Prescribed debts cannot be charged extrajudicially

The Superior Court has decided that the prescription does not only affect the judicial claim, but also any form of collection extrajudicial debt. In this sense, creditors are not allowed to make prescribed debt charges, covering modalities such as phone calls, emails, SMS, WhatsApp and inclusion in default registration.

It is noteworthy that the prescription does not extinguish the right itself, but it is configured only as the loss, by the holder of private law, of the claim to its reparation. As said in Minister Nancy Andrighi, it is not unfeasible, therefore, if the recognition of the lack of debt and discharge of the debtor balance, given that the prescription does not reach the subjective right.

It is observed that this understanding is not consolidated, since, in a decision also this year, the STJ had positioned itself in the opposite manner, allowing the extrajudicial collection of prescribed debts.

Although the recent decision has no binding effect, the clarity and argumentative depth present indicates its likely influence on the interpretation of the institute in future cases by courts and judges across the country.