You received a payment order (monitorio): pay, oppose or ignore?

Terms used

• Monitorio — The monitorio is a fast court procedure where a creditor claims a debt and the court orders you to pay or oppose.
• Requerimiento — The requerimiento is the formal court notification that gives you the payment order and starts your deadline.
• Escrito de oposición — The escrito de oposición is the written statement you file with the court to contest the debt and stop the fast procedure.
• Edicto — An edicto is a public notice used to serve a court document when the person cannot be found.

Key rules

• Deadline: Counting starts the day after the order is served, and weekends, holidays and August are left out.
• Two ways to respond: You can only stop enforcement by paying or filing a written opposition with the court.
• Silence: If you do nothing, the creditor can seize bank accounts, wages and property.
• After enforcement starts: You can object only on very limited grounds, so act before the deadline ends.

The bottom line

Do not ignore a payment order. You can pay, or you can file a written opposition with the court. If you do neither in time, the creditor can go straight to seizing your money and property.

A payment order is called a monitorio. It is a fast court route for a creditor to claim a debt. The court sends it to you with a formal notification, the requerimiento. Your deadline starts from that notification.

How long you have

You have 20 working days from the day after the payment order is served to pay or file your opposition. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays do not count. August does not count either.

Note the date you received it, and work out your last day at once. If you cannot say how or when it was served, ask a lawyer or the court straight away. If the court could not find you and served the order by public notice (edicto), the procedure differs, so get advice quickly.

Your three options

1. Pay

If the debt is correct, pay it within the deadline. Follow the payment instructions in the court notification. Keep the proof of payment. Ask the court or a lawyer how to confirm that the case is closed.

2. Oppose

If you do not owe the money, or not all of it, file a written opposition (escrito de oposición) with the court within the deadline. Say briefly why you do not owe the debt: for example it was already paid, the amount is wrong, or you never had the contract.

After you oppose, the creditor can no longer use the fast route. The claim moves to a normal court case, where a judge decides who is right. You may need a lawyer for that stage, depending on the amount.

3. Do nothing

This is the worst choice. If you neither pay nor oppose in time, the court clerk ends the payment order procedure. The creditor can then ask the court to open enforcement for the amount claimed plus interest and costs.

At that point the order works like a court judgment. The creditor can seize bank accounts, wages and property. You can object to enforcement only on very limited grounds, so you lose most of your chance to argue that you do not owe the money.

What to do this week

1. Read the order and note the creditor, the amount and the date you received it.
2. Count 20 working days, skipping weekends, holidays and August.
3. Decide whether the debt is right in full, in part or not at all.
4. If you oppose, speak to a lawyer early. Many towns offer free legal aid if your income is low. Ask at your local court or bar association.

The timeline, warnings and questions below cover the steps, the risks and common doubts, such as August and service not made in person.

Timeline and deadlines

• The court formally notifies you of the payment order (the requerimiento): on the day you are served

• Your deadline starts counting, leaving out Saturdays, Sundays and holidays: the day after you are served

• Pay the debt, or file a written opposition (escrito de oposición) with the court: within 20 working days of the day after service

• If you do neither, the court clerk ends the payment order procedure and, if the creditor asks, opens enforcement: after the 20 working days have passed

What to watch out for

• Ignoring the order lets the creditor seize your money and property: If you neither pay nor oppose in time, the order gets the force of a court judgment. The creditor can then seize your bank accounts, your wages and your property for the amount claimed plus interest and costs. Pay or file your opposition before the deadline ends. If you cannot decide in time, see a lawyer straight away.

• Once enforcement starts, you can object only on very limited grounds: After enforcement is opened, you can no longer dispute the debt itself in the usual way. Only a few narrow objections are allowed. If you think the debt is wrong, say so in your opposition within the deadline, not after enforcement begins.

Frequently asked questions

Does August count towards my payment order deadline?

No, August does not count towards your payment order deadline, because only working days are counted. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are also left out. If your order arrives in July, the days stop running for the whole of August and start again in September.

What if the payment order was not handed to me in person?

If the court could not find you and served the order by public notice, the procedure is different and the usual deadline may not apply in the same way. Go to the court that issued the order, or to a lawyer, as soon as you learn of it, and ask what deadline you have.