The inclusion of the debtor in the defaulter registers negatively impacts access to credit in the market, encouraging debt negotiation and credit recovery.
According to Serasa Experian (a credit bureau that owns a database of debtors in Brazil, similar to TransUnion, Equifax and Experian in the USA), more than 6.59 million Brazilian companies were in default in 2023 – a record since the beginning of the indicator’s historical series (2016).
It is important that creditors are aware of case law guidelines to avoid liability and allow greater efficiency in credit recovery.
Check out the main decisions of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice on the topic:
1. The creditor may request the inclusion of the debtor’s name in defaulter registers directly to the credit bureaus or make such request in court (it does not depend on prior refusal from the bureaus).
2. In debts secured with fiduciary lien, the creditor can enforce the guarantee (recovery of the alienated asset) and promote, in parallel, the debtor’s registration in the credit bureaus.
3. Pending lawsuit discussing the debt is not enough to prevent or remove the debtor’s negative status in the databases.
4. Notifying the debtor about registration in a restrictive credit database requires notification to the debtor’s address (notification exclusively via e-mail or text message are not allowed).
5. The notification to the debtor’s address does not require acknowledgment of receipt to be deemed valid.
