Let’s start with the main distinction: in general, the recovery of a claim against a natural and/or legal person (an enterprise) can be carried out in two ways:

• out of court or
• in court

Out-of-court credit recovery

Out-of-court debt recovery is the most desirable method for resolving disputes since the objective is to find an amicable solution between the parties, thus avoiding a judgment before a Court.

The purpose of the extrajudicial route is to suggest the most suitable solutions for the recovery of outstanding credit in a faster time, encouraging the debtor to pay without resorting to the judicial route (that in general is longer, more expensive and complex, depending on the case).

To try to find an amicable solution, it is necessary to turn to a trusted lawyer who will try to reconcile and suggest proposals with suitable solutions, representing to the debtor the economic benefits of reaching an agreement that avoids higher legal costs.

Judicial recovery of credit

If the out-of-court route is not feasible (because, for example, the debtor refuses to negotiate or pay the amount due), the route to be followed will be that of the judicial procedure – that is, filing a judgment before the ordinary Court giving a mandate to a lawyer who can assist and represent the holder of the credit in court at all stages of its recovery.

The path to judicial credit recovery is longer and sometimes difficult, since it involves several phases that can be summarized as follows:

• first, it will be necessary to identify the Court based on the rules applicable to the specific case
• secondly, the act suitable for initiating the judgment must be drawn up (generally if the credit is based on a certain, liquid and enforceable title, you can opt for the fastest way that is that of the order for payment procedure); the judgment must be followed until its end, that is, until the issuance, by the judicial body, of a title suitable for the recovery of the credit (a judgment or an executive decree of payment)
• once the legal proceedings have been completed and the title obtained, the enforcement phase can be carried out, which has the purpose of concretely obtaining the sums due from the debtor
• This phase, which is the final one, may vary according to the solvency of the debtors and the assets that he has registered in his/her name: for example, if the debtor is the holder of a bank account, it may be possible to attack his/her assets directly by foreclosing on the same bank account.

Recovery of credit from the Italian Public Administration

If the debtor is a Public Administration (PA), the longer payment times and complicated bureaucracy must be considered. Difficulties in the transfer of funds and the Stability Pact are often used as justification arguments for the delay in the payment of debts that the PA has contracted with its suppliers.

But this is not entirely true: in fact, according to the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC), the PA is always obliged to respect punctuality in the payment of invoices.

By virtue of art. 81 of the Italian Constitution, any expenditure forecast must have the necessary financial coverage. The PA always has the obligation to verify – before launching a tender for the construction of a work or the provision of a service – the ability to comply with contractual obligations and, consequently, also the terms of payment. This does not always happen in practice.

In any case, also to recover a receivable from the PA, it will be possible to proceed with the methods indicated for the recovery of credit from natural and/or legal persons, as we see below.

Out-of-court recovery of receivables from the PA

To recover a credit from the PA, you can start with the extrajudicial way, which can be summarized in the following main phases:

• documentary due diligence, i.e. the prior analysis of all documentation concerning the credit situation. It is a preparatory phase with the purpose of dealing with the PA by proceeding to the appropriate verification of the documents concerning the credit
• exploratory contact with the p.a. concerned, to identify the internal contact person for the liquidation, generally belonging to the Economic-Financial Service (Treasury)
• reconciliation of credit, i.e. the comparison of the creditor’s administrative documentation with that of the PA and the elimination of any differences by comparing the respective items. At this stage, the respective account statements and any unaccounted payments are verified, and the specific discrepancies are resolved
• settlement of credit, i.e. the verification of the existence of the credit resulting from the conformity of the services rendered and invoiced with those requested and carried out, in addition to the accounting and administrative regularity of the invoices themselves.

Judicial recovery of credit from the PA

Regarding the recovery of claims by judicial means against the PA, the same rules apply in general as for natural and/or legal persons, with the following exception: once the judicial title has been obtained, enforcement may not be started before 120 days from the notification of the title to the same PA.

If you are a foreigner and need to recover debts in Italy, do not hesitate to contact us at the following email: info@fiatlux.legal. Our lawyers and consultants will be happy to use their experience and skills to meet your needs in the best possible way.