It has become an unstoppable wave. since the last one law reform entered into force in September will simplify procedures as much as possibleNumber of citizens who applied to the Second Chance Law to erase their debts once and for all triggered and it’s starting to reach more than significant numbers.
Only in the first six months of the year, the Commercial Courts in the province 825 bankruptcy petitions from real persons – five almost every day – so practically Multiply the cases recorded in the same period in 2022 by fourAccording to the data of the General Assembly of the Judiciary, 227 requests were counted.
Moreover, it is a figure that everything indicates will continue to increase when this total is taken into account, 319 applications were recorded in the first quarter and 506 in the second quarter. So the trend is upward.
So much so that in legal circles this event began to be compared with the ground provisions Mortgages involved thousands of lawsuits in courts across the country after the European Court of Justice declared them an abuse.
In effect since 2015
What is known as the Second Chance Act Approved in 2015 and from that date onwards, individuals They can benefit from the bankruptcy figure just like companies do cancel your debts permanently. Until then, citizens were required to be liable for their unpaid bills for life; In practice, this meant, for example, a penalty of social exclusion for those who could not pay the rent. mortgagegiven The debt remained even after the house was repossessed.
However, its application was quite limited in the early years. Thus, in 2019, four years after its entry into force, only 206 Alicante residents applied for this option. The big change occurred in September last year.When the new Bankruptcy Code creates the figure dough contest or “express contest”It has created a shortened procedure for applicants who do not have assets to cover their debts. A procedure in which it is not even necessary to appoint an insolvency administrator.
“Everything is very simple now, and unless something extraordinary happens, All transactions can be completed within three months and you can get out of debt forever,” he explains. Cleo Garcia, Pointing out that the requirements are quite simple, Sánchez Butrón is from the Abogados law firm. It is enough to point out He acted in good faith, had no criminal record, and did not seek acquittal of debts in previous years.. “People saw that it worked, and word of mouth and necessity did the rest,” the lawyer adds.
Thus, compared to the hundred cases recorded quarterly, up to 248 bankruptcy cases were requested from natural persons in the last three months of 2022, and this number was 319 in the first quarter of 2023 and 506 in the following period. As mentioned before, he pointed out.
Most frequently used profiles
The profile, like debt amounts, is becoming increasingly heterogeneous. from a few thousand euros to several millionin the case of businessmen or relatives of businessmen who have to personally guarantee business loans, as stated Adrian Roca, from Olima Legal. So there are a lot of affected people who are now free from the burden they acquired when the previous crisis broke out almost 15 years ago.
There are also people who come for debts very often. microcredits or by rotating cardsAccording to Roca, they tried to close the holes that could not be closed with salaries or families that simply demanded it. Consumer loansThen I heard, for example, that they became unemployed and couldn’t get the money back. people with gambling or other addictions These are another fairly common condition.
Contrary to these figures,Corporate bankruptcy proceedings decreased by 31% In the first half of the year, that of businessmen fell by half.
He fell into the trap of cryptocurrencies
Among the heterogeneous profiles coming to Alicante law firms to claim the Law of Second Chances, we are beginning to see cases of people requesting loans to invest in cryptocurrencies and losing much of their value.