In everyday life, we all become, in one way or another, involved in civil law relationships, making verbal and written agreements. Despite the famous "pacta sunt servanda", counterparties do not always behave well and sometimes fail to fulfil their obligations. A buyer does not pay for the goods delivered, or the debtor does not return the amount loaned, which leads to debts. Here is an overview of how such debts can be recovered, what steps to take, and what to bear in mind to enforce the debt in a less costly and troublesome manner.
There are two main possible ways of enforcing an unpaid debt:
a) a notarial writ of execution
b) the court.
A notarial writ of execution is a non-judicial legal instrument, which is an order of a notary public to collect a certain amount of money due to the debtor or to seize movable property. Creditors should note, however, that such collection is possible only on indisputable claims (e.g., on obligations
arising from notarised transactions; obligations based on a written transaction, the due date of which has arrived and the default is acknowledged by the debtor; obligations to foreclose on the collateral upon expiry of the loan payable by a pawnshop). Whatever method is chosen by the creditor, before
collecting the debt, you had better make certain…
Thus, the state grants the creditor the right to enforce the collection
of overdue debts by issuing a writ of execution or based on a decision
of a judicial authority. Compliance with these practical recommendations
will prevent creditors from possible cancellation or refusal of the notary
to issue the writ of execution, return or non-acceptance of a claim,
and will save their time and money.