How do I take debt enforcement proceedings?

Entrepreneurs are sometimes confronted with bad payment habits of their customers earlier than expected. In such cases, taking legal action is often the only way to obtain the amount owed.

In order to maintain positive customer relations in the long term, it is recommended to inform customers of the outstanding amount in writing, i.e. by means of payment reminders. However, there is no legal obligation to remind customers in case of non-payment. In particular, it is not necessary to send a minimum number of reminders before taking legal action. Thus, it would be possible to initiate debt enforcement proceedings immediately after the expiry of the payment deadline.

Against whom can I take debt enforcement proceedings and how?

If the person who owes you money (debtor) is a private individual, the debt enforcement request must be submitted to the debt enforcement at the debtor’s place of residence. In the case of sole proprietorships, it must be submitted at the entrepreneurs’ place of residence. Finally, in the case of legal entities (plc and llc), the requests must be submitted at the place of their registered office.

If proceedings are initiated at the wrong place, the debt enforcement office will reject the request. In principle, there is no automatic transfer to the competent debt enforcement office.

What conditions must be met in order to initiate debt enforcement proceedings?

The debt enforcement request must indicate the name of the debtor (the person who owes money), the amount claimed, the creditor and the reason for the claim. In addition, an advance on the debt enforcement costs must be paid. The amount of this advance depends on the amount of the claim.

It is important to note that the debt collection office does not check whether the claim actually exists. This means that any person can in principle initiate legal proceedings against another person at any time. This is regardless of whether the amount claimed is actually due or not.

What happens after the submission of a debt enforcement request ?

The debt enforcement office sends the debtor a summons to pay. The debtor then has the opportunity to lodge an objection to the debt collection within 10 days. The objection does not have to be justified and can be made even if the amount claimed by the creditor is actually due.

If the debtor has lodged an opposition, it must be lifted in a judicial procedure, more precisely either in a civil procedure or in a discharge procedure.

If the creditor is successful in any court proceedings or if the debtor does not lodge an objection, the creditor has to submit an application for continuation of the proceedings. This can be filed at the earliest 20 days and at the latest one year after the notification of the summons to pay. If the claim is still not paid by the debtor, his assets are seized and then realised in order to repay the claim being pursued, plus interest and the advance payment of costs.

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