Combating unjustified debt collection
It should be possible to quickly delete unjustified debt collection from the debt collection register. The Federal Council sees two possible solutions for this. It proposes an alternative to the draft of the National Council's Legal Commission (RK-N) that takes into account the input received during the consultation process.
According to current law, a debt collection can be initiated without prior control. Therefore, a debt collection can be initiated without a claim existing, or a debt collection can be initiated for an amount higher than the amount owed. Abuses and unjustified debt collection are a recurring occurrence. This can have serious consequences for the person concerned, for example when looking for an apartment or a job or when obtaining a loan, because these debt collection proceedings also remain visible in the debt collection register extract for five years.
Legal commission wants to prevent abuse
On the basis of a parliamentary initiative, the RK-N has drafted a bill to remedy the problem of unjustified debt collection. This proposes the introduction of a new legal remedy to prevent the notification of debt collection to third parties under certain circumstances.
In the view of the Federal Council, the proposal of the RK-N would largely solve the existing problems. However, certain points were criticized in the consultation process. For example, the proposed system appears to be complicated and not easy to implement. Moreover, in addition to unjustified debt collection, justified debt collection could also be deleted from the register extract.
Alternative solution possibility
The Federal Council therefore opposes the proposal of the RK-N with a possible alternative: Debt collection proceedings against which the debtor defends himself by means of a legal proposal should no longer appear in the extract upon request. A request for deletion can be submitted to the debt collection office after a certain period of time (e.g. three or six months) has elapsed - provided that the creditor has not made any efforts to have the legal proposal removed by then.
The Federal Council is of the opinion that both the proposal of the RK-N and the outlined alternative solution would improve the situation for the persons concerned. Both solutions have advantages and disadvantages. It is up to parliament to decide which solution should become law.
Federal Council press release
