Grounds for early demand for loan repayment. The requirement for full early repayment of the loan is within the statute of limitations. In what cases is it presented?

Sometimes a bank may terminate a loan agreement ahead of schedule and demand that the borrower repay the entire amount of the debt as soon as possible, along with interest, penalties and fines accrued by that time. In what cases do banks require early repayment of a loan and what to do if you receive such a request?

When can a bank require early repayment of a loan?

All these cases must be specified in the loan agreement. As a rule, the bank reserves the right to terminate the loan agreement early and demand immediate repayment of the loan in the following cases:

• if the borrower regularly and for a long time delays payments on the loan or has stopped paying on it altogether;
• if the borrower violated other essential terms of the agreement without notifying the bank about it in time (for example, changed his place of residence or job).

In practice, banks usually make such demands if the payment schedule was violated 3 times and the delay was about a month or more. However, sometimes banks require early repayment of the loan even if there is a one-time delay in payments. Typically, such tough measures are taken by banks experiencing difficulties with current liquidity (in other words, if the bank does not have enough money).

We must also remember that the terms of the loan agreement cannot contradict current legislation. And the law allows the bank to terminate the loan agreement ahead of schedule in the cases listed above, but with one significant caveat: the bank does not have the right to demand early repayment of the loan if the borrower’s financial situation has worsened compared to what it was at the time the loan agreement was concluded. For example, if you lost your job, or alimony payments began to be deducted from your salary, or you needed expensive treatment. In such cases, the court, if the case comes to it, will most likely take your side and recognize early termination bank loan agreement is illegal. However, for events to develop according to such a favorable scenario, the borrower also needs to make a lot of effort. But more on this below.

It is also important to remember that even in the most difficult financial situation of the borrower, no one will ever cancel his loan obligations. He will still have to repay the bank the entire remaining amount of the loan and interest on it, but he may well count on restructuring the debt, receiving a short deferment of payments, or extending the loan term with a corresponding reduction in monthly payments. In the vast majority of cases, it is also much more profitable for the bank to resolve such a difficult situation kindly than to make strict demands that the borrower may not be able to fulfill. But for this, it is necessary that the borrower, having found himself in a difficult situation, also shows a willingness to compromise, in particular, make current payments at least partially, notify the bank in a timely manner about the changed circumstances and apply for debt restructuring. And in most cases, banks in such situations accommodate the borrower halfway.

How to prevent early termination of a loan agreement

It's obvious that best way To do this, repay the loan debt in full and on time, without allowing the slightest violation of the payment schedule. In this case, the bank simply does not have the right to demand early repayment of the loan. Just keep in mind that if you do not make payments directly to the cash desk of the bank that issued you the loan, but make, for example, a cashless transfer from another bank, or pay through the terminal of some payment system, then the money may arrive at the bank that issued you the loan not immediately, but after a day or two, and sometimes it happens that they walk for about a week. And in this case, you, without knowing it, may be late on your next payment.

If you find yourself in a difficult financial situation and are unable to maintain the payment schedule, then first of all you need to contact the bank with a request for debt restructuring. You must provide the bank with all documents confirming the deterioration of your financial situation (for example, a certificate from work about transfer to a lower paid position, or work book with a notice of dismissal, or a certificate from a doctor about the disease discovered in you and all bills for treatment, etc.). And it is very important, while the issue is being resolved, to continue to at least partially make payments on the loan. As already mentioned, banks in such cases quite often meet halfway and revise the terms of the loan agreement so that the borrower will eventually be able to repay the loan.

What to do if the bank still requires early repayment of the loan

Firstly, what should not be done in this case. You can’t hide, hide and hope that “everything will resolve itself.” It won't resolve. You will still have to pay, sooner or later. Moreover, the later, the more interest, fines and penalties will accrue. You should also not take an aggressive position, try to somehow threaten the bank and its employees, etc. This will only strengthen the lender's determination to act with the toughest methods.

If the bank has not yet gone to court, then you can try to solve the problem amicably, acting in the same way as described in the previous chapter. That is, provide the bank with documents confirming that you had serious, objective reasons beyond your control that made it impossible to repay the loan on time, repay at least a small part of the overdue payments and ask the bank for a deferment. And although at this stage, that is, when the bank has already put forward a demand for early repayment loan, the chances that the bank will meet you halfway are much lower, but they still exist.

If the case has already reached the court, then all of the above arguments must be presented during the court hearing, naturally, also supported by relevant documents. And if the reasons why you delayed payments on the loan are assessed by the court as sufficiently significant, then it will recognize the early termination of the loan agreement as illegal. But to do this, we repeat, your arguments must seem convincing enough to the court, and in addition, you must demonstrate your willingness to continue paying off the loan (and the best way to do this is to pay off, at least partially, the overdue payments by the time of the court hearing).

There is also a good chance to reject the request for early repayment of the loan if the bank made this demand after a one-time delay in payment. In this case, if you make all other payments on time and in full, there is a very good chances the fact that the court recognizes the bank’s demand as excessive, disproportionate to the violation you committed, and rejects it, even if you committed that one delay due to your own carelessness. Events may develop similarly in the event of another violation that the court considers insignificant, for example, if you did not inform the bank in time about a change in your address, but you make loan payments in full and on time.

If you have systematically failed to pay the loan without serious objective reasons, then you have practically no chance of rejecting the bank’s demand for early repayment of the loan, either in court or during pre-trial negotiations.

The bank's sending of a request to the borrower for early repayment of the loan does not constitute compliance with the claim procedure for resolving the dispute, but represents a condition for the borrower's obligation to repay the entire remaining loan amount.

Rationale: The rules provided for by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation for loan agreements apply to relations under a loan agreement, unless otherwise provided by the rules of the paragraph “Credit” of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and does not follow from the essence of the loan agreement (clause 2 of Article 819 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). In accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 811 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, if the loan agreement provides for the return of the loan in installments (in installments), then if the borrower violates the deadline established for the return of the next part of the loan, the lender has the right to demand early repayment of the entire remaining loan amount along with the interest due.

Due to the direct instructions of the law, demanding payment of the entire loan amount is the right, and not the obligation of the bank; accordingly, until the bank’s request for early repayment of the loan is received, the borrower, in principle, has no obligation to repay the entire loan amount ahead of schedule, of course, only if otherwise the procedure is not provided for in the loan agreement. Thus, if the loan agreement does not contain a condition on the automatic occurrence of the borrower’s obligation to repay the entire loan amount in the event of a delay in fulfilling part of the loan obligation, then sending the borrower a corresponding request is a necessary condition for the borrower’s obligation to repay the entire loan amount.

As explained in the Review of Judicial Practice of the Supreme Court Russian Federation No. 4 (2015) (approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on December 23, 2015), within the meaning of clause 8, part 2, art. 125, part 7 art. 126, paragraph 2, part 1, art. 148 of the Arbitration Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, the claim procedure for resolving a dispute in judicial practice is considered as a way to voluntarily, without additional expenses to pay state duty with a significant reduction in time to restore violated rights and legitimate interests. This procedure for resolving a dispute is aimed at its prompt resolution and serves as an additional guarantee of the protection of rights.

Sending a request to the borrower for early repayment of the loan is not aimed at restoring the violated right, but at its emergence. A violation of the bank's rights occurs after the borrower fails to fulfill the requirement for early repayment of the loan.

The issue of qualifying the bank’s actions in submitting a request for early repayment of the loan is of significant importance when considering a dispute regarding the collection of debt under a loan agreement, since failure to comply with the claim procedure, if provided for in the loan agreement, is grounds for leaving statement of claim bank for debt collection under a loan agreement without consideration (clause 2, part 1, article 148 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, article 222 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation).

The bank sent the borrower a request for early repayment of the loan due to a violation of obligations to repay part of the loan, the payment period for which had already arrived. Is sending such a demand compliance with the dispute settlement procedure established by the contract in the event that the bank files a claim for debt collection under a loan agreement?

To make it clear what we are talking about, I took the text of one question. I hope that the person who asked this question will not mind.

“So - there is a debt for 6 months, the bank has put in a request for early repayment - now the borrower wants to return to the payment schedule. The amount for 6 months of overdue + payment for the current month will be paid. The bank will most likely write off this amount for debts by default and will continue to demand early repayment.

What is the procedure for the borrower? Do I need to write any statements right away?"

The question is not so simple that it can be answered in a nutshell.

First you need to understand what an early repayment requirement is.

In any loan agreement, the bank stipulates that in the event of a delay or improper execution of the agreement, the bank has the right to demand early execution of the agreement and the return of the remaining portion of the loan and interest. This requirement is legal and provided for in Art. 811 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 2 of which states: “If the loan agreement provides for the return of the loan in parts (in installments), then if the borrower violates the deadline established for the return of the next part of the loan, the lender has the right to demand early repayment of the entire remaining loan amount along with the interest due” .

But in itself, the requirement for early repayment of the loan in this case cannot be qualified either as a requirement to terminate the contract (), or as a unilateral refusal to fulfill obligations ().

You can read more details in the answer to the question:
What to do if the bank sent a request for early repayment of the loan and a notice of termination of the contract?

And although the bank has the right to demand early repayment of the loan, this does not mean that you are obliged to unquestioningly fulfill this requirement. Firstly, the loan repayment period is one of the essential terms of the Agreement and therefore the bank cannot unilaterally change the loan repayment period. This means that you can change the loan repayment period either with your consent or by a court decision. And since your consent is not asked, fulfilling this requirement (that is, paying the required amount) can be equated to it.

Secondly, the borrower very rarely agrees with the amount charged by the bank. And there are reasons for this: illegal commissions, illegal priority collection of penalties, unilateral changes in conditions, etc.

And thirdly, most simply do not have the means to return the required amount.

And since the bank did not file a claim, and you did not give your consent to change the agreement, then the bank does not have the right to refuse to accept your payments, no matter in what amount they are made. Not only do you have obligations under the loan agreement, but so does the bank. Therefore, in accordance with the requirements of paragraph 1 of Article 310 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, unilateral refusal to fulfill an obligation and unilateral change of its conditions are not allowed, except in cases provided for by law.

The inclusion in a loan agreement of conditions allowing the bank to unilaterally terminate the agreement does not meet the requirements provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 310 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, since in relations with citizens unilateral changes in obligations are not allowed unless otherwise provided by law, therefore, such conditions infringe on the rights of the consumer in comparison with those established by law, which leads to the nullity of the contract clause (Clause 1, Article 16 of the Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”).

Thus, the bank can terminate the contract with the consumer only in court, and by sending you a demand, the bank is simply fulfilling the condition necessary for the court to accept its claim if it decides to file it.

So, the borrower received a demand and decided to pay off the overdue debt in order to again fulfill his obligations in accordance with the terms of the contract.

But here a situation arises that banks use to increase the Borrower’s debt.

Most Agreements contain a condition that provides for the collection of penalties (fines, penalties), and sometimes various commissions, before payment of the principal debt and accrued (overdue) interest.

For example, you must deposit 8,000 rubles monthly, of which 4,500 rubles are accrued interest and 3,500 are the amount to pay the principal debt.

The terms of the agreement provide for a penalty in the amount of 0.6% of the amount of the overdue payment for each day of delay.

Here we should also make a small digression. Banks often use exactly this wording: “from the amount of the overdue payment” and charge a penalty for the entire 8,000 rubles. This action is illegal, since a penalty can only be accrued on amounts of overdue principal debt, and on accrued interest it can only be accrued if there is a direct indication of this in the contract (clause 15 of the Resolution of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 13 SAC No. 14). However, this instruction must be expressed specifically. That is, the wording should be as follows:

Penalty for the overdue amount of debt - 0.6% for each day of delay; penalty for the amount of overdue interest - 0.6% for each day of delay. Only in this case is it legal to charge penalties (penalties, fines) on overdue interest.

So, you have been in arrears for 6 months and in order to “enter” the schedule you must pay 48,000 towards the debt and another 8,000 towards the next payment.

During the delay, the bank calculated a penalty:

First month: 3500/100(%)*0.6*30= 630.00 rubles

Second month: (3500+3500)/100*0.6*31 = 1302.00 rubles

Third month: (7000+3500)/100*0.6*30 = 1890.00

Fourth month: (10500+3500)/100*0.6*31= 2604.00 rubles

Fifth month: (14000+3500)/100*0.6*30= 3150.00 rubles

Sixth month: (17500 +3500)/100*0.6*31= 3906.00 rubles.

In total, for six months the bank accrued 13,482.00 rubles in penalties.

You deposit 56,000.00 rubles and consider that the overdue debt has been repaid. According to the law, this is the case, since Article 319 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that the penalty is paid after payment of the debt on principal and interest.

But the bank, in the terms of the agreement, provided for a different priority and wrote off the accrued penalty from the amount you paid. And since, after paying the penalty, he paid the debt on interest, you again “appeared” to have a debt to pay the principal in the amount of 13,482.00 rubles, on which the bank again charges a penalty:

13482.00/100*0.6*30=2426.76 rubles, which he will write off again with the next payment.

Many in this situation believe that they will never be able to pay off the bank.

But the solution is very simple: continue to pay according to schedule. The bank will continue to write off money as a penalty and charge it again, but this will be illegal. In this situation, the bank will not even be able to file a claim against you for debt collection, since the claim is filed in defense of violated rights (Article 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation), and what kind of violation can we talk about if you have repaid the debt and are paying on schedule. Even if the court accepts this claim (which is most likely), you will file an objection in which you indicate that there is no debt and there are also no grounds for filing a claim.

Thus, all penalties accrued after you pay off the overdue debt are illegal. The penalty that the bank has calculated for the period of your debt can be paid by you after full payment of the loan and accrued interest. But you need to remember that the penalty is an additional requirement and the period for its payment is not defined, and since each fact of accrual is a transaction made under a condition (Article 157 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), then the right to demand payment of each amount of the accrued penalty arises with the bank precisely from the moment of its accrual.

This raises the question of the statute of limitations. Article 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation determines that the limitation period begins from the day when the person learned or should have learned about the violation of his right. Thus, if more than three years have passed since the penalty was accrued and during this time the bank has not filed a claim to collect the accrued penalty, then you can claim that the statute of limitations has expired. If the bank simply requires you to pay, then it is at your discretion: either pay and lose forever the opportunity to return this money, or force the bank to file a lawsuit and declare that the statute of limitations has expired. Even if they were accrued illegally and you file a claim, then even in this case you will not return them, since the bank will already declare that the statute of limitations has expired.

I hope I didn't bore you with this answer.

And in conclusion, I want to summarize everything in a few words: If you decide to pay off your overdue debt, then no one but yourself can stop you.

The action plan is as follows: deposit the money, then file a claim about the illegality of the first-priority collection of the penalty and, if necessary, a lawsuit and continue to pay according to the schedule. Of course, you can first resolve the issue with the priority, and then contribute money to the repayment account, but then the bank will legally charge a penalty until you pay off the debt (do you need it?).

And a little more about the penalty: If you decide to repay the loan ahead of schedule, a situation may arise in which the bank, before you repay the loan, will write off the penalty. This situation will be legal, since Article 319 of the Civil Code provides for the order of repayment of claims in the event of insufficient payment. And since you will deposit an amount sufficient to pay off the debt, then the penalty will be written off legally. The same situation arises when paying in payments in an amount exceeding monthly payment. Let’s say instead of 8,000 (after paying off the debt), you will deposit 10,000, hoping to pay off faster. But each time the bank will legally write off 2000 to pay the penalty. Take this into account.

When studying your loan agreement, you may discover another unpleasant circumstance: the bank could provide for its right to demand early repayment of the loan without the occurrence of force majeure circumstances specified in the agreement.

In addition to clearly stated grounds for early repayment, the agreement may also contain a phrase about compliance with additional obligations, the fulfillment of which borrowers usually ignore.

Thus, few of us pay attention to the need to notify the bank in connection with changes in passport data, contact numbers, and periodically provide documents confirming the financial solvency of the borrower - and if desired, the bank can easily abuse this oversight.

In this case, you are also in the “risk zone,” but remember that the last thing the bank needs is a scandal, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your collateral - it needs money. Moreover, in a normal situation, he expects to receive interest on the loan; if he neglects them, trying to return it early, it means he is in a difficult financial situation.

Therefore, he most likely will not try to exercise his right.

If he approaches you with a demand for early repayment of the loan, wait as long as possible (so that the bank does not have the opportunity to start accruing fines, penalties and penalties), and then enter into negotiations.

If it is possible to contact a specialized agency for resolving relations between borrowers and banks that have begun to appear, and they do not ask for too much money, be sure to contact them, and even ask them to soften the terms of the loan: extend the term, defer repayment, provide a new loan for paying off the old one.

If there is no such agency, the tedious responsibility of negotiating falls on you.

Explain to the bank representative that you do not have money to repay the entire loan, but you do have money to repay it in accordance with the payment schedule. On the other hand, draw the attention of the bank representative to the fact that wide publicity of the fact of his demand for early repayment of the loan will be interpreted by the market as evidence of his severe financial problems.

Calmly, kindly and with an expression of personal sympathy, explain to him that, from the point of view of your lawyer (even if you don’t have one), this provision of the contract contradicts Civil Code and therefore may be declared invalid by the court, and even if the court decides in favor of the bank, you will file an appeal. Threaten the bank that you will be the first to sue it, challenging its demand for early repayment of the loan, and thereby seriously lengthen the process of collecting the loan amount from you. After all, you can organize as many as four court hearings: on your claim against the bank about the illegality of its claims, on your appeal if the bank is supported by the court, on the bank’s claim against you and on your appeal in the event of a court decision in favor of the bank. Given the slowness of our ships, this can give you a significant gain of time.

In the same way, without wasting yourself on negative emotions, explain to the bank representative that you will not waste a single minute, but will immediately organize noise about financial problems experienced by bank creditors. Explain that this noise, in the current crisis conditions, will certainly worsen the bank’s financial position to such an extent that it may not live to see the end of the legal marathon - giving you a significant respite on loan payments.

It is very likely that you will be considered an “inconvenient victim” and will simply be left alone.

If your interlocutor behaves inappropriately, do not throw pearls at him - demand a complaint book and communication with his boss.

If the boss (or the manager himself, who behaves correctly) did not succumb to your pressure, offer as a compromise the option acceptable to you of issuing you a new loan to repay the old one or accelerated loan repayment. Make sure that the new agreement no longer contains the possibility of requiring early repayment of the loan, nor the possibility of increasing interest on it without your consent.

If you fail to agree on this, wait for the bank’s formal, written demand for early repayment of the loan, find a cheap lawyer, file a lawsuit and act in accordance with your threat - although this is a rather costly and time-consuming path that is best avoided .

It is important that any normal bank will also - and for the same reasons - try to avoid this path and come to an “amicable” agreement with you. You just need to clearly explain your situation and set the boundaries within which you are willing to compromise.

​The requirement to repay a loan early is an infrequent measure used by banks, which may be due to various circumstances. Today we will talk about what to do in such a situation and what the consequences are.

Unlike the borrower, who has the right to pay off the loan early due to some personal motives and reasons, the bank can resort to exercising a similar right of claim only in cases established by law and the contract.

Among the most common reasons in practice for a bank to send a request to a borrower to repay a loan early are:

1. The formation of delays in making monthly payments in excess of the amount allowed under the contract, which is usually expressed by the number of days of delay.
2. Violation by the borrower of the essential terms of the agreement, in particular, misuse of funds received under a targeted loan.
3. Loss of collateral, deterioration of the property collateral, which does not allow the collateral to be considered sufficient based on credit conditions.
4. The borrower's request to terminate the loan agreement.
5. Confirmed inability of the borrower to bear obligations on the loan, for example, due to the lack of any income or due to its decline to a level at which he cannot pay the loan.
6. Identification of facts when the borrower provided false information when applying for a loan.

What to do if the bank makes a claim?

To begin with, it should be especially noted that the bank’s request for early repayment of the loan must be official and expressed in writing. Phone calls, SMS, simple requests or recommendations to pay off a debt do not have the legal force to be considered official. Moreover, all such actions on the part of the bank in the overwhelming majority of cases are designed only to draw the borrower’s attention to delays and other violations of the loan agreement and to intensify its actions to resolve the problematic situation.

If the demand was received in writing (in the form of a claim, notice of termination of the contract), it deserves closer attention:

1. The request must set out the grounds that need to be checked for compliance with the terms of the contract and the legality of their statement.
2. Having analyzed the legality of the claim, the borrower has the right to present his objections by preparing them in writing and sending them to the bank. This may not have any impact on the bank's requirements, but it will give you some time to prepare for the trial.
3. If the demands are legitimate, the borrower has nothing to object to them, and there is a financial opportunity to repay the loan, you can immediately fulfill all the bank’s requirements and close the loan, having received the relevant documents confirming the termination of the agreement.

In a situation where it is impossible to fulfill the bank’s requirement in full and at the same time, it is advisable to:

• come to the bank and discuss the current situation with a view to its possible settlement out of court;
• prepare for the bank a proposal for a possible restructuring (refinancing) of the debt that resulted in the submission of a claim, or for the bank to provide an installment plan/deferment for full early repayment of the loan.

If the measures taken do not lead to a resolution of the situation, it is necessary to prepare for a trial. Having recognized the bank’s demands as legal and justified, the court may, by its decision, establish an installment plan or deferment of the execution of the bank’s financial claim. But there is also a possibility that demands for early repayment of the loan will be considered unfounded or illegal. In such a situation, they will not be enforceable.

If you need the help of a credit lawyer to understand your specific situation in detail, then you can ask your question below.