THE SUPREME COURT EXPRESSED ITS POSITION ON THE RELEASE OF CITIZENS FROM DEBTS FOLLOWING THE RESULTS OF BANKRUPTCY

The essence of the case was that a citizen filed a petition for his own bankruptcy in the presence of debts in the amount of 2 million rubles.

At the same time, part of the debt was formed 3 years before bankruptcy, and part – 3 months before filing the application.

Having a certain level of income, a citizen repaid debts on loans, however, the attraction of additional credit funds a few months before bankruptcy and, as a result, the assumption of additional obligations created a situation in which monthly loan payments exceeded the amount of the debtor's income.

The courts of 3 instances saw abuse in these actions of the citizen, in connection with which they refused to release him from his obligations, completing the procedure for the sale of property.

The debtor did not agree and filed a cassation complaint with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, after considering which the court presented the following legal position.

The Supreme Court took into account the conclusions of the financial manager, fixed by him in the analysis of the debtor's financial condition, to the extent that there were no signs of intentional or fictitious bankruptcy in the case.

In addition, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation rejected the conclusions of lower instances regarding the unfair increase in accounts payable.

According to the court, the citizen assumed excessive credit obligations due to a biased assessment of his own solvency, however, when applying for a loan agreement on the eve of bankruptcy, he did not hide information about his own income, which was fully submitted to the bank.

On the contrary, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation pointed out, in this case, the fault in the inability to obtain satisfaction of its claims from the debtor lies solely with the credit institution, which, being a professional participant in the financial market, had to conduct an objective assessment of the documents and information submitted by the debtor. And in case of detection of risks of non-repayment of credit funds, refuse to conclude a contract.

Thus, the Supreme Court annulled the acts of lower instances, releasing the debtor from obligations.