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Under Article 1 of Royal Decree No. 15 of 24 April 2020 on a temporary moratorium for businesses on enforcement and other measures during the Covid-19 crisis, it was no longer permitted, until 17 June, to seek a business’s bankruptcy as a creditor, to levy a protective or executory attachment, or to terminate a credit on the ground of a payment default.
One clarification is essential: the payment default on the credit must have occurred after 18 March 2020 for enforcement measures based on that default to be prohibited. Otherwise, the business cannot claim the protection of the temporary moratorium and remains exposed to the bank terminating its credits.
The bank may terminate credit facilities and other loans, provided it has first obtained a decision from the President of the territorially competent Enterprise Court, sitting as in summary proceedings, confirming that the business falls outside the scope of the decree. It is also possible to seek the lifting of the moratorium where special circumstances justify it, which likewise leads to the termination of the credit.
We tested the process by filing a writ on a Friday in May, the day we received the file. As the appearance period is that of summary proceedings, the case was listed for the first available hearing of the French-speaking Brussels Enterprise Court, the following Friday. The judicial decision confirming that the borrower was excluded from the moratorium was handed down and transmitted the same day. The credit could then be terminated. It therefore took only 8 days to obtain a judicial decision allowing the bank to terminate a credit in arrears predating 18 March 2020 (subject to appeal).
Finally, since the claim was not quantifiable in money, the procedural indemnity was set at EUR 1,440. The costs of the proceedings were therefore not borne by the bank.
This article is a translation. Only the French version is authoritative. It is provided for information purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
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