New BGH ruling accelerates the receipt of money by the creditor

Liquidity gap in distribution:

A typical emergency situation of the intermediary can be based on the fact that 50% of his Riester contracts run into cancellation? plus the cancellations from the 2004 LV sale. The high income led to back and advance tax payments – the intermediary often has too few reserves for such situations.

In the case of distributors, a glance at the disclosed balance sheets is enough to see who may soon be “swimming down the drain”:

This is the benefit of the expert archive with the disclosure procedures according to the German Commercial Code or the EC CapCo Directive. Some distributors demand commissions back from the agent – even a reminder may not help. Then the sales department gets into the situation that there is no money to finance the commissions from the current business and to transfer them to the agents on time.

If the intermediary waits too long, he might not get anything at all in the insolvency? Commercial experience shows that in the event of insolvency there is usually nothing more to be gained. The available assets may cover court and legal costs, rarely more. The creditors are left empty-handed – in the meantime, the legislator is thinking about reintroducing priority over all other creditors for social security agencies and the tax office.

In the past, you first had to have a “title”, for example an enforcement order or a judgment, and then have unsuccessfully enforced it before you could file for insolvency as a creditor. Those days are now over.

New BGH ruling helps:

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has now decided in all clarity (BGH decision of 13.06.2006, ref. IX ZB 238/05) that creditors can successfully file an insolvency petition with the local court/insolvency court even if the claim is several months old – without any prior “fruitless enforcement”.

In order to make the insolvency credible, it is sufficient that the debtor is “more than six months in arrears”. It is irrelevant whether the creditor is a health insurance fund organised under public law or a private creditor!

On the part of the debtor, insolvency exists if 10% or more of the due liabilities can no longer be paid. Therefore, if there is not enough money to pay at least 90% of all debts due, there is usually insolvency. Of course, it can also be a help if the facilitator has good connections with colleagues to hear from them as well to see if there is a “common thread” in their behavior.

Payment Turbo:

In the opinion of the BGH, a partial payment is no proof that only a payment stagnation exists or that the insolvency has been eliminated. It should not be forgotten that the management of an AG or GmbH (cf. e.g. § 64 GmbHG) must file for insolvency itself after only three weeks of insolvency. Many managers fail to do this and then later find themselves before the criminal court, and are thus also privately and personally liable for the liabilities of their GmbH or AG.

No coercion by threats: Many an intermediary will now consider not only applying for a default summons but also filing for insolvency in good time. Already the announcement of such considerations (“….. we will let examine whether ….”) can cause true miracles – suddenly the money is there. However, the creditor should be careful not to threaten the debtor with the application (coercion).

So:

Do not threaten (motto: “Barking dogs do not bite!”), but apply. Pointing out that the request has already been made (which must be true) is certainly legitimate. The application can be conveniently withdrawn later; after full payment has been received, of course.

The timely application is in the interest of all creditors, the earlier it is (justifiably) filed, the more assets the insolvency administrator often has available for distribution.

However, such an application can also be rejected by the court with costs – therefore it is also advisable to consult a legal adviser beforehand if necessary.

 

by Dr. Johannes Fiala

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About the author

Dr. Johannes Fiala Dr. Johannes Fiala
PhD, MBA, MM

Dr. Johannes Fiala has been working for more than 25 years as a lawyer and attorney with his own law firm in Munich. He is intensively involved in real estate, financial law, tax and insurance law. The numerous stages of his professional career enable him to provide his clients with comprehensive advice and to act as a lawyer in the event of disputes.
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