For a large number of legal entities and entrepreneurs in Serbia, one of the biggest issues in business are subcontractors and buyers, especially domestic ones, who do not fulfill their financial obligations on time and within the agreement. Problems with the enforcement of receivables are, if not the biggest, then among the 3 most common problems of local businessmen in Serbia. This, very negative, yet still very common, phenomenon has a negative effect on the operations of a legitimate business. If the business model allows it, most businessmen turn to cooperating with foreign clients to avoid problems in cooperating with unscrupulous domestic businessmen. Creditors usually make a mistake first because they enter into a relationship with such entrepreneurs who fail to pay the agreed amount. Subsequently, creditors just stop doing business with domestic contractors or clients and never collect their funds. Most creditors try to collect funds through frequent requests to the debtor, constant calls, and attempts to reach an agreement to receive the funds, but this turns into an indefinite delay and a false promise of payment, where the creditor eventually gives up.

If the situation described is quite familiar to you, you are in the right place. Law Office Pekic represents clients in enforcement proceedings in order to efficiently and quickly collect legal monetary claims. Such a procedure is prescribed by the Law on Enforcement of the Republic of Serbia. This is done in the following 3 steps:

1. Issue an invoice to the debtor.

The vast majority of creditors have already taken this step as soon as they try to collect their claim. The invoice must be issued in accordance with the accounting parameters, and all businessmen, more or less, perform this obligation independently or in cooperation with the accountant.

2. Obtain written proof that the debtor has been notified of the debt.

The law states "delivery note or other written evidence" that the debtor has been informed of his debt. The second, written evidence, is mostly a last warning before the lawsuit. It is therefore necessary for the debtor to sign the delivery note or to be sent a last warning by post with a return receipt. By signing the postal return receipt of the warning before the lawsuit, it is considered that there is written evidence that the debtor has been informed about his debt. Everything related to these and further steps can be assisted by the law office Pekic.

3. Submit a motion for enforcement to the court.

After you complete the previous steps, your claim is ready to be collected through the court. The proposal for enforcement is submitted to the court, which issues a decision on execution within 8 days if the proposal is allowed and complete. The law prescribes the obligatory elements of every proposal for enforcement, without which the proposal would be rejected, and you, as the claimant, would still be obliged to pay the court fee. If a decision on enforcement has been made, it is delivered to the executor for collection. Shortly after that, and depending on the efficiency of the chosen executor, your claim will be settled, and the money will be transferred to your account. All provided that the debtor is not over-indebted.

Bonus - costs:

Thank you for reading the blog to the very end. Relating the costs of the procedure, it is initially necessary to bear the lawyer's fees (drafting of the proposal for enforcement, etc.), the amount of the court fee and the costs of the executor. It is necessary to advance these costs, and after the collection of the main debt from the debtor, the amounts you paid for these costs of the procedure are forwarded to you. The amount of the costs themselves depends on the amount of your debt. For the amount of debt of e.g. 100,000 dinars, the costs of the procedure could be between 20,000 and 30,000 Serbian dinars. This kind of calculation is of course informative and depends on the form of your cooperation with a lawyer.

Debt collection and the various grounds and procedures for debt collection are covered in a separate blog.

Since almost everyone who reads this probably has a problem with the collection of claims, feel free to contact our law firm at [email protected] if you have certain questions about the implementation of this procedure.

Author: Attorney at Law Stefan Pekić

DISCLAIMER:

These steps apply to the case where your company or entrepreneur has a claim against someone within your business. It does not refer to the case when someone owes a person a certain amount of money unrelated to the business.

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal assistance. For legal assistance, contact us directly to see your specific circumstances.