What happens if I object to a “monitorio”, the Spanish order for payment procedure?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

The order for payment procedure (“monitorio”) comes to an end and the debt is disputed in court proceedings, in which the judge decides after seeing the evidence from both sides. If the claim against you is for up to 15.000 euros, the case continues as a “juicio verbal” (the simplified procedure) in the same court. If more is claimed, the creditor generally has one month to file a claim in ordinary proceedings (“juicio ordinario”) and, if they do not, the case is closed and the creditor pays your costs, which are mainly what you have spent on your lawyer and your court agent (“procurador”). What the judgment decides can no longer be disputed in other proceedings. If the claim is for up to 15.000 euros Up to that amount, the “Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil”, Spain's Civil Procedure Act, requires the case to continue as a “juicio verbal”, the simplest procedure. The court clerk (“letrado de la Administración de Justicia”), the official who manages the case at the court, brings the order for payment procedure to an end and orders the case to continue along that route. The steps are as follows: The court sends your objection to the creditor, who can reply to it in writing within ten days. You and the creditor then have five days to say who needs to be summoned and to propose evidence, such as documents, witnesses or experts. The judge decides whether a hearing is needed, that is, a session in court at which the evidence is taken, or whether to give judgment on the written submissions and the documents alone. If more than 2.000 euros is claimed from you, you need a lawyer and a court agent, the professional who represents you before the court. If the claim is for more than 15.000 euros Generally, the creditor has one month from receiving your objection to file a claim in ordinary proceedings. If they do not file it, the court closes the case and orders the creditor to pay the costs. If they do, you will receive the claim and have twenty working days to file a defence, with a lawyer and a court agent. There is then a preliminary hearing (“audiencia previa”), a first session at which the points in dispute and the evidence are determined. After that, if necessary, the trial is held. There are exceptions. For example, a claim against the tenant of a flat or commercial premises for rent and other sums due under the tenancy always continues as a “juicio verbal”, whatever the amount. In Barcelona, it is a criterion agreed by the court clerks that no new attempt to reach an agreement is needed for that claim, because it should have been made before the order for payment application was filed. What you should know If you objected to only part of the claim, the creditor can ask for you to be ordered to pay the part you acknowledged straight away. The proceedings continue for the rest. In the end, in principle, the losing party pays the costs. If the judge finds partly in favour of each side, each normally pays their own. If you are ordered to pay, the debt bears interest from the date of the judgment at the statutory interest rate plus two percentage points, unless a different rate had been agreed. While the proceedings are ongoing, nothing prevents you from reaching an agreement with the creditor and bringing them to an end.