Recovery of debt under a contract: supply, works, lease

A contractual debt usually does not look like a disaster at first: the goods have been shipped, the works accepted, the premises leased, and payment is a week late, then a month. The supplier or contractor waits because they are afraid of spoiling the relationship, and the landlord puts up with it to avoid looking for a new tenant. In that time some of the evidence is lost, deadlines on the acts expire, and the counterparty manages to move its assets out.

The second cause of mistakes is the belief that the contract and correspondence are enough. The court looks at primary documents: delivery notes, acts, invoices, waybills, payment schedules. If acceptance was documented after the fact or the act does not refer to the contract, recovery of debt under a contract turns into a dispute about the facts. Below, for each type of contract and for the documents as a whole, is what to prepare and what to look at before going to court.

Recovery of debt under a supply contract: how to get the money back for goods shipped

If the buyer received the goods but did not pay, start by checking the shipping documents. Check the delivery notes, invoices, reconciliation act and the contract: it is important to confirm that the supply took place on the agreed terms and that the payment deadline has fallen due. Any discrepancy in the name, quantity or date gives the debtor grounds to dispute the debt, so the documents must be signed by an authorised person or bear a note confirming receipt of the goods.

Put the debt in writing: send the counterparty a reconciliation statement and a letter of demand requiring repayment of the debt. In the demand, state the amount, the basis and the deadline for a response, and attach the calculation and copies of the shipping documents. Compliance with the pre-trial procedure under a supply contract is mandatory: without it, the court will leave the claim without consideration.

• Check the delivery notes and invoices for signatures and dates.
• Compare the payment terms in the contract with the actual deliveries.
• Draw up a reconciliation statement and send it to the buyer.
• Send a letter of demand with the debt calculation and a deadline for a response.
• Keep the postal receipts and inventories of enclosures.

Debt recovery under a work contract: acceptance, acts and latent defects

If the work under a work contract has been performed and accepted, but the customer does not pay, the main thing is to prove delivery of the result. The basis for recovery under a work contract is a signed acceptance act or another document on the handover of the work. The court assesses not only the act itself but also the correspondence: letters, notices, messages in messengers where the customer confirms the scope and quality.

Latent defects are dangerous: the customer may claim that the defects were discovered later and refuse to pay. If the work was accepted without comments, this does not deprive the customer of the right to refer to latent defects, but the burden of proof and the time limits are restricted. Therefore, record acceptance stage by stage and in writing, and if the customer refuses to sign the act, send it with a notice and draw up a unilateral act.

• The act of completed work or of a stage, signed by the customer.
• Correspondence in which the customer acknowledges the debt or asks for a deferral.
• Delivery notes, passes, logs — confirmation of access to the site.
• A unilateral act and a notice of readiness for handover.

Debt recovery under a construction work contract: specifics and risks

In construction work, the customer's debt is almost always disguised as a dispute over quality. Payment is tied to stages, each of which is closed by its own acceptance and as-built documentation: acts for concealed work, as-built drawings, logs, certificates for materials. Until a stage is signed off, debt recovery under a construction work contract comes down to proving that the work was actually performed and has consumer value for the customer.

A separate trap is comments from engineers and technical supervision. The customer is entitled not to sign the act until defects are remedied, and this period can drag on for months, formally blocking payment. If the comments are justified and the remediation deadlines are missed, the court may reduce the price or refuse recovery for part of the work, so it is important to record the dates of handover of documents, responses to instructions and re-acceptance after remediation.

• Keep signed acts for each stage and the work schedule
• Collect as-built documentation before, not after, handover
• Respond in writing to comments from engineers and supervision
• Record the dates of remediation of defects and re-acceptance
• Do not start the next stage without closing the previous one

Debt recovery under a lease contract: when the tenant does not pay

When a tenant stops paying, the first thing the landlord should do is put the records in order: check the contract, the payment schedule, invoices and acts, and record for which periods the debt remains outstanding and what penalty is provided for late payment. A written letter of demand with a calculation and a deadline for voluntary repayment is a mandatory step before going to court, and it must be sent in such a way that receipt is confirmed.

In parallel, the question of access to the property is resolved: if the contract allows the property to be retained or use to be restricted until the debt is repaid, this works as pressure, but action must be taken strictly in accordance with the terms of the contract, otherwise a counterclaim may follow. In cases of persistent non-payment, the landlord raises the issue of terminating the contract and evicting the tenant, and then recovers the principal debt, penalty and losses in court, seeking enforcement through a court enforcement officer.

What to prepare and check for each episode of debt:

• lease agreement with all supplementary agreements and the payment schedule
• acts of acceptance and transfer of the object and return of the premises
• invoices, acts of services rendered, reconciliation of settlements with the tenant
• correspondence and notices of delay, demand for repayment
• calculation of debt and penalty with a breakdown by periods

What mistakes in the contract and correspondence hinder the recovery of debt under a contract

The court reduces the amount or refuses when the contract does not specify a concrete payment deadline — wording such as "payment upon delivery" or "within a reasonable time" is interpreted by the court not in favour of the creditor. If the payment procedure is not specified (prepayment, instalments, stages), it is difficult to prove the moment of delay, and therefore the right to claim a penalty. Vague terms on the subject matter, scope or price allow the debtor to claim inconsistency, and then recovery of debt under a contract turns into a dispute over whether the transaction was concluded.

Correspondence in messengers or by email helps only if the contract expressly states that the parties recognise it as legally significant and specifies particular addresses or numbers. Without such a clause, the court may not accept screenshots as evidence of agreed deadlines or acknowledgement of debt. The debtor often claims that it was not he who wrote or that the message has no force.

• No exact date or period of payment — it is impossible to prove delay.
• The subject matter and scope are not specified — the debtor disputes the very fact of the transaction.
• Correspondence without a clause in the contract is not considered evidence.
• Acts or delivery notes are not signed — the debt is difficult to confirm.

Documents for recovery of debt under a contract: what to prepare before court

Before going to court, check whether the papers are sufficient for recovery of debt under your type of contract. Below is a guide on completeness: first the contract with appendices and confirmation of performance, then the primary documents, then correspondence about the claim. This way you will immediately see which documents are missing and where evidence will have to be restored.

It is important that each item in the table confirms a specific fact: that the obligation exists, that it was performed by your side and that the counterparty has not paid for it. If some document is missing, this is not a death sentence, but you will have to prepare for court in advance.

The set of documents depends on who exactly is the debtor and at what stage the debt arose.

Recovery of debt under a contract through court and enforcement officers: stages and timelines

After that, everything depends on the amount of the claim. When the debt is undisputed and does not exceed the threshold set for simplified proceedings, the court hears the case under the simplified procedure: without summoning the parties, on the documents alone. If the amount is higher or the debtor objects, the dispute proceeds under the ordinary claim procedure — with a hearing where counterclaims can be filed and the calculation challenged.

While the court is hearing the case, it makes sense to apply for interim measures — seizure of the debtor's accounts and property. Without them, by the time the judgment is issued the money has often already been withdrawn, and the enforcement officer gets an empty writ. Once the judgment enters into force, the writ is passed to a private or state court enforcement officer, who traces accounts, vehicles and real estate.

• prepare the debt calculation with acts and delivery notes
• apply for interim measures together with the claim
• check the debtor's solvency before filing
• monitor the enforcement officer's actions and reports

The timeframes for each case are individual and depend on the court's workload and the activity of the parties.

The case is not won by the one with the louder demand, but by the one whose package of documents is assembled more carefully and whose violation was recorded earlier.