Help with unjustified debt collection

• Litigation/Mediation
• Private Clients
• SME

A debt collection can have restrictive consequences. If the debt collection is unjustified, these are all the more annoying. By means of a “request for cancellation”, the debt collection can be prevented from being visible in the register.

Not every debt collection is justified

Mrs Renard receives unpleasant mail. Out of the blue, she receives a debt collection notice. The name of the creditor is just as unfamiliar to Mrs Renard as the debt she is supposed to pay. With her wits about her, she files a legal complaint against the debt collection. Weeks and months pass without Mrs Renard ever hearing from the creditor again. Mrs Renard is planning to move to a new flat soon. However, the entry in the debt collection register keeps getting in the way of her happiness.

Reducing the effects of unfounded debt collection

A new provision in the SchKG will lead to better protection in precisely such cases. Unfounded and abusive debt collection proceedings can be cancelled more quickly and easily. According to Art. 8a para. 3 lit. d SchKG, the person who has been unjustifiably enforced can submit a “request for cancellation” to the debt collection office. This means that third parties will no longer receive information about the debt collection in question.

The request can be filed if three months have passed since the service of the order for payment. The debt collection office then asks the creditor to prove within 20 days that he or she has initiated proceedings to eliminate the legal action. If the creditor is unable to do so, the debt collection office will no longer make the debt collection visible to third parties. The debt collection is “deleted”.

Do you want to make a legal proposal? Pay?

However, a prerequisite for the “request for cancellation” is always that the debtor files a legal complaint. Only through the legal proposal does the debtor show that he or she disputes the claim and that the debt collection is unjustified. The same applies to the payment of the claim. If the debtor pays the demanded sum, he or she shows that the demand was justified. The “request for cancellation” would have to be rejected.