Our Case Law
Decisions we have won for our clients.
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Decisions we have won for our clients.
Selected court decisions in personal bankruptcy and debt-settlement cases. Clients’ details have been removed for confidentiality.
The applicant is an individual who ran a sole-proprietor business between 2008 and 2018. She has been permanently unemployed since 17 September 2020; she is married with two children. She owed money to (a) the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), (b) the company “QQUANT MASTER SERVICER SINGLE-MEMBER S.A. FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF RECEIVABLES FROM LOANS AND CREDITS” and (c) the Single Social Security Entity (e-EFKA). Her debts totalled €245,111.24. The main intervention was dismissed and the court recognised her permanent and general inability to pay, since it did not stem from a temporary difficulty but was general and permanent. Her debts were written off in full, she was entered in the Electronic Insolvency Register, and all her movable and immovable property was protected.
An extract from the operative part of the decision follows:
“DISMISSES the main intervention.
DISMISSES the application (…)
ORDERS the entry of the applicant’s name …., of ….. in the Electronic Insolvency Register by the persons specified in article 84 para. 1 of the Insolvency Code.
OFFSETS in full the court costs between the parties.
JUDGED, DECIDED and PUBLISHED in Thessaloniki on 25-01-2024, at an extraordinary public sitting, in the absence of the parties and their lawyers (…)”
The applicant, an individual, is a public-sector pensioner, married with two adult children; her husband is unemployed. In the past she ran a café with her husband, and in 2011–2012 they expanded with a sole-proprietor grill restaurant, which they were forced to transfer in July 2013 because of insurmountable financial difficulties.
The borrowing was very large: in 2023, when her bankruptcy petition was filed, it exceeded €423,854.65, owed to (a) Eurobank, (b) doValue Greece, (c) the Greek State and (d) the Agricultural Bank of Greece S.A. (under special liquidation). The court granted the bankruptcy petition, writing off all of her debts, and appointed a reporting judge to take the steps required by law.
In Order no. 157/30-05-2023, taking the facts into account, the reporting judge ruled verbatim:
“1) that no trustee be appointed, since, on the financial information before the reporting judge, it is likely that neither the movable and immovable property nor the income of the bankrupt suffices to cover the costs of the bankruptcy proceedings;
2) that the bankrupt’s name be entered in the Electronic Insolvency Register of article 213 of Law 4738/2020; and
3) that the fee no. 243.080/16.01.2023 of the Deposits and Loans Fund be returned to the bankrupt, under article 173 para. 2 of Law 4738/2020.
FOR THESE REASONS, ORDERS the entry of the bankrupt’s name, by her or by anyone with a legal interest, in the Electronic Insolvency Register of article 213 of Law 4738/2020.
ORDERS the return to the bankrupt of fee no. 243.080/16.01.2023 of the Deposits and Loans Fund. Thessaloniki, 30.05.2023.
THE REPORTING JUDGE” — fully saving the applicant’s movable and immovable property and entering her in the Electronic Insolvency Register.
The applicant, an individual, ran a sole-proprietor business making women’s clothing from 1999 to 2004. She then changed its activity to making furniture, chairs and seating. She closed that business and set up a new general partnership making furniture, of which she was the manager; in 2013, however, she was forced to dissolve it. All of this business activity involved very large loans to meet the demands of her investments. Her debts amounted to €514,747.18, owed to:
(a) doValue Greece S.A. for the Management of Receivables from Loans and Credits, (b) the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), (c) the Single Social Security Entity (e-EFKA), (d) Eurobank S.A., (e) Intrum Hellas S.A. and (f) Cepal Hellas Financial Services S.A.
The court granted the bankruptcy petition, writing off all of her debts, as she was in a general and permanent inability to pay her overdue debts, and appointed a reporting judge to take the steps required by law.
By Act no. 6/19-01-2023 of the reporting judge, the bankrupt’s name was ordered to be entered in the Electronic Insolvency Register, confirming the full write-off of her debts and keeping her assets intact.
The applicant, an individual, ran a shop selling perfumes, cosmetics and accessories between 1999 and 2011. Her borrowing exceeded €350,000, owed to (a) doValue Greece S.A., (b) the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), (c) the Single Social Security Entity (e-EFKA), (d) APS Recovery Greece S.A., (e) the National Bank of Greece S.A. and (f) Veraltis Asset Management S.A. The evidence showed that the applicant had fallen, without fraudulent intent, into a permanent inability to pay her overdue debts; the court declared her bankrupt and ordered her entry in the Electronic Insolvency Register.
The applicant is married but separated from his wife, and runs a business whose main source of income is wholesale trade. His borrowing began in 2001. From 2010 onwards, when the economic crisis took hold in Greece, with rising living costs and inflation and finally the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, he could no longer meet his loan obligations to his creditors, who included:
(a) doValue Greece S.A., (b) the Single Social Security Entity (e-EFKA), (c) the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), (d) Cepal Hellas Financial Services S.A., (e) Intrum Hellas S.A., (f) the Cooperative Bank of Central Macedonia and (g) Alpha Bank S.A. — with a total of €1,743,884.68 owed!
An extract from the operative part of the decision follows, by which the request for the FULL write-off of the applicant’s debts and his entry in the Electronic Insolvency Register was granted, while all of his movable and immovable property was protected:
“DISMISSES the application.
ORDERS the entry of this decision and of the applicant’s name in the Electronic Insolvency Register, at the initiative of the applicant or of anyone with a legal interest.
JUDGED, decided and published in Sidirokastro, at an extraordinary public sitting, in the presence of the Clerk and in the absence of the applicant and his lawyer, on 21 June 2023.”
The applicant, an individual, lives with his wife and their two children. He ran a shop selling books, stationery and toys. The needs of running his former business led him to take out loans which, in the year the bankruptcy petition was filed, totalled €953,659.41.
The main interventions of the opposing parties — (a) Eurobank S.A., (b) the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), (c) the Agricultural Bank of Greece S.A. (under special liquidation), (d) Intrum Hellas S.A., (e) the National Bank of Greece S.A. and (f) Alpha Bank S.A. — were dismissed, and the bankrupt’s name was ordered to be entered in the Electronic Insolvency Register, confirming the full write-off of his debts and keeping his assets intact.
The applicant is a public-sector pensioner. Extremely pressing family obligations — supporting her children financially and dealing with the family’s health problems — led her to take out loans.
The court recognised her complete and permanent inability to meet her loan obligations, granting the bankruptcy petition and writing off her debts of €544,160.63 in full; she was also entered in the Electronic Insolvency Register.
The applicant, an individual, stopped his business activity because he could not meet his loan obligations. His creditors’ claims came to €279,678.71. The court recognised his permanent inability to pay his overdue debts, which is presumed to have occurred within the meaning of article 173 para. 1 of the Insolvency Code, and granted the application. The bankrupt was fully released from his debts and entered in the Electronic Insolvency Register.
The applicant, a married individual, worked as an employee of a private company. Her debt amounted to €19,928.68. She was admitted under Law 3869/2010 and €18,488.68 was written off. Monthly payments of €40 were set for three years, so she pays only €1,440 in total to her creditor, Intrum Hellas S.A.
The applicant, an individual, had debts of €265,153.64. She settled them under Law 3869/2010, with €225,386.24 written off. To save her main home, monthly payments of €95.62 were set for 320 months.
The applicant, an individual without merchant status and a pensioner of the self-employed insurance fund (OAEE), had loans totalling €300,263.61. The court permanently wrote off €275,997.21 and settled the remaining €24,266.40 in monthly instalments of €202.22 over 120 months, protecting both his main home and his holiday home in Chalkidiki.
The applicant, an individual, had been continuously unemployed and registered with the public employment service (OAED) since 2013. Her debts totalled €232,194.25. Decision no. 23/2024 of the Nikaia Magistrates’ Court recognised that she had fallen, without fraudulent intent, into a permanent inability to pay her overdue debts and therefore wrote off three quarters of the debt, €189,308.71. To save her main home and her other property, instalments of €155 were set for 176 months.
The applicant, an individual, settled all of his debts to the National Bank of Greece S.A. and Piraeus Bank S.A., protecting his main home and his other properties. Instalments of just €202.37 — far lower than the amount proposed in the application — were set for 144 months.
The applicant, with a 67% disability certified by the Disability Certification Centre (KEPA), settled his debts to his only creditor, the National Bank of Greece S.A., saving 100% of his main home, where he lives with his wife and their three young children. The court wrote off half of his debt and spread the rest over 240 instalments, recognising his permanent inability, without fraudulent intent, to pay his overdue instalments.
The applicant, registered as unemployed with OAED for more than seven years and with two children, owed the National Bank of Greece a total of €70,738.82. The court held that she met the conditions of Law 3869/2010 and — to secure her main home — set monthly instalments of €130 for 240 months, writing off a total of €40,538.82!
The applicant, a widow receiving a survivor’s pension and the mother of one child, with movable and immovable property, settled debts of €145,323.29. €94,738.73 was written off and the rest of the debt was settled under the favourable provisions of Law 3869/2010, fully saving her assets. Instalments were set for 172 months.
The applicants, private-sector employees and parents of two young children, permanently settled debts totalling €538,846.26. They kept their property intact, with payments to their creditors spread over 261 months and more than €445,000 of their debt written off!
The applicant, a 50-year-old registered as unemployed, settled debts of €232,194.25. She must repay €42,885.54 over 243 months to her creditors, while her main home is protected.
The applicants settled debts totalling €110,570.44. The decision set instalments over 185 months, repaying just €39,713.86.
The applicants, individuals without bankruptcy capacity — one working in the public sector and the other registered as unemployed for ten consecutive years — settled debts of €452,584.64. A final court decision set payments totalling €22,598.40 over 300 months, also protecting their main home. The total written off comes to €429,986.24.
The applicant, a private-sector employee, was permanently admitted under Law 3869/2010 with an original debt of €1,445,604.82. By decision of the Lemnos Magistrates’ Court, all of her movable and immovable property was saved and €1,440,813.42 was written off entirely, leaving only €4,791.40 to repay within 13 months!
The applicant settled debts of €114,651.12, saving both his main home and his holiday home on Lefkada. Instalments were set over 216 months, with more than €50,000 of the debt written off!