Facts
In an enforcement proceeding, the debtor B. raised a legal objection with the note "legal objection no new assets". The debt collection office requested B. to specify his legal objection, whether it only referred to the defense of lack of new assets or whether the claim being enforced was also disputed. As B. did not respond, the debt collection office submitted the legal objection to the Regional Court, which did not approve the legal objection to the extent of CHF 2,175.25 and determined that new assets in this amount were available.
The creditor A. AG then turned to the Higher Court and demanded an order to the debt collection office to immediately comply with the request for continuation, as the debtor had not disputed the claim. The Higher Court dismissed the debt collection complaint.
A. AG appealed to the Federal Supreme Court by way of a civil law appeal and requested the annulment of the Higher Court's decision and an order to the debt collection office to immediately comply with the request for continuation.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that the legal objection can be raised without formality and does not require justification or specification. If the debtor denies having acquired new assets, he must expressly state this in the legal objection, otherwise this defense is forfeited.
If the legal objection is also directed against the existence of the claim being enforced, this must also be judicially eliminated before the enforcement can be continued. If it remains unclear whether the legal…