Debt Collection & Enforcement

Debt Collection Services

Dwyer Legal offers a full range of debt recovery and enforcement services for international clients.

Our services cover the entire range of debt recovery.

This includes

  • The sending of letters of demand
  • The representation of our clients within a court procedure
  • The enforcement from German or international judgements.

The initiation of a credit collection

In case a German debtor stops paying to an international creditor, this often has the following reasons:

  1. The debtor has liquidity problems.
  2. The debtor spends his limited assets to pay those creditors who have the strongest position to sue him.

As a consequence creditors in foreign countries are often considered less important than creditors residing in Germany.

This imbalance can be compensated by mandating a German based law firm to collect the debit.

The debt collection is then usually initiated by sending a letter of demand to the debtor. With this letter, the debtor will be requested to pay

  • the open amount
  • interests for the period of delay
  • and any expenses the creditor had in his home country for following up the credit.

In addition, the debtor will also be requested to refund the legal fees linked to this letter.

The processing of a court case

In comparison to the setup in the UK and the US, our lawyers combine the functions of a solicitor and a barrister. As a consequence, our law firm can not only chase the debtor with the letter of demand, but can only sue the debtor in a court procedure.

Dwyer Legal Law Firm is authorized to represent our clients with all German civil courts (Amts-,Land- und Oberlandesgerichte).

Enforcement

Definition of enforcement

Once a court has issued a payment order to the debtor, this judgement can then be enforced in different ways.

The most common enforcement methods are:

  • Garnishment of funds, bank accounts and monitary claims
  • Levying assets (processed through a bailiff)
  • Enforcement into property
  • Collecting an affidavit
  • Processing penalty payments
  • Initiating an insolvency procedure

In other cases, such as a non-monetary judgment, other proceedings may apply.

Dwyer Legal can not only support with the enforcement from German Judgements, but also with the collection of payment and other obligations from international judgements or court orders.

Please contact us for further details. Correspondence languages are English, German and Italian.

Enforcement of international judgements

1. European judgements

Following the European Directice Nr. 805/2004 and based on a standard EU-confirmation form, a judgement issued by a court of one EU member state can also be enforced in any other EU-member state.

Dwyer Legal is in the position to process such enforcement in Germany.

2. Non-EU judgements

Should the judgement have been releaced by a court of a non-European state or country, then this Judgement typically needs to be recognized by a German court to enforce from it in Germany (exequatur processing).

A judgement would not be confirmed by the German court for enforcement if one of the following applies.

  • The German civil processing law would see the competence with other courts than the one that has release the Judgement
  • The Judgment was issued without a participation of the debtor and if the claim has not been served properly to the debtor
  • Such court procedure would have been blocked by German courts dur to parallel court procedure with the same content or due to decisions already released by other courts
  • The foreign Judgement is contradictive to Germany general standards / the rules of the German constitution (ordre public) and
  • If the state of origin of the Judgment would not confirm the enforcement of a German Judgement of the same type (principle of reciprocity).

Dwyer Legal can support

  • with identifying the requirements for the reconition procedure
  • with filing the application and
  • with enforcing from the confirmed Judgement.

Please contact us for further details. Correspondence languages are English, German and Italian.