in instalments or after one month's notice (§ 986 of the Austrian Civil Code, ABGB), default interest at 4% (§ 1000 ABGB) and acceleration on default. No set form and no stamp duty since 2011. Between spouses or registered partners a notarial deed is required (§ 1 Abs 1 lit b NotAktsG), and the agreement asks about it. A guarantee is a separate declaration. Private lenders only. In German, to print and sign.
Guarantee for a private loan (Austria)
The declaration by which a private individual in Austria guarantees the repayment of a private loan — with a maximum amount and a choice between an ordinary guarantor (§ 1355 of the Austrian Civil Code, ABGB) and a guarantor liable as co-debtor (Bürge und Zahler, § 1357 ABGB). A guarantor acting outside a business must undertake in writing (§ 1346 Abs 2 ABGB), and an electronic signature counts only with a notary's or lawyer's confirmation (§ 4 Abs 2 SVG). So this declaration is printed and signed by the guarantor by hand. No stamp duty as security for a loan (§ 20 Z 5 GebG). In German.
Objection to a payment order (Austria)
An objection (Einspruch) to a conditional payment order from the Austrian Mahnverfahren (§ 248 of the Austrian Code of Civil Procedure, ZPO), with the case number (Geschäftszahl), the claimant, the amount and the date of service. The deadline is four weeks from service and cannot be extended; at a Bezirksgericht an objection without reasons and without a lawyer is enough (§ 448 ZPO), and a hearing follows. If the order itself says a lawyer and a full defence are required, this letter is not the right one. Not by e-mail: file it by post, in person at the court or through JustizOnline with ID Austria. In German.
Instalment agreement between private individuals (Austria)
An instalment agreement for an unpaid debt between private individuals in Austria: the debtor acknowledges the sum — which interrupts limitation (§ 1497 of the Austrian Civil Code, ABGB) — and the creditor allows monthly instalments, with the account, interest or none, and acceleration if payments fall behind. Private creditors only: a business granting a consumer time to pay may be giving consumer credit, from 20.11.2026 under the VKrG 2026. Between spouses or registered partners valid only as a notarial deed (§ 1 Abs 1 lit b NotAktsG). In German, signed by both.
Receipt for a payment (Austria)
A receipt under § 1426 of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB): the person receiving the money confirms in writing who paid how much, when, how — in cash or by transfer — and for what, and whether the debt is now paid off or this is only a part-payment, with the balance left. Anyone who pays in Austria may always ask for a receipt. It goes with the private loan, the acknowledgement of debt, the settlement and the instalment agreement. In German, to fill in, print and have signed by the payee.
Acknowledgement of debt (Austria)
An acknowledgement of debt under Austrian law: the debtor confirms owing the creditor a stated sum, with its cause, payment in one sum or by instalments, the account and acceleration on default. You choose whether it is constitutive (it removes a doubt, and the sum is owed whatever the cause) or declaratory (it shifts the burden of proof). Both interrupt limitation (§ 1497 of the Austrian Civil Code, ABGB). The ABGB prescribes no special form; both sign for proof. Between spouses or registered partners it is valid only as a notarial deed (§ 1 Abs 1 lit b NotAktsG). In German.
Out-of-court settlement of a money claim (Austria)
A settlement under §§ 1380 ff of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB) in which creditor and debtor end a dispute over a money claim by mutual concessions: the disputed claim, the settlement sum, payment in one sum or in instalments, acceleration on default, a full-and-final clause and who bears the duty. Important: a written out-of-court settlement in Austria attracts a legal-transaction duty of 2% of the combined value of what both sides undertake, 1% if a court case is pending (§ 33 TP 20 GebG). An immediately enforceable settlement (prätorischer Vergleich) is made at the Bezirksgericht. In German, signed by both.
Disputing an unauthorised payment or card payment with your bank (Austria)
A letter to your own bank in Austria when your account or card was charged without your consent — after card fraud, phishing or a double charge — or when you paid by card and received nothing (chargeback). You dispute the transactions and claim the refund that the bank must make by the end of the following business day at the latest under the Austrian Payment Services Act (§ 67 ZaDiG 2018). Report without undue delay, and within 13 months of the debit at the latest (§ 65 ZaDiG 2018). With the date the card was blocked, the police report and the next step: the banks' joint conciliation body. In German.
Final payment demand before a payment-order claim (Austria)
The last reminder before going to court, under Austrian law: with the sum owed, the due date, a deadline, the account and default interest — 4% a year (§ 1000 of the Austrian Civil Code, ABGB) or, between businesses, 9.2 points over the base rate plus a €40 flat fee (§§ 456, 458 of the Austrian Commercial Code, UGB). It announces the Mahnklage: for money claims up to €75,000 the court issues a conditional payment order (Zahlungsbefehl, § 244 ZPO), which becomes enforceable unless the debtor objects within four weeks. In German, to print, sign and send by registered post.
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