Legal Portfolio Collection in Colombia

Pre-litigation and Litigation Debt Collection in Colombia: Everything You Need to Know

Obtaining a loan, renting a house, or taking out a loan are situations that require careful consideration. They involve money, and failure to meet payment obligations can lead to legal problems.

Debt Collection Mechanisms in Colombia

In Colombia, creditors use two main mechanisms for debt collection: pre-litigation collection and litigation collection.

Pre-Litigation Collection

Pre-litigation collection encompasses all actions taken by the creditor (or a representative, such as a lawyer) to convince the debtor to pay their debt. These processes may include phone calls, emails, or direct negotiations between the parties to reach a payment agreement.

This process, also known as extrajudicial or persuasive pre-litigation collection, aims to resolve the debt without court intervention.

Litigation Collection

If pre-litigation collection is unsuccessful, litigation collection begins. This process involves the courts, who execute collection actions that may include asset seizures, bank account freezes, and wage garnishments.

This process increases the debt by up to 50% as it includes administrative costs, current interest charges, late payment interest, and lawyer's fees.

Are you looking for a team of lawyers to help you with debt collection? Then our Debt Collection Legal Service in Colombia is for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the fee for collection services regulated?

Currently, there is no regulation on fees for collection services; generally, companies set a percentage based on the amount owed.

In what cases does the debtor not pay the fees?

Only during a pre-litigation collection process in entities that offer housing loans, these fees, according to the law, will be covered by the entity. If a litigation process is reached, the fees will be charged to the debtor. For other types of credits, the debtor pays the fees according to the company's internal policies.

What can I do to get out of a litigation collection process?

The best thing to do is not to hide; this can worsen the situation. Talk to the bank or the person you owe money to in order to reach an agreement.

These litigation collection processes are long and tedious; it is very important to try to reach an agreement so that the lender writes a letter to the courts to terminate the litigation collection process.