Bulgarian debt collection proceedings is the final step for effective collection of business and personal debts and in most cases they are preceded by successful court litigation proceedings. Without this final step the rights implemented in a court judgment or a writ of execution cannot be materialized.

Bulgarian debt collection proceedings are not completely codified which unfortunately leaves many loopholes and opportunities for various legal interpretations. Debt recovery proceedings in Bulgaria are officially conducted by bailiffs (public or private enforcement agents). Debt collection agencies in Bulgaria could also help but in the end the role of a debt recovery lawyer is frequently most important. The regulations in force, especially of the registration of real estates, has many imperfections which can be used to sabotage the entire debt collection process. An experienced Bulgarian debt collection lawyer can undertake an investigation and carry out a number of researches in many different institutions with the aim of discovering all assets of the debtor. If the assets are not enough, sold or burdened, the solicitor can undertake specific legal actions for the return of sold or donated property back to the ownership of the debtor and thus they can be used to cover all amounts on the creditor’s writ of execution.

On the other hand, sometimes Bulgarian debt collection lawyers represent debtors in civil or commercial execution proceedings because even if a debtor is completely conscientious and intends to pay all amounts due – he can still become victim of unfair legal techniques which can double his duties.

Bulgarian Civil Procedure Code provides that subject to enforcement are:

• Decisions and rulings of Bulgarian courts in force, suing decisions of Bulgarian courts of appeal, writs of enforcement which are subject to or on which a preliminary and immediate execution is admitted, as well as decisions of Bulgarian arbitrary courts or arbitrary agreements.
• Decisions, acts and court agreements of foreign courts, which are subject to execution in Bulgaria without any special procedure.
• Decisions, acts and court agreements of foreign courts on which execution in Bulgaria is admitted.

Property interdictions and other injunctions in Bulgaria are one of the most important aspects in the debt collection proceedings. In many cases Bulgarian debtors make attempts, some quite successful, to sell, donate, etc. most or all of their assets thus making the monetary satisfaction of the creditor(s) practically impossible or very hard to achieve. An experienced Bulgarian debt collection lawyer knows when and how exactly to secure assets of the debtor – which is of vital importance for the purpose of effective debt collection.

At any stage of the execution proceedings, before the distribution of the collected amounts is done, any other creditors of the same debtor may join the procedure. All joint creditors have the same rights in the execution procedure as the initial creditor. If the collected amounts are not enough to satisfy all creditors, the bailiff shall make a distribution, as first he shall separate amounts for payment of receivables that have the right of priority satisfaction. The remainder shall be distributed for the rest receivables proportionally.

Most popular methods for debt collection are execution over movable properties (chattel) or immovable properties (real estates). For these cases there are strict procedures for public auctions which are typically handled or closely monitored by Bulgarian debt recovery attorneys.