Debt collection agency Help & Advice - Legal aid centre

Questioner

A debt collection agency called my partner last week to tell him that they have a claim of over €11,000 outstanding against him. The debt is €1,000 for a Comfortcard from 1997. According to the debt collection agency, a judgment was pronounced and served in 1999. According to them, the fact that it has now become €11,000 is only due to interest over 15 years. We have requested the full file, including written evidence and specifications. But we no longer know what to do. The claim is probably justified, but can we not request a reduction since they have not heard from us for so many years?

Lawyer

Judgments do not expire quickly. Without a claim, the monetary claim would have expired after 5 years. Has the judgment been served? Interest is often due from the date of service. This must therefore be checked. In addition, it can be argued that there is abuse of rights if the interest has risen so sharply due to radio silence from the claimant. I would like to go through the documents to set up such a defense.

Questioner

The judgment was served on 15 February 1999. My partner made a number of payments between 2005 and 2007 totalling €1050.11. As far as we know, no message has been received from the collection agency in recent years. I have requested the complete file, including a specification of the claim amount, judgment, proof of interruption, etc. So we will have to wait until we receive these documents. We would like to get help, because it is going to our heads. We have just bought a house, the conditions of dissolution have already expired and the transfer of keys is mid-March. We are very afraid that the collection agency will now throw a spanner in the works before we get the key. According to our mortgage advisor, the bank will do a final check before the transfer. There was no BKR registration now, but what if the collection agency suddenly does that, then we will not only have to pay a fine of 10% on the mortgage amount, but we will also literally be on the street, without a home and with a debt of 30,000 euros! We would therefore like help & advice!

Lawyer

If payments have already been made over the years (which exceed the principal sum), it is questionable whether the bailiff's interest calculations are correct.