Only claims for payment of a specific sum of money in euros can be asserted in the dunning procedure. If, for example, you want to enforce the delivery of goods or the eviction of living space in court, the dunning procedure is not permitted.

The special feature of the dunning procedure is that the court does not check whether the creditor is actually entitled to the claim asserted. Anyone who receives an order for payment must therefore check for themselves whether they owe the creditor the sum of money stated therein.

Upon your proper application, the Central Court for Order for Payment issues an order for payment, which is served on the defendant ex officio. If the defendant files an objection in good time, the proceedings will be transferred to the trial court specified in the order for payment if you or the defendant request that the contentious proceedings be conducted. If the parties agree that the proceedings should be transferred to another court, the proceedings shall be transferred to that court. The transfer is associated with additional court costs. The claim will then be decided by way of contentious civil proceedings.

If the defendant does not file an objection against the order for payment within the two-week objection period (in labour court proceedings, the objection period is only one week), you can apply to the Central Court for Payment Orders for an enforcement order. If the fee for the dunning procedure has been paid, the central dunning court will then issue an enforcement order and serve it on the defendant ex officio. If the defendant files an objection against the enforcement order, the legal dispute will be transferred ex officio to the trial court specified in the dunning application. Otherwise, the enforcement order becomes legally binding upon expiry of the two-week objection period (in labor court proceedings, the objection period is only one week). You can proceed with enforcement against the defendant directly from the enforcement order without an enforcement clause.

You can find further information on the dunning procedure on the website of the German dunning courts(www.mahngerichte.de) as well as in the leaflet "Mahnverfahren - ein kurzer Prozess" and in the brochure "Die maschinelle Bearbeitung des gerichtlichen Mahnverfahrens" (see "Further links").

Further information on compulsory enforcement (after an enforcement order has been issued) can be found in the brochure "Compulsory enforcement" (see "Related links").