Legal or judicial proceedings must be completed within a certain time frame. Failure to meet this deadline results in the procedure becoming time-barred, known as foreclosure. The debtor no longer owes anything and the creditor can no longer take any action.

1) Principle

Prescription, when acquired, allows one to be released from obligations; this is called foreclosure.

Therefore, foreclosure allows the debtor (the one who owes something to another) to see this obligation extinguished. The other person, the creditor, no longer has the possibility of taking legal action or continuing the procedure because it is too late to exercise an action or recovery.

The legally provided deadlines have become prescribed.

The purpose of prescription is to allow the debtor to no longer have to prove the alleged facts after a certain period and obliges the creditor to be diligent in asserting his rights. It is a form of right to be forgotten because the judicial error increases with the passage of time.

2) Calculation of deadlines

There are many limitation periods and they are found mainly in the civil code but also in criminal, economic, social, tax law, etc.

The purpose of this contribution is not to consider all the hypotheses of limitation in economic life but to determine the moment when this limitation occurs when a bailiff appears to carry out a seizure at the home of a debtor who does not pay his debt.

The general rule is a basic limitation period of ten years. However, the exceptions are so numerous that you must check your specific case with a lawyer specialized in the subject matter in question.

To calculate the limitation period, all days count, therefore also Sundays and public holidays. The calculation is carried out from midnight to midnight. It begins the next day and the limitation period is acquired when the last day of the term is completed.

A formal notice (which complies with the conditions of Article 2244 of the Civil Code) sent by post on Monday, March 7, 2022, takes effect on Thursday, March 10, 2022 at midnight. The limitation period begins on Friday, March 11, 2022 at midnight and, if it is one year, ends on Friday, March 10, 2023 at midnight.

3) Interruption of the limitation period

The limitation period can be interrupted or suspended. Here too, the specific cases are numerous and varied, and it is in your best interest to contact a bailiff to calculate the various interruptions or suspensions that have occurred in the calculation of the period.

The interruption of the period results in a new period starting from zero. The valid interrupting act results in the start of a new limitation period.

This is the case for an acknowledgment of debt: a new recovery period begins on the day the acknowledgment of debt is signed, even if the initial debt is already several years old.

Other examples of interruptions exist, such as a seizure, a judgment, a summons, or a legal request.

4)  Suspension of the deadline

In addition to interruption, there is also a suspension of the time limit, for example, during the period when the case is being dealt with by a court. This suspension period is added to the initial time limit.

5)  Also a limitation period for the enforcement of a judgment?

Yes, there is also a time limit for enforcing a judgment, a court decision. The basic ten-year time limit begins at the time of judgment because a court decision is an interruptive act. A new time limit begins again without taking into account the time limits already fulfilled in the past.

During these ten years, the court decision can be "enforced." This means that a bailiff can appear to require the debtor to comply, to pay, to carry out what he was ordered to do.

According to the creditor's instructions, the bailiff can also seize the debtor's movable or immovable property. Each act of seizure interrupts the limitation period and a new ten-year period begins each time!

When the debtor pays part of his debt, to the bailiff or to the creditor, it is again an interruptive act that results in the renewal of the ten-year recovery period.

In other words, the creditor would have to stop carrying out any further acts for ten years for the judgment to no longer have effect and for the debtor to be released from his conviction.

6)  Is there a time limit for the removal of seized furniture?

Sometimes the bailiff carries out a seizure of the debtor's assets, often to put pressure on him and force him to pay more than he is offering.

This seizure of assets that have not been removed or sold is time-barred after one year and the seizure carried out should be updated. If payments are made in the meantime, this period is delayed.

7)  Practical example

A chartered accountant prepares a fee note (invoice) for services completed on December 16, 2021, and sends it to AVZOR. There is no specific due date on the invoice. The statute of limitations for a chartered accountant's claim is five years (an exception to the basic ten-year period) and begins with the invoice.

• On January 15, 2022, the chartered accountant sends a reminder to AVZOR and a second on January 31, 2022. The reminders do not interrupt the statute of limitations.
• Since no response has been provided and no payment has been made, the invoice is presumed to have been accepted. Indeed, since the reform of evidence, Article 1348bis, paragraph 4 of the Civil Code (CC) provides that an invoice accepted by a company has probative force with respect to that company. This is now the legal presumption. And Article 1352 CC goes on to specify that this legal presumption exempts the person for whose benefit it exists from any proof.
• As a result of this presumption of acceptance, on February 10, 2022, the accountant sent a registered formal notice (which complied with the conditions of Article 2244 CC) to AVZOR. This was an interruptive act and a new five-year limitation period began on that date.
• Without any news, the accountant summoned AVZOR for payment on March 16, 2022. The summons was an interruptive act and a new five-year limitation period began on that date.
• The first hearing took place on March 21, and the debtor AVZOR was absent. The court sentenced AVZOR by a judgment dated April 20, 2022. During this interval from March 21 to April 20, the limitation period was suspended. The five-year limitation period that began on March 16, 2022, was therefore extended by one month. However, this suspension was not incidental because the judgment was an interruptive act, and a new five-year period began on the date of the judgment.
• The bailiff served the judgment on AVZOR on May 20, 2022. The service was an interruptive act, and a new five-year period began on the date of the bailiff's act.
• On July 24, 2022, the bailiff received a small payment from AVZOR. This was the first payment, and then nothing. The payment was an interruptive act, and a new five-year period began on the date of this payment.
• In desperation, the accountant asked the bailiff on September 12, 2022, to order a precautionary seizure on the car belonging to AVZOR and on the receivables of customers who owe money to AVZOR. These acts are interruptive and again cause a five-year period to begin.
• However, the seized car is not removed by the bailiff because the accountant has already spent a lot of legal costs while only receiving one meager payment. This seizure is no longer relevant after a year but it can be reinstated by a new act.
• This would only be if the accountant no longer performs any act within five years.
• It would only be if the accountant no longer carries out any act within five years of the precautionary seizure AND the debtor AVZOR pays nothing, that the limitation period for recovery of the sentence would be acquired by AVZOR.

8)  Table of the main specific economic limitation periods

The general basic period is ten years but specific periods exist:

9) Sometimes fraudulent practices of collection agencies

As in all professions, there are good people and others with bad intentions. Some creditors sell their debt to a collection agency or a securitization company. Nothing prohibits this, and the debtor finds himself facing a new creditor, often less understanding and more aggressive.

In France, companies were convicted at the end of 2021 for not respecting the statute of limitations on interest (2 years in France and 5 years in France).

If you encounter difficulties, do not hesitate to contact the economic inspection services' meldpunt.

10) Conclusion

Never let things drag on and keep the dialogue open. If necessary, call on a mediator to find a solution that works for all parties.

About the author

Jean-Pierre Riquet,  Legal & Tax Advisor and Associate Professor at Ephec

Disclaimer: This article is not an opinion or consultation, but simply information. The author and the editorial team ensure the quality, timeliness, and reliability of the information, which, however, cannot be held liable for.