Recovering money that you have lent to a friend or an acquaintance does not have to become a long and tedious process, since law has some mechanisms for the debt to be recognized that payment is advanced when the terms have expired, stipulated.
The first thing you should do to enforce a debt collection is to file a lawsuit asking a civil or small claims judge to order payment owed to you or to enforce the obligation of the defaulter. This lawsuit must be filed in the municipality where the person in default resides.
Solve your legal doubts about debts and leases
This is a procedure that does not normally require a lawyer, as long as the value is of a minimum amount, since when it exceeds legal monthly minimum wages in force, it is necessary to be accompanied by a legal professional. If you need advice or expert help from a specialist lawyer in legal collections, you can consult our list where a specialist will not hesitate to help you.
In accordance with the law, bills of exchange or promissory notes have three years after the expiration date to initiate the executive process, while for checks the term that has been set is six months.
Attached to the demand must be attached the document that demonstrates the existence of an obligation, which is officially called the ‘executive title’. The latter can be a promissory note, payment agreements, a bill of exchange, a lease contract where the value to be paid and the day to be paid is made clear, the conciliation act or a sentence imposing obligations to make a payment. This document is key, since without the ‘executive title’ you will not be able to process the claim.
If the requirements of the law are met and the judge considers it so, the debtor will be ordered to pay what he owes within a certain period and his assets will be seized so that he cannot dispose of them. If the debtor does not make the payment indicated by the judge in the established time, it will be ordered to continue with the process, carrying out the formal adjustment of the account, updating it the values that are owed with a liquidation of the credit, in addition, the assets of the debtor and will be auctioned. With the proceeds from that sale, the outstanding debt will be paid.
Drip lenders can be very expensive
Before starting this type of process, the law recommends trying to reconcile and reach agreements with the debtor, leaving the agreements reached in writing. If during the process an agreement is reached between the two parties, you can speak directly with the judge to suspend the process.
A recommendation that you have to take into account, in case of having a debt, is to record each payment made, either given by the person to whom you owe or have receipts of appropriations. In the event that you have signed a blank promissory note or a bill of exchange, when you pay the loan in full, be sure to ask for it to be destroyed or to demand that a payment notation be made, and if you do not do so, you could be a victim. of a proceeding against you by a person in bad faith.
What to do if I don’t have anything signed?
In case of having lent money without having the receipt of a document to support the transaction, the law protects you so that pre-settlement loans are safe and you can demonstrate that there is an obligation with a judicial procedure called ‘monitoring process’.
If the debt does not exceed the minimum legal monthly wages in force, you can file a lawsuit through a civil judge or one of small causes that has its seat in the debtor’s municipality.
If the claim meets the requirements, the judge will order the debtor to be notified so that he can officially state the reasons why he does not acknowledge the debt, either partially or totally. In the event that the debtor does not rule, the judge may order that the debt be paid with the due interest for late payment. This procedure even includes the auction of the debtor’s assets to settle the debt.
In the event that the debtor makes a statement and argues the reasons why he is unaware of the debt, the judge must take the evidence requested by both parties and subsequently decide on the existence, or not, of the debt.
