Wehkamp must remove registration within three days
On short notice, three lawsuits were filed against Wehkamp by clients of Dynamiet Netherlands and in all cases the court ruled in favor of the client. In all cases there is a weighty and social interest. The circumstances and facts from the past have a clear background and for this reason also have a good explanation.
Payment scheme
The case before the court on January 22, 2018 involved the following situation. Client used her balance account with Wehkamp in the past. At a time when client's partner loses his job and, as a result, the family income is drastically reduced, a backlog of monthly payments arises. Moreover, shortly thereafter, client finds himself completely on his own. The moment client has the opportunity, an arrangement is made and the entire debt is repaid. Wehkamp confirms receipt of the payment and posts an expiration date. This would keep client's BKR registration reported until November 2022. Until then, client cannot obtain a mortgage.
Insufficiently weighty
Wehkamp submitted the following in response to our request. Wehkamp states that the data were processed correctly and that there is no diminished culpability. The client's interest, the financing of the home she purchased, is considered insufficiently weighty.
Maintain registration no interest
Dynamiet Netherlands believes that given the circumstances under which the arrears and registration arose, the fact that the claim has been paid in full and the urgency of the client's interest that this case had to be handled with urgency. Client is not a danger to himself or the financial sector and there is stability. Therefore, maintaining the registration served no interest. However, client did have a very strong interest, as she needed to complete her financing for the home she purchased by the end of January.
Urgent interest outweighs
The judge considers the client's urgent interest proven: "The urgent interest in the claim follows sufficiently from [ ...]'s assertions that the purchase agreement should be rescinded if she did not receive a binding offer for a mortgage loan by January 31, 2018, and that because of the negative BKR registration - the A2 coding - she cannot obtain a mortgage loan." On the balance of interests, the judge ruled as follows: "On the other hand, [ ...] has a strong interest in the removal of the negative BKR registration. Wehkamp has not disputed that [ ...] and her partner cannot obtain a mortgage loan if the A2 code is not removed, nor that [ ...] would then not only forfeit a high penalty but also keep higher monthly fees. [ ...] has thus made it sufficiently plausible that the BKR registrations, also in view of their long duration 9 until November 2022), is disproportionately burdensome for her. This brings the Court in preliminary relief proceedings to the conclusion that the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity imply that the interest of [ ...] in removal of the registration should prevail in a reasonable assessment over the social interest in maintaining this registration. The claim will therefore be allowed as stated below".
The decision
The Court orders Wehkamp to remove, or have removed, the codes registered in the Central Credit Information System of the Bureau Kredietregistratie with regard to the client within three days, under penalty of a fine of EUR 10,000.00 for each day that they remain in default, with a maximum of EUR 50,000.00. In addition, the court will order Wehkamp to pay the costs of the proceedings on the client's side, which to date are estimated at EUR 895.00.
Open the verdict