Debt Collection Lawyer in Romania - Debt Recovery

QUESTION: I AM FROM FRANCE, ACTING IN THE NAME OF MY PARTNER’S COMPANY, AND I NEED TO COLLECT A DEBT FROM ROMANIA. CAN YOUR LAW FIRM IN ROMANIA HELP ME?

Answer: Because of the erratic business climate in Romania, the debt recovery procedure became a major chapter of our daily activity. Our team of lawyers in Oradea is highly skilled in recovering debts from physical persons and legal entities, Romanian or foreign. Since we are thoroughly familiar with this field, we always manage to develop efficient mechanisms for debt recovery instances.

We provide professional legal assistance consisting in: drafting notices, summons for payment procedures, forced execution procedures etc. 

Before initiating any legal actions, one of our lawyers in Romania will make every effort to amicably recover the debt.

No matter the country or activation field of a company, the recovery process of a debt can be a serious issue. Still, the pressure of the Romanian justice system could be added to this process, as the lack of understanding for the protections that creditors have in this country.

On the other hand, the legal system in Romania provides some fast procedures for debt collections for small amounts.

When a debtor has exceeded the due day of a payment, the creditor can proceed in court for the recovery of the amount owed from the debtor, with a three-year statute limitation. In addition, if applicable, the creditor can use the insolvency procedure from Law 85/2006. A debt collection agency in Romania can provide the needed assistance.

Our team of lawyers in Romania can provide more information about these relevant laws, as needed.

QUESTION: I NEED A DEBT RECOVERY FROM ROMANIA, WHAT OPTIONS DO I HAVE?

Answer: According to Romanian legal provisions, there are three major possibilities of debt recovery. Our lawyers present these below.

1. Debt Collection Romania –Summons for payment

The summons for payment procedure is a specific phase in the Romanian debt  recovery process which requires explicit documents that can prove the debts (without penalties). According to law, the documents should be signed by the debtor. If possible, the documents should be also stamped by the debtor.

If all these conditions are met, the complaint shall be immediately judged. In this procedure, an irrevocable and final decision shall be obtained in maximum four months. The documents required by law are: invoices, orders, account files or any other written document proving the concerned amount of money. Our lawyers in Romania can help prepare the needed documents.

2. Debt Recovery Romania – Common Law Procedure

If there are no documents signed and/or stamped by the debtor, then we have to use the common law procedure.The disadvantage of this procedure is that it takes a relatively long time; an irrevocable and final decision can be obtained in approx. 10 months (5 terms). If you choose this option, our Romanian lawyers can assist you.

Also, this procedure is much more expensive. In this procedure we can use any proofs. According to debt recovery  Romania stipulations, this procedure includes: prior conciliation procedure – mandatory according to Romanian legislation, in this procedure – (drafting notification, negotiations, etc.), drafting, filing and representation in front of the Court.

For this procedure, according to debt collection Bucharest department, the stamp duty for the Romanian state shall be about 8% of the total amount.

Our team of lawyers provide services offered by a debt collection agency Romania and can assist you with this procedure.

The petition for the common debt recovery procedure must be filed at the court that is competent to judge on the merits of the case, this being established by the general competence rules. In Romania, the lowest court is Judecatoria, which has the material competence for claims up to 45.000 euro. The Tribunal will judge the cases in which the amount goes higher than 45.000 euro. In addition, the territorial competence is where the headquarters of the defendant is established. Still, this procedure has some costs according to the value of the claim, as shown below:

• up to of 500 RON – 8% (not less than 20 RON)
• 501 RON to 5,000 RON – 40 RON + 7% for the amount over 500 RON
• 001 RON to 25,000 RON – 355 RON + 5% for the amount over 5.000 RON
• 001 RON to 50,000 RON – 1.355 RON + 3% for the amount over 25.000 RON
• 001 RON to 250,000 RON – 2.105 RON 2% for the amount over 50.000 RON
• More than 250.000 RON – 6.105 RON + 1% for the amount over 250.000 RON.

After 30 days from the date that the court communicated its decision, the parties can submit an appeal at the Tribunal, and also, after 30 days after the new decision has been communicated by the court (recurs) the parties can file a last appeal. Still, the party that wants to file the second appeal (recurs) must be accompanied by a legal adviser or lawyer, such as one of our Romanian lawyers.

Recovering debts from people that you cannot reason with might be frustrating, time consuming and hard, therefore asking for legal advice will help you go through the process easier and faster. Do not hesitate to contact our debt collection lawyers in Bucharest for more information and to access our services that are the same as those offered by a debt collection agency Romania.

3. Insolvency procedure

If the debtor is presumed bankrupt (the last payment is due to pay for more than 30 days), we could start the insolvency procedure. Bankruptcy involves basically the same procedure as for summons for payment, but it can take longer, because the court must appoint a Liquidator. The Liquidator is the person appointed to prepare documents for liquidation of the company.

According to debt collection Romania procedures, the documentation includes inventory and balance sheet liquidation, stating the exact status of assets and liabilities of the Company. So all these operations may restrict and lead the Court to analyze the company’s status of insolvency for a longer period of time.

The Liquidator is obliged to receive and keep the company’s records, which have been entrusted by the administrators, and all the company’s documents.

This procedure in Court takes between 6 and 12 months and sometimes it can extend to over 18 moths. Our attorneys in Romania can assist throughout in the same way as a debt collection agency in Romania would.