Debt Collection in Romania

Our Debt Collection agency in Romania.

The Romanian culture, language, and laws make it difficult to collect your Romanian claims. Maximize your chances of getting paid by letting a debt collection agency from Romania recover your claim. They know the culture, speak the language and know all applicable laws in the collection process which significantly increase the chances to get paid.

We are very pleased to be working with the local debt collection agency IBS Credit Control SRL in Romania.

With a resolution rate of 80% of their cases in the “friendly” stage of debt collection, where they work hard to ensure the debtor to pay through; collection demands, phone calls, negotiation, setting up installment plans, etc.

In addition, they also have the expertise to take cases to court, apply for enforcement or to monitor claims in bankruptcy. Simply put, they are specialists in the entire Romanian debt collection process.

“Judicial” debt collection in Romania.

Going to court.

When a creditor who has not been paid by his Romanian debtor wishes to proceed with the debt collection process in Romania, he needs to sue the debtor in court. A writ of summons is then sent to the district court where the debtor is domiciled. An application needs to be in writing and in Romanian.

For lawsuits where the amount of the claim is less than 200 000 leu, the district courts have jurisdiction, while the tribunal-courts have jurisdiction for cases exceeding 200 000 lei.

Does it cost anything to take my Romanian debt collection case to court? Yes, there are fees that need to be paid in Romanian court cases. These consist of actual costs such as travel expenses for witnesses, experts’ fees, etc. In civil litigation, the loser is responsible for court costs if the winner requests this.

“Order for payment” in Romania.

Normally, there is a dispute and disagreement in court cases between two civil parties.

However, in the case of debt collection in Romania, this is not always the case. Sometimes the debtor has not contested the validity of the claim at all, but payment is still not made.

In such cases, there is a special simplified procedure called the order for payment procedure. This procedure exists in most countries and aims to facilitate and speed up the court processes where there is no dispute.

The prerequisites for using the order for payment procedure are that:

– The claim must be uncontested.
– the claim must be for a fixed amount of money
– the claim must arise from a contractual obligation.

The procedure can be used for any amount. There is therefore no upper limit. But it is an optional process for the creditor, who can instead choose to sue the debtor under the ordinary rules of litigation.

The competent authority is the same court that has jurisdiction to hear an ordinary dispute.

The application for an order for payment shall specify the creditor and the debtor, the amount of the claim and the due date, as well as the facts on which the claim is based. In addition, certain evidence (such as the contract) must be submitted with the application.

The order for payment must be served on the debtor, who then has a certain amount of time to consider the claim. If there is no objection, an enforcement order can be issued. It can then be used as a basis for enforcement proceedings in Romania.

If an objection to the claim is made and if the objection is justified, the application is rejected and the creditor must instead start an ordinary court case.

Enforcement procedures in Romania.

What role does “enforcement” play in the process of debt collection in Romania? Enforcement means that a creditor uses the Romanian authorities to force the debtor to pay. This means that the Romanian authorities intervene compulsorily to ensure that assets are transferred to a creditor from a debtor with assets in Romania.

In order for this to happen, certain conditions must be met. The most important of these is that the creditor has an enforcement order showing that the debtor owes money. In simple terms, an enforcement order is legal proof that the claim actually exists. Without one, no enforcement action can be taken.

An enforcement order, in the context of debt collection in Romania, is a judgment issued at an earlier stage when the creditor has taken legal action.

Insolvency proceedings in Romania.

For those situations in the debt collection process in Romania where a debtor does not necessarily fail to pay, but is unable to pay, insolvency proceedings may be relevant to initiate in Romania. The inability to pay should be permanent and it should obviously not be a question of a temporary poor cash flow.

A company can file for bankruptcy itself. Alternatively, a creditor who has not been paid for its outstanding claims can petition a debtor in bankruptcy if the claim has been overdue for more than 60 days and if the claim exceeds 40 000 leu.

A special administrator (administrator special) is appointed for a bankruptcy estate. This is someone who has been appointed by the debtor to represent him throughout the bankruptcy proceedings and who can also sometimes carry out some simple work on the debtor’s behalf if the debtor’s business continues during the bankruptcy administration period.

In addition, a court-appointed administrator (administrator judiciar) is also appointed. This is someone assigned by the authorities to manage the bankruptcy estate and compile lists of assets, debts and creditors.

In cases where the company cannot be rescued, the court also appoints a court-appointed liquidator (lichidator judiciar), who is then responsible for the management and liquidation of the company.