Recovering a property
Recovering a property
"I recently paid a deposit of CHF 4,000 on an item, but in the meantime the company has gone bankrupt. What can I do to get my money back?
Serge, Onex
When a person or company goes bankrupt, the Bankruptcy Office makes an inventory of all the bankrupt's seizable assets.
The Federal Law on Debt Collection and Bankruptcy (LP) specifies which assets are included in the bankruptcy estate and which are not. The estate thus includes: all assets that can be seized at the time the bankruptcy is opened, assets that the bankrupt receives free of charge (inheritance, gift), revocatory claims (i.e. all assets removed from the estate shortly before the bankruptcy), as well as all rights that the estate can assert (action for damages). On the other hand, certain assets are excluded from the estate: assets with no pecuniary value, assets belonging to a third party, non-seizable assets (certain items of furniture in the home, clothing, etc.) and relatively non-seizable assets (i.e. the part of the salary corresponding to the subsistence minimum).
Unfortunately, the payment you made is included in the assets that will be seized. You then become a creditor in the bankruptcy and will have to wait for the Debt Enforcement Office to determine the value of the seized assets. Once the bankruptcy judgement has been handed down, a call for creditors is published in the FOSC and in the canton's FAO so that creditors can assert their claims; you must then register with the Bankruptcy Office, providing proof of your claim, within one month. Please note that bankruptcy is also entered in the commercial register.
The assets of the estate will then be realised (usually at an auction) and distributed to the creditors. This may enable you to recover some or all of your money. However, if there are a large number of creditors and the balance from the realisation of the estate is not sufficient to pay you off, you will be issued with a Default Deed for the unpaid amount.
