Preventing unjustified debt collection from a single elderly woman

Maria Ivanovna received a court order to collect a debt from her for managing her house. At her advanced age, she lives alone and takes care of the housekeeping on her own. Unfortunately, she does not receive support from her relatives and tries to pay her utility bills on time, so when faced with the accrued debt, she was confused: she does not live in the apartment for which the debt was accrued and does not agree with the amount, as she has already paid part of the money that was not taken into account when the amount of the debt was calculated.

Since the court order is an enforcement document and is the basis for the enforcement of the awarded amounts through the executive service, a lawyer from the STEP NGO, a DRC partner, advised Maria Ivanovna on appealing the order. The lawyer then helped to file a petition with the court to cancel the court order to prevent the court from enforcing the amount of debt awarded by the court or seizing the woman's accounts in connection with the enforcement of such a court decision.

After considering the application, the court issued a decision to cancel the court order. As a result, the rights of Maria Ivanovna, who is in a difficult financial situation, were protected, and the seizure of accounts and the enforcement of unjustified debt were prevented.

The provision of free legal aid in Zaporizhzhia region was made possible through the cooperation of the STEP NGO with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and funding from the European Union.