Partial Upholding of the Appeal against the Fee Invoice of the Debt Collection Office

Facts

The Debt Collection Office of the Appenzell Hinterland region served Z. with a payment order for a claim of CHF 50,000.- on June 24, 2011, in the debt collection proceedings initiated by X. AG. On the same day, X. AG received a fee invoice of CHF 117.-. X. AG appealed against this fee invoice to the High Court of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, which dismissed the appeal.

X. AG filed an appeal with the Federal Supreme Court, requesting the annulment of the High Court's decision and the recalculation of the fee invoice to CHF 95.-.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court found that according to the law, the payment order can be served by the Debt Collection Office or the Post Office. A prior invitation to collect the order is not required, even though this practice is becoming increasingly common.

For an unsuccessful attempt to serve…