Ask a lawyer on the topic of Insolvency law

rent arrears

July 27, 2011 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Jan Wilking

Our former tenant left behind rent arrears for which we have an enforceable title. When we tried to enforce it, the court informed us that there is an ongoing insolvency proceeding. The insolvency administrator, in turn, informed us that the insolvency proceeding has been terminated and the remaining debts will be discharged. We were not aware of this proceeding. The former tenant also did not disclose our claim.
Question:
Is there any way for us to still recover our money?

Jan Wilking

Dear inquirer,

I am happy to answer your request taking into account your description of the facts and your effort as follows:

Claims can be filed until the deadline has passed and the discharge of residual debt has been announced. After this deadline, nothing can be filed anymore, and an application to refuse the discharge of residual debt according to § 290 InsO is no longer possible.

If the discharge of residual debt is granted, it is binding on all insolvency creditors. This also applies to creditors who have not filed their claims, § 301 InsO. Since the insolvency proceedings have been made public, it does not depend on your actual knowledge (or lack thereof) of the proceedings. Therefore, if the claim, i.e. the rental arrears, arose before the opening of the insolvency proceedings, I see little hope that you can still recover your money if the discharge of residual debt is granted.

However, if the rental arrears are a new claim (which would be the case if the debts arose after the opening of the proceedings), they would generally not be covered by a discharge of residual debt, so enforcement from the title would still be possible.

I regret that I cannot give you a more positive answer, but I hope that I have provided you with a helpful first orientation. If you have any uncertainties, please use the free follow-up function.

Please note that within the scope of an initial consultation and without knowledge of all circumstances, I cannot provide a conclusive advice. If you wish for a final assessment of the situation, I recommend contacting a lawyer and discussing the situation with them after examining all documents.

Best regards