Guide to personal debt collection procedures in Vietnam

I. Cases where personal debt collection procedures are required

When you want to recover a debt owed to someone else, despite using many methods but the debtor still refuses to pay, refuses to pay the debt, you can file a personal debt collection lawsuit at the competent People's Court. In this case, you need to do personal debt collection procedures.

II. Instructions for personal debt collection procedures

1. Profile

To initiate a civil lawsuit to collect personal debt, you must prepare a set of documents to send to the Court including:

• Petition (according to form)
• Loan agreements, promissory notes and other documents
• Notarized copy of the plaintiff's ID card or household registration book
• Certificate of residence of the defendant from the state agency
• Documents proving that the case is still within the statute of limitations (if any)

2. Process

The personal debt collection procedure includes the following 3 steps:

- Step 1: Prepare lawsuit documents

- Step 2: File a lawsuit at the District People's Court where the defendant resides.

After receiving the lawsuit file to claim personal debt, if the case meets the conditions for filing a lawsuit and the lawsuit has been completed in accordance with regulations, the Court will allow the plaintiff to pay an advance court fee within 07 days from the date of receiving the Court's notice of payment of the advance court fee. The advance court fee is stipulated in Resolution 326/2016/UBTVQH14.

- Step 3: The lawsuit process includes:

• First instance trial
• Appeal trial
• Review of judgments under the procedures of cassation and retrial