In the operation of the
enterprises, the arising of bad debts could be unavoidable. However, in order
to be able to file lawsuit and collect debts and minimize bad debts in
practice, there are still many difficulties. Currently, the process of debt
recovery according to the provisions of the law still encounter many problems
and shortcomings, while enterprises need more effective solutions to recover
debts fully and quickly in order to ensure revenue and financial balance for
enterprise.
In order to be able to
recover debts according to the provisions of the law, enterprises could hire
dispute lawyers or by themselves must go through two stages with relatively
complicated procedures. Accordingly, the lawsuit need to be filed and after the
court’s judgment, the enterprise needs to file a petition for civil judgment
enforcement. Because, the trial stage and the judgment execution phase are two
independent stages, each with a different process.
First, the stage of
lawsuits in court. When the enterprise’s interests are infringed, the
enterprise will need to file a lawsuit at a competent court. This is a
traditional method of lawsuits that forces enterprise to comply with the
court’s strict processes and procedures and relevant legal regulations.
Specifically, in order
to initiate a lawsuit at the court, an enterprise must meet the following
conditions to initiate a lawsuit: (i) there is a debt incurred and the debtor
fails to pay the debt as committed, leading to a dispute and the enterprise believes
that rights and interests are infringed; (ii) the dispute between the
enterprise and the debtor in this case must fall under the exclusive
jurisdiction of the court, not under the jurisdiction of any other agency or
organization (arbitration); (iii) in some cases, if there is an agreement or is
required by law to carry out pre-litigation procedures such as conciliation,
negotiation, notification, etc., the enterprise must complete such procedures
before requesting a competent court to settle disputes between the enterprise
and the debtor. In addition, in the petition, the enterprise needs to enclose
invoices, vouchers and loan documents to prove that the debt collection is
grounded. These are the basic conditions that enterprise need to keep in mind when
filing a lawsuit to ensure that the petition is valid and not returned.
After the petition is
accepted and the enterprise completes the payment of the court fee advance, the
court will conduct verification and collect evidences; conducting meetings,
checking the handover, accessing and disclosing evidences and conciliation. In
case the involved parties cannot reconcile with each other on the payment plan
or agree on interest and debt, the court will bring the case to trial. During
this period, enterprises need to consider late payment interest, principal and
debtor’s financial situation in order for request to be accepted by the court
and serve as a basis for possible judgment enforcement.
Second, the procedure
for requesting judgment enforcement. After the judgment or decision of the
court takes legal effect, it must be respected by organizations and all
citizens. Accordingly, enterprises, especially debtors, within the scope of
their responsibilities, should strictly abide by judgments and decisions and must
take responsibility before law for judgment enforcement. Within 5 years from
the date the judgment or decision takes legal effect, the creditor can by
himself or authorize another person or dispute law firm to make a written
request for judgment enforcement and send it to the district-level judgment
enforcement agency where the court is located for first-instance trial court to
request judgment enforcement. Accordingly, enterprises need to prepare a
written request for judgment enforcement together with the judgment or decision
requested for enforcement and other relevant documents. For the extent of the
petition for judgment enforcement, the enterprise needs to show information
about the debtor’s assets or judgment enforcement conditions.
In addition, enterprises
have the right to request civil judgment enforcement agencies to apply measures
to secure judgment enforcement, including: freezing of accounts, temporary
seizure of assets and papers, temporary suspension of registration, transfer,
etc. change the current state of assets to avoid the debtor’s dispersal of
assets and inability to repay the debt according to the judgment. At the same
time, the judgment enforcement agency will issue a notice of judgment
enforcement, setting a time limit for the debtor to voluntarily execute the
judgment of 15 days from the date the debtor receives or is duly notified
execution decision. At the end of the above-mentioned voluntary time limit, the
debtor who has conditions for judgment enforcement but does not voluntarily
execute the judgment will be subject to coercion.
The enforcement of money
assets will be applied by the judgment enforcement agency one of the measures
such as deducting money from the account; subtract from the judgment debtor’s
income, collect money from the judgment debtor’s enterprise activities; collect
money from judgment debtors who are holding or collect money from judgment
debtors who are kept by third parties or sell assets of judgment debtors to
collect debts.
Although the judgments
and decisions have taken effect, the initiation of lawsuits and judgment
enforcement in many cases still cannot be enforced and the enterprise can debt
recovery is challenging.
One is the determination
of the debtor’s address for the court to serve the documents. The debtor always
tends to evade and not cooperate, i.e. constantly changing addresses and
causing difficulties for the court in the process of settling the case.
Accordingly, the court could not proceed to serve the debtor, then some courts
have decided to return the petition to the claimant, or suspend the case
because it considers that there are not enough conditions to initiate a lawsuit
or not summon the defendant. This is one of the main factors causing delays in
the legal process when enterprises initiate lawsuits.
The second is the
application of trial procedure in absentia. In order to fully meet the
conditions for trial in absentia, the court will take time and many measures to
verify and post procedural documents according to regulations. Besides, for
debt disputes with complicated elements, it takes more time to collect more
documents and evidences, conduct solicitation of document expertise, etc. or
the case has many people with interests and obligations related, the trial was
adjourned several times. Therefore, the intangible interests of enterprises
have been seriously affected.
Third is the execution
process. In fact, many enterprises have had court judgments, but the judgment
enforcement process has lasted for many years, and enterprise have not been
able to recover their debts. This problem may arise from the lack of
flexibility in the coordination between banks, other agencies and organizations
and the judgment enforcement agency, which is detrimental to the verification
and distraint of assets of the agency, directly affecting the time of judgment
enforcement.
Fourth is for the
distraint, auction of assets that are assets that are difficult to determine
the value of, or properties that are in dispute or there are no auction
participants are also reasons for the delay in debt recovery.
Fifth is due to human
subjective factors. Specifically, due to opposing and uncooperative acts of
changing the current status of mortgaged assets, obstructing the verification
of judgment enforcement conditions, asset valuation, and asset auction. For
movable property, the debtor could actively move or disperse in order to cause
difficulties in the handling process. In addition, there are cases where
enforcers violate the time limit for notifying or serving judgment enforcement
decisions/notices, failing to conduct verification…
Hence, enterprises that
wish to proceed debt recovery effectively need to proactively collect
information, judgment execution conditions of the debtor and provide it to the
judgment enforcement agency. Besides, it is necessary to seek the legal advice
of law firm in Vietnam with experience in litigation and enforcement for debt
recovery process in Vietnam.
Source ANT Lawyers: https://antlawyers.vn/legal-service/what-are-challenges-in-debt-recovery-litigation-procedures-for-enterprise.html