A monitoring action is a legal action used to collect amounts or obligations that have been assumed and have not been fulfilled. It is common for the action to be used to collect securities such as checks and promissory notes.
The monitoring action is defined in articles 700 to 702 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC).
See the concept of monitoring action in the law:
Art. 700. The monitoring action may be proposed by anyone who claims, based on written evidence without the effectiveness of an enforceable title, to have the right to demand from the capable debtor:
When can monitoring action be used?
This action can be used in three main situations that are provided for in the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC).
See what they are:
- to collect a debt (cash amount),
- to demand that an obligation that has been agreed or contracted be fulfilled,
- to charge for delivery of a good.
How does the process work?
Monitoring action should be used when the creditor (who is entitled to receive) has a security that cannot be collected directly from the debtor. This means that the title has no executive power. It is in this situation that the creditor must use the monitoring action.
In order to initiate (file) the monitoring action, the creditor must present written evidence that is sufficient to prove that the debtor's obligation exists. As a rule, this action must take place in the debtor's city of domicile (defendant of the action).
After the action is filed and if the requirements are met, the judge must determine that the debtor fulfills the obligation.
The judge makes the determination, through a payment or delivery order, called a monitor warrant.The deadline to fulfill the obligation is 15 days.
After the warrant is issued, the debtor has two options:
- make the payment or fulfill the obligation,
- oppose monitory embargoes, which is the way to discuss whether the amount or the obligation is really owed.
If the debtor does not discuss the obligation, the judge's order will be transformed into an executive order, which is the document that compels the debtor to fulfill his obligation. In this case, the warrant is called judicial executive title.
What is the advantage of monitoring action?
One of the advantages of this action is the shorter period, since the collection made in this way usually ends faster than if it is done in other processes.
The process is faster because the debtor is called to the process to make the payment before the hearing takes place, when contrary to what happens in other processes that take longer because they need to comply with other rules of the law before the end of the action.
The big difference of the monitoring action, compared to other processes, is that some mandatory acts are done in an inverted order, in order to make the payment or fulfillment of the obligation happen more fast.
Monitoring action requirement
For a person to have the right to file a monitoring action, it is necessary to fulfill a requirement that is provided for in art. 700 of the CPC: have a proof (in writing) of the obligation or the amount that is owed.
For example: whoever is going to collect the debt must have a check signed by the debtor.
As a rule, other types of proof of debt are not accepted.
See also the meanings of Process, filing and Impeachment.