Business · 02
Credit Recovery
Credit recovery is the set of out-of-court and judicial measures used to collect what is owed, from the first notice to the enforcement of the instrument. At the firm, this area is led by Julia Silva Neves, serving companies and creditors in Tatuí and São Paulo.
Every debt has a deadline, an index and a path.
Every debt has a deadline to be collected, an index to be updated and a procedural path suited to the instrument that represents it. Getting one of the three wrong costs time, court costs and, sometimes, the right itself. We work on all three with instruments the firm developed itself.
The firm’s instruments
Not off-the-shelf products. Built here, for this work.
Deadline
The clock of each instrument
Checks, trade bills, promissory notes and contracts become time-barred in different periods. Before any measure, we calculate how much time the instrument still has. Then the case enters the firm’s control of deadlines and case progress.
Index
The calculation, with an official index
The update of the debt uses the indexes published by the Central Bank of Brazil and the rules of monetary correction and interest of Law 14,905/2024. An in-house calculator keeps the calculation record: index, period and installment of each update.
Radar
Cases, kept in sight
An in-house system queries the public databases of the National Council of Justice in state, federal, labor and superior courts, and the team is notified of new developments, without relying on manual searches.
The path
Five stages, from reading the instrument to payment.
Not every debt has to go through all of them. The reading in the first stage says where to start.
Reading the instrument and the evidence
We check whether the instrument is enforceable, whether it is already time-barred and what evidence exists. This reading defines the path and avoids spending time and court costs on a measure that does not apply.
CPC, arts. 784 and 786
Notice, negotiation and protest
The attempt to solve the matter without a lawsuit: a formal notice, a payment proposal and, when applicable, the protest of the instrument, which makes the default public.
Law 9,492/1997
Enforcement or payment claim
With an enforceable instrument, enforcement. With written evidence that lacks the force of an instrument, the payment claim (ação monitória). Each instrument has its own path, and choosing the wrong one delays everything.
CPC, arts. 700 and 784
Locating and attaching assets
In the lawsuit, the creditor asks the judge for the measures the law provides: information from third parties, freezing of funds in accounts and attachment of assets, within the legal protections.
CPC, arts. 772, 835 and 854
Follow-up to the end
Attachment, appraisal, auction or settlement: the case is followed at every development, with the debt updated by the official index at each stage.
From the claim to payment
What it covers
- Out-of-court collection and notices
- Protest of instruments
- Payment claim (ação monitória)
- Enforcement of extrajudicial instruments: checks, trade bills (duplicatas), promissory notes and contracts
- Enforcement of judgments
- Judicial measures to locate and attach the debtor's assets
- Updating debts with official indexes
- Negotiation and payment agreements
The list shows the most common matters in the area and is not exhaustive. Each situation depends on individual analysis.
Frequently asked questions
When is an enforcement action available, and when is a payment claim (ação monitória) available?
Enforcement is available when the creditor holds an enforceable instrument, such as a check, a promissory note, a trade bill (duplicata) or a contract signed by the debtor and two witnesses (Code of Civil Procedure, art. 784). The payment claim is available to those who hold written evidence of the debt that does not have the force of an enforceable instrument (art. 700). Choosing the wrong path costs time and court costs.
Do checks, trade bills and promissory notes become time-barred? After how long?
Yes, and each instrument has its own period. Enforcement of a check is time-barred 6 months after the presentation period (Law 7,357/1985, art. 59); after that, a payment claim is possible within 5 years (Súmulas 299 and 503 of the Superior Court of Justice, STJ). Enforcement of a trade bill (duplicata) against the drawee is time-barred in 3 years (Law 5,474/1968, art. 18), as is enforcement of a promissory note against the issuer (Uniform Law of Geneva, arts. 70 and 77). A debt set out in an instrument is time-barred in 5 years (Civil Code, art. 206, § 5, I). The periods vary according to the debtor (issuer, guarantor or endorser), so each instrument must be analyzed.
Is a contract signed only by the parties an enforceable instrument?
As a rule, a private contract must be signed by the debtor and by two witnesses (Code of Civil Procedure, art. 784, III). For electronic documents, the law accepts any form of electronic signature and waives the witnesses when the integrity of the document is verified by a signature provider (art. 784, § 4). When a requirement is missing, the payment claim is usually the path.
Is it possible to locate the debtor's assets?
In court proceedings, yes, through the means the law provides. The judge may order third parties to provide information related to the enforcement (Code of Civil Procedure, art. 772, III) and, at the creditor's request, the freezing of funds in accounts through an electronic system (art. 854). Attachment follows the order of art. 835 and respects legal protections, such as that of the family home (Law 8,009/1990).
How is the debt updated?
As the contract provides. If no index is set in the contract or in specific legislation, the debt is updated by the IPCA (Civil Code, art. 389, sole paragraph) and interest is charged at the legal rate, which is the Selic rate less the monetary update index (art. 406), under Law 14,905/2024. That is why the calculation must record the index and the period of each installment.
Informational answers. They do not replace the analysis of a specific case by a lawyer.
Contact
To talk about a credit, contact the firm.