Appeal against a decision of the debt collection office

Facts

In the debt collection proceedings no. 29523 and 29683 of the debt collection office of Märstetten, the debtor Marcel Borer was threatened with bankruptcy on 27 November 1973. On 6 December 1973, the debtor filed a complaint against these bankruptcy threats with the debt collection office. The latter rejected the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. The debtor then turned to the president of the Weinfelden court on 3 January 1974, as the lower cantonal supervisory authority, to complain about the bankruptcy threats. The president of the court refused to consider the complaint, considering it to be late. The debtor's appeal against this decision was rejected by the appeals commission of the higher cantonal court of Thurgau, as the higher cantonal supervisory authority.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal considers that, when a complaint directed against a measure of the debt collection office is erroneously addressed to that office instead of the competent supervisory authority, it must be forwarded without further ado to the supervisory authority. The complaint is deemed to have been filed as of the date of filing with the debt collection office, which constitutes a change in case law.

In the present case, the Federal Tribunal considers that the 10-day deadline for filing the complaint was respected, since the complaint was filed…