If you are in debt, one day you may face the situation of having to submit an asset report. For most people, that’s terrifying at first. But there is no need to panic. If possible, seek help from a debt counseling center.
In this post, you will find the answers to the 6 most common questions!
1. What is an asset report?
With the help of an asset report, the creditor can find out where “something can be obtained” from you. Until 01/01/201 it was called “Affidavit”, formerly “Oath of Revelation”. This gives the creditor an overview of your overall financial situation, i.e. whether and to what extent you have assets, what income you have and whether someone owes you something.
The information in a register of assets includes the address of the employer, your bank details, your car, any life insurance policies, real estate, liens, building society contracts and other assets.
2. Who will receive an asset report?
Only the bailiff is authorized to accept the asset information. The creditor must apply for the information to be accepted; he surely can take help from a reputed bankruptcy attorney to cope with the reporting side. However, the application will only be granted if the oblige has a titled claim.
This can be, for example, an enforcement order, a court judgment, order or a notarial deed. But a legally binding decision from an authority can also be a so-called enforceable title. Only if your creditor has such a thing can he request an asset report. An open invoice or a reminder is not enough.
3. Can one avert the financial report?
The bailiff gives you the opportunity to pay the claim beforehand. The bailiff will give you 14 days to pay in his cover letter. However, you can still pay at the appointment for submitting the asset information. With the consent of the oblige, the bailiff can grant you a longer period or agree to pay you in installments. You would then have to pay the agreed installments regularly and punctually to the bailiff.
4. What is the procedure for accepting the report on assets?
Usually you will be invited by the bailiff to come to his office. However, it may also be that you should hand over the information at home. You can defend yourself against this with an objection within a week.
In that case, the bailiff will invite you to his office. He will then submit a comprehensive questionnaire to you that contains all questions about income and wealth. You should absolutely answer these questions truthfully, otherwise you could be liable to prosecution.
Finally, you must take an oath to affirm that your information is true and complete. Be careful when filling out the form and ask if something is unclear to you. If you refuse to give the bailiff the information, an arrest warrant can even be issued. But even then you still have the option of submitting the asset report and averting the arrest warrant.
The oblige can request an update of the information at any time. In the past, this was only the case when the claim amounted to at least $ 500. But this limit was abolished by the federal government in 2020.
5. What happens if I do not show up for acceptance?
Have you received a summons to submit the financial report? However, the appointment is not feasible for you. The bailiff does not allow the appointment to be rescheduled? What happens now
In any case, you will receive one from the bailiff.
5.1. Registration order
The bailiff will enter you in the debtor register with the note “did not appear at the date for submitting the asset information”. This is an entry that can also be seen in your profile.
How the process continues depends on the creditor’s mandate? If the creditor has not made any further applications, the file will be closed and returned to the creditor. This possibility will certainly only come into question in the least of all proceedings.
Rather, the creditor can do the
5.2. Issuance of an arrest warrant
have requested. This means that the bailiff now applies to the foreclosure court to issue an arrest warrant. It all sounds worse at first than it really is.
This is a means of exerting pressure in the foreclosure. It is NOT a criminal arrest warrant. There will be no manhunt for you either. Rather, the bailiff will inform you that he is in possession of the arrest warrant and will invite you to the appointment again to submit the financial report.
If you do not appear again, the whole matter becomes more serious and the possibilities of the arrest warrant can come into play. This means that the bailiff can stand in front of your door with the police and threatens to be arrested if you do not provide the asset information on the spot.
So far, the case law is not entirely unique as to whether the arrest warrant alone entitles you to open the apartment or whether a further decision is necessary for this if you do not open the apartment voluntarily. In such a case it is better not to test it, but rather bend over and provide the financial report. As soon as the financial report has been provided, the arrest warrant immediately loses its effect and is out of the world.
If you refuse to provide the financial report despite your arrest warrant, the bailiff can actually transfer you to the correctional facility and take you into custody. The responsible judge will then decide your fate. However, once you decide to provide the financial report, nothing stands in the way of your freedom.
Regardless of the application for an arrest warrant, the creditor can also use the
5.3. Obtaining third-party information
apply for. In practice, this route is preferred by the creditors. This is a means for creditors to obtain important information very quickly. There are three ways the bailiff can obtain information about you.
5.3.1. Request at the Federal Central Tax Office
Here the bailiff receives a list of all your accounts. In addition, not only the accounts for which you are the account holder, but also all accounts for which you have a bank authorization.
- This also includes your credit card accounts or loan accounts.
- The creditor can use this to initiate a garnishment of the account.
5.3.2. Request from the statutory pension insurance providers
Here the bailiff receives your current employer and, if applicable, your secondary employment. The creditor can then initiate a corresponding garnishment of wages. However, this request is only permissible if the object value of the enforcement is over $ 500.00. Since the pension insurance is only then obliged to provide information by law.
5.3.3. Request at the Federal Motor Transport Authority
Here the bailiff receives a list of all vehicles that are registered on you. The creditor can then initiate the seizure of the vehicle (s). In practice, this inquiry method is not so important because the seizure of vehicles is very expensive and the creditor does not know whether the vehicle (s) are leased or financed. So third party rights prevent the seizure of the vehicle.
