Betreibung [Debt Notice]

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
21
I am afraid that you are mistaken. The Betreibung remains in the list with a remark next to it "RV" (Rechtsvorschlag) which means that it was opposed. The fact that the creditor does not take it to court may not be because there is no case to answer but that they feel that the chance of getting any money is slim and there is no point wasting more money flogging a dead horse.

And if I sound so sure about this it is because I have been precisely in that situation. I, belatedly, got a copy of the debtors Betreibungsauszug, saw that it was three pages long and figured "what the heck...."

So I would disagree totally with your assumption that not pursuing a Betreibung is a tacit acceptance that there is no case to answer.

22
The entry remains in the system forever, only a judge has the authority to see it.

If the creditor (In this case Migros Club Schule) agrees, the debt will disappear from view almost immediately. It might disappear after 2 years if the creditor did not agree to removing the notice.

23
Yes you can, but if the invoice was valid - as in this case - you would you?

It can go to court, my wife (before I knew her) took a company to court when they didn't pay her and won the court case which meant they had to pay way more than if they had just paid the original amount. They still didn't pay so she started bankruptcy proceedings against them - then they paid.

You seem to be suggesting that we shouldn't pay anything and it will never amount to anything if we dispute the betreibung - this is not the case.

24
I don't think that was the suggestion. The suggestion was to declare an objection to the Betreibung (Rechtsvorschlag) and immediately pay the debt. The theory being that there is no real compulsion for the issuer to persue something that's now been paid.