A surprising letter arrived at Paul’s house. The job center in the Berlin district of Pankov asks him to pay more than 380 euros. this is a claim almost 16 years old. Kuksi asked the authorities.
In particular, the claim refers to a part of the rental deposit. the money has been transferred to a special rental deposit account that only the landlord can access. And more demands job center now from Paul (name changed) €380.95 – and 16 years after the outstanding payment .
Paul had several questions in mind when he opened the letter. Is there no statute of limitations? Can the data be retained after such a long period of time? Why does the job center send such a letter even after 16 years?
Here’s how long personal data is stored at Work Center
“The Pankov job center in Berlin has instructed the debt collection service of the Federal Employment Agency to handle possible claims (eg in the case of overpayments or loans),” spokesman Jens Krüger told Cooksey.
When asked how long personal data is stored in the body, he answers: Personal data is also stored for this purpose,” he says.
That is why the government did not send a letter until 16 years later
Paul hardly has data from that period, after all the payment was made 16 years ago. The case is causing resentment among the former Hartz IV recipient, who he suspects is a strategy behind it; The Pankow job center denies this.
The authority explains. “Job centers are required by law to remind you of outstanding claims, warn you if necessary and enforce them. This applies until the claim period has expired. Loan repayment claims issued by an uncontested administrative act are subject to a 30-year statute of limitations in accordance with section 52 part 2 SGB X. The claim is payable when you move out of the apartment for which the loan was granted or when you stop receiving SGB-II/civil benefits.
Therefore, it may happen that the request to pay off the loan occurs only years after the loan was granted. This will comply with legal requirements. The claim that the jobcentre deliberately sent such letters only years later, because it was assumed that there would be no more notices or bank statements after this point, “has no basis and is clearly rejected by us”.
Authorities are not allowed to respond to emails. to emails
Paul* told us that the authorities have not yet responded to the letters. We wanted to know why Pankov’s job center has not yet responded to the request. El are sent to the job center for processing. It should be noted that the GDPR prohibits the job center from responding by email. The job center responds to the letter by mail or through our online offer,” the spokesperson explains.
However, if you send an email to Jobcenter Pankow, you will receive an automatic acknowledgment of receipt; “Your letter to Jobcenter Berlin Pankow has been received and is being processed. Since you have contacted us by email, we assume that you agree to email.
