Facts
The Cantonal Court Committee of Graubünden did not consider a complaint by Mrs. K. on July 5, 1999. The complaint was directed against the issuance of a certificate of loss by the Debt Collection Office. The Debt Collection Office had issued the certificate of loss on June 7, 1999, without any attachment and realization of the debtor's assets having been carried out. The debtor had filed a complaint in the cantonal proceedings against the debt collection and the renewed legal proposal in the debt collection case, but not explicitly against the issuance of the certificate of loss.
The city administration B. had requested the Debt Collection Office B. to issue a certificate of loss, as «practically no assets were available». The Debt Collection Office complied with this request without a seizure document being available.
Considerations
The DEBA Chamber of the Federal Court found that the issuance of the certificate of loss without prior attachment and realization of the debtor's assets is null and void. This is based on Art. 149 DEBA, which provides that the issuance of a certificate of loss can only be carried out after attachment and realization have been completed.
The Chamber also found that the debtor did not explicitly file a complaint against the issuance of the certificate of loss in the cantonal proceedings. However, this is not decisive, as the Chamber can determine the nullity of the debt collection decision ex officio (Art. 22 para. 1 DEBA).
The Chamber relied on the case…