Sample instruction on the right of revocation (Supplement 3 to § 14 (1) and (3) of the Civil Code (BGB-InfoV))

Instruction on the right of revocation:

Right of revocation

You may revoke your contractual declaration within a period of [two weeks] (1) in written form (such as by letter, facsimile, or e-mail) [or by sending back the purchased goods] (2) without stating any reasons. The time limit commences not earlier than upon the receipt of these instructions. The sending of the revocation in good time shall be sufficient to determine compliance with the time limit for revocation. The revocation shall be addressed to: (3)

Consequences of revocation (4)

In the event of an effective revocation, both parties are bound to return in full all aspects of the goods, services or payment made, received or exchanged, as well as the benefits derived (if any), such as interest (5). In the case of goods damaged upon return, a sum corresponding to the devaluing caused by the damages will be claimed. [This will only not be applied on the proviso that the goods have been inspected – such as can be enacted if the goods were taken into a retail premises – and cause of the damage has been established and agreed upon] (2). You are able to avoid the above damage-claim sum by not treating the goods in the manner of an owner of said goods and by not using them in any way which may devalue their worth. You can send back shippable goods [at our expense] (6). Goods which cannot be shipped as a package (e.g. bulky goods) shall be picked up at your address (2).

Special notes (7)

Financing transaction (8)

(Venue), (Date), (Consumer’s signature) (9)

Annotations:

(1) If the consumer is instructed about his right of revocation after the contract has been concluded, the period of revocation amounts to one month.

(2) The addition in brackets can be omitted in case of services which do not consist in the surrender of goods.

(3) Insert: Name/Company and address for shipments

You can also give your fax number, e-mail address and/or your web site, if the consumer is to obtain a confirmation of his declaration of revocation to a company.

(4) This paragraph can be left out if the mutual services are to be performed after the revocation period has expired or if a reversed transaction is not possible (e.g. in case of suretyship).

(5) The addition in brackets shall be omitted with reference to rights of revocation under § 485 (1) of the Civil Code.

(6) If the parties have agreed that the consumer is to bear the shipment costs under § 357 (2) Sentence 3 of the Civil Code, the addition in brackets shall be replaced by the following text:

“In case of returning a product from a delivery of goods the value of which amounts to less than € 40, shipment costs shall be borne by you as long as the goods have been delivered properly. Otherwise, you do not bear any costs of the return shipment.”

(7) In case of a right of revocation under § 312d (1) of the Civil Code, the following note should be placed here:

“Your right of revocation expires prematurely, if your contracting party has commenced performing the service prior to the expiry of the time limit for revocation with your explicit approval or if you have caused such performance yourself (such as by download, etc.).”

In case of a right of revocation under § 485 (1) of the Civil Code, the following note should be placed here:

“The revocation period shall be one month, if you have not been delivered a brochure about the apartment before the contract was concluded or if the brochure was not written in the language of the state of which you are citizen or in which you reside. If the brochure is written in German, this applies only – if you are a citizen of a member state of the European Union or of a member state of the Agreement on the European Economic Area – if you requested a brochure in an official language of your country and did not obtain it.

In case of revocation you are obliged to refund the expenses of a notarisation.”

If the revocation is considered not to have occurred under § 495 (1) of the Civil Code due to not repaying the loan on time, the following note should be placed here:

“Your revocation shall be considered not to have occurred, if you do not repay the loan received within two weeks from declaring the revocation or from the payment of the loan.”

The above note can be omitted, if neither of the above-mentioned circumstances applies.

(8) The following note concerning financing transactions can be omitted if we are not concerned with a linked transaction.

If the client is to be instructed on financing transactions, the following note is appropriate:

“If you have financed this contract by means of a loan and if you are exercising your right of return, you are not bound by a loan agreement if these two contracts are an economic entity. This is the case if we are your lender or if your lender is providing services to you regarding the financing of our cooperation. If the loan has already flown into our account before the return or revocation comes into force, you can contact either us or your lender in order to finalize the reversed transaction.”

If the client is to be instructed on loan agreements, the following note is appropriate:

“Should you revoke this loan agreement, with which you finance your obligations ensuing from another agreement, you shall not be bound by this other agreement, if these two agreements are an economic entity. This is so, if we are your contractual party in the framework of the other agreement, or if we co-operate with your contractual partner when drafting and concluding the loan agreement. Should you be able to revoke the other agreement, too, you must declare this to your respective contractual partner.

If a transfer of a product is to be financed by means of this loan agreement, the following shall apply:

If - in the event of an effective revocation - you are not able to return in full or in part the product received, a sum corresponding to the devaluing caused by the damages will be claimed. This will only not be applied on the proviso that the goods have been inspected – such as can be enacted if the goods were taken into a retail premises – and cause of the damage has been established and agreed upon. You are able to avoid the above damage-claim sum by not treating the goods in the manner of an owner of said goods and by not using them in any way which may devalue their worth. You can send back shippable goods [at our expense and risk] (6). Goods which cannot be shipped as a package (e.g. bulky goods) shall be picked up at your address. If your contractual partner has already received the loan before the return or revocation comes into force, you can contact either him or us in order to finalize the reversed transaction.”

The second sentence of the above annotations should be replaced by the following sentence as far as the financed purchase of land or of a similar right is concerned:

“This shall be only assumed if the parties to the agreement are identical in both agreements or if the creditor goes beyond having the loan at his disposal and supports your purchase of lands by cooperating with the seller by means of making the seller’s interest to sale the land his own in whole or in part, or by means of planning, promoting and carrying out the project and thus by taking over his functions or by exclusively helping the seller.”

(9) Venue, date and place for signature can be omitted and be replaced by one of the phrases: “End of the instruction about the right of return” or “Yours sincerely, (insert: company name).”