Debt collection is not always a pleasant procedure for both the employer and the lender. This situation can happen between friends, relatives and acquaintances, and sometimes it becomes necessary to get funds back from individual entrepreneurs and organizations.
Debt collection with individual entrepreneurs is somewhat different from the procedure between individuals, as well as from a lawsuit against the whole company. In this article, we consider the features of the procedure, as well as some techniques that will help protect yourself from fraud by the borrower.
What is an IP?
In order to understand what is the peculiarity of debt collection from private entrepreneurs, it is necessary to understand the concept itself. In court proceedings, a claim can be directed both to individuals and legal entities. An individual is any person from our environment, a citizen who has his rights and obligations. Legal entity - an organization engaged in certain activities in the economic market. And to whom can an individual entrepreneur be attributed?
An individual entrepreneur also conducts economic activities, he registered his activities with regulatory authorities and received the right to carry out commercial operations. At the same time, he still refers to individuals, since he can make his decisions promptly and independently, and for his obligations he answers with all his property, unlike legal entities.
Debt collection with an individual entrepreneur is a process in which you contact a specific person, and not with the whole company and its many representatives.
How to resolve the dispute peacefully?
All disputes are more rational to resolve peacefully. A lawsuit always requires money, time and nerves. Sometimes it takes so long that the lender manages to forget about the debt, and the amount simply depreciates.
If the borrower agrees to negotiate before the court, it is better to start really with them. It is sometimes wise to even compromise and provide an additional reprieve than launching the court mechanism. All this depends on the type of borrower, his character, the so-called "portrait". If he really always returned his debts, was responsible, got in touch, explained the reason for the delay, then peace talks would be appropriate.
After you come to a decision that suits both parties, be sure to fix it on paper. If you are faced with a scammer, you still have to find a good lawyer. In any case, do not sit back and silently wait for the return of money. Debt collection with individual entrepreneurs must begin before filing an application with the court.
Debt collection procedures
Negotiations are at an impasse, no one answers your calls, there was no money from the debtor, no, what to do? How to collect debt from private entrepreneurs?
First of all, write a written claim for a return of the debt. Send it to the address of the entrepreneur's residence, to the work office, to any place where he can receive it. Keep a copy of the claim with you, send a letter with a delivery notification in order to know for sure that the defendant received it.
If the reputation of the media is important for the entrepreneur, send a complaint there too. Many entrepreneurs are not very happy about the leak of information of this kind to potential customers.
In some situations, it is possible to attract larger business partners. If the work of the debtor depends on a company, it makes sense to contact the management with an information letter.
If the measures taken did not take effect, contact the arbitration court. With it, you can recover the amount of debt, forfeit, compensation for losses and expenses for the payment of duties and services of a lawyer.
It is necessary to correctly draw up a statement of claim for debt collection by the individual entrepreneur, as well as attach all the evidence related to the case. You must also attach your letters with a request for a refund, which was sent to the defendant.
The initiation of bankruptcy IP
A positive outcome of a court session does not always mean a refund. The fact is that bailiffs often refer to employment, and the plaintiff must collect the debt from the individual entrepreneur on the writ of execution independently.
If the debt is not repaid within three months, the creditor has the right to file a new statement of claim. Only in this case is the bankruptcy lawsuit filed already. This action is beneficial only if the debtor has valuable property, as a result of the sale of which debts on obligations will be repaid.
The application is submitted to the arbitration court at the place of residence of the defendant. If a positive response is received, the defendant sells all his assets and property, except for a single apartment and some inexpensive household items.
Bankruptcy proceedings require several creditors. After completion of the procedure, an individual becomes โcleanโ before the law and for his obligations, even if all his property was not enough to pay off debts. After this, it is impossible to present claims for the return of debt.
Debt collection from an IP that has ceased operations
The market is a volatile structure. New organizations are opening up, others cannot continue their activities and are closing. It happens that an individual entrepreneur curtailed economic activity, duly executed documents and went to work somewhere at the plant. And what if he was a debtor? What will become of his duty?
Debt collection from a former individual entrepreneur is no different from the standard procedure. All his debts and loans have not gone away, he is still obliged to pay them. This means that you need to write a letter demanding to repay the debt and, if this does not bring any result, go to court in the future at the place of registration of the defendant.
What you need to know about?
How debt collection from private entrepreneurs occurs, even from those who have already stopped economic activity, was discussed in the previous paragraphs. What to do if an entrepreneur not only closed his activity, but also started bankruptcy proceedings? The creditor must have time to enter the special list of persons to whom the entrepreneur owes. It is called the registry. If before the end of the bankruptcy procedure no measures were taken by the creditor, he will not be able to collect the debt in the future.
What to fear?
Even in the usual everyday environment, fraudsters come across almost every corner. In the economic sphere, this is even more frequent: one-day firms, fake charitable foundations, illegal entrepreneurship, and more.
Starting an economic activity as an individual entrepreneur, many people sell or transfer their property to friends and relatives in advance.
Before you give someone a loan, make sure that he has something to pay off if necessary. If, after a court ruling on repayment of the debt, the defendant does not have personal property, official earnings or assets whose sale can satisfy the obligations, then your funds will simply have nothing to return from the law.
How to deal with fraud?
If your debtor announced the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings, and in the process, his property was sold at dubious value or to organizations that raise suspicions of legality, you can try to challenge the transaction and invalidate it.
Transactions between relatives and doubtful organizations are contested if they were carried out 3 months before the bankruptcy proceedings began. In this case, the transferred property is confiscated and distributed among the creditors in the register.
If the debtor entrepreneur caused significant losses to his creditors, frauds with the withdrawal of assets and other illegal activities were carried out, he can be brought to justice under articles 195, 196, 197 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.