Rejection of the debtor's request for prior discussion

Facts

[A.] granted two loans to [B.] in 1978 and 1979, secured by the assignment of lease contracts. When [A.] initiated debt collection proceedings for the repayment of the loans, [B.] invoked the benefit of prior discussion, arguing that the claims were pledged. The Supervisory Authority for Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Offices rejected B.'s complaint, considering that these were not genuine pledges but assignments of claims as security.

[B.] appealed this decision to the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Chamber of the Federal Tribunal.

Considerations

The Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Chamber of the Federal Tribunal dismisses the appeal. It considers that the benefit of prior discussion can only be invoked by a debtor who has constituted a genuine pledge, and not by one who has simply assigned claims as security. In the present case, the collateral agreed upon in the loan contract is more akin to the assignment of claims than to a pledge, despite…