Factual Background and Object of the Case
A creditor obtained an enforceable title against a debtor for a debt owed. Based on that title, enforcement proceedings were initiated. Among the enforcement measures was real-estate enforcement (“executare silită imobiliară”) targeting one or more pieces of real property of the debtor.
At some point during the enforcement process, the debtor invoked prescription (perimare) of the right to continue enforcement and filed a contestație la executare (objection to enforcement) asking the court to declare the enforcement prescribed and to annul all the subsequent enforcement acts, including the real-estate enforcement.
Legal Basis for Prescription of Enforcement and Court Argument
Under the procedural law, the right to request enforcement is subject to a statute of limitation (prescription) if the creditor does not pursue enforcement acts for a certain period. Once enforced acts become stale, the courts may recognize prescription and nullify them.
The debtor, through his legal counsel, showed that after the last enforcement act—whether a garnishment, seizure, or execution order—no further steps had been taken for a prolonged time, and that the required period for prescription had expired. The debtor argued that the creditor’s inaction revealed abandonment of enforcement.
Given that the prescription was raised in a proper objection, the court had to assess whether the enforcement acts were indeed stale and whether the real-estate enforcement must be annulled as a consequence.
Court Decision: Prescription Declared, Real-Estate Enforcement Annulled
The court determined that the statutory period for prescription of enforcement had expired, as the creditor had failed to act. Because of that, the court declared the enforcement right perimat (i.e. extinct by prescription) and ordered the annulment of the real-estate enforcement acts.
Effectively, all the acts of real property seizure or attachment that had been made in the enforcement procedure were canceled. The enforcement file was cleared in respect to those acts, and the debtor was relieved of the burden of those enforcement measures on their property.