Facts
In debt collection case no. 16'917, the debt collection office Arlesheim issued a payment order against Willi Vögtlin, residing in Reinach, upon the request of Etcenter Ltd., Zurich, on September 24, 1974. On September 30, 1974, the attorney of the two debtors sent two letters to the debt collection office Basel-Stadt, in one of which he duly filed a legal objection in the debt collection case against Willi Vögtlin AG, and in the other he filed a legal objection against the payment order in debt collection case no. 16'917 of the debt collection office Arlesheim. The debt collection office Basel-Stadt returned this second letter to the representative of the debtors after the deadline for filing the legal objection had expired.
Willi Vögtlin then applied to the District Court President Arlesheim for permission to file the legal objection belatedly, which was, however, rejected. Against the subsequently issued attachment notice, Vögtlin filed a complaint with the supervisory authority, which also dismissed the complaint.
With the appeal to the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court, the debtor requested that the legal objection be declared valid.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court stated that according to the latest case law, a legal objection filed by mistake with the wrong debt collection office should be considered valid. The decisive factor is that the debtor faces serious consequences if the legal objection is omitted, as he would then only have the risky debt collection law claim for reimbursement available to him.
The Federal Supreme Court considered the present legal…