Debtor

Debtor is a natural or legal person who makes an obligation to perform a contractual or legal obligation. The debtor is therefore obliged to provide to the creditor from the existing obligation service is performed. Complementary concept to debtors is thus the creditors.

General

In common parlance, the term debtor is usually reduced to money borrowers. However, law, law and literature generally understand by the debtor to a performance. Performance is any conscious and purposeful at stimulating foreign assets. This increase in net worth the creditor may be caused by money power, but also by transfer of property or of rights ( legal basis: purchase contract, donation ), through the transfer of use of a thing (loan, rent, lease ), through the provision of services ( service contract, employment ) or by granting loans. In bilateral contracts (such as the purchase, hire or contract for work ) both parties are simultaneously both creditors and debtors. When buying, the seller owes the buyer the surrender and transfer of ownership of the thing sold ( § 433 para 1 BGB), the buyer is liable to pay the consideration requirement, the purchase price ( § 433 para 2 BGB). It can be seen that although generally the purchase price liabilities are classified as obligation of the debtor, but also the transfer of ownership and delivery of the goods is an obligation of the blame end seller.

Debt ratio

The BGB is dedicated to the contractual obligation in the entire second book. In the central provision of § 241 BGB is determined that the creditor is entitled to a debt obligation to demand that the debtor is a power, the power can exist even in a failure. For the contractual obligations include all contracts of daily life. However, the law regulates these incomplete; also not mentioned in the law obligations ( such as leasing ) The statutory provisions apply accordingly.

There are also legal obligations that arise as a legal consequence of the conduct of the parties. Apply to them the provisions on contractual obligations, unless otherwise regulated. A legal obligation is, for example, the tort. In it, the debtor is subject to certain conditions for damage regardless of the existence of a contractual relationship responsible if it is at fault ( § 823 BGB) or - regardless of fault - a strict liability exists.

Obligations of the debtor

For the extinction of an obligation, it is not sufficient that the debtor has done everything to provide the service required. The debtor owes not only a power action, but also a performance success. His liability is extinguished only when a performance success has occurred. To this end, the correct performance must have been completely rendered in the right place at the agreed time. However, the person paying his performance act provided without the performance hit has occurred, so he does not come after all, failed to deliver.

The debtor has to provide the service at the right time at the right place and in accordance with the contract manner, in compliance with good faith. The period of performance ( maturity ) depends pursuant to § 271 Section 1 BGB in the first place according to the terms of the agreement, in the second place after the ( implied ) circumstances and in third place according to the law. In the latter case the creditor can demand performance immediately, the debtor then it must also take immediate effect. The place of performance is also determined by the mentioned ranking; statutory performance is the place of residence or place of business of the debtor ( § 269 BGB). Since the creditor must collect from the debtor 's performance, has developed the concept of this collectable debt. In contrast to the obligation to collect is the street ' in between the so-called Schick debt. Money debt pursuant to § 270 para 1 BGB Schick debt with the result that the debtor bears the risk and cost of the cash payment. In particular, consist in trading activities with respect to maturity, place of performance and risk taking so-called trade practices with other regulations.

Debtor, co-debtor

Is obliged to perform under a contract not only one Party, but at least two parties, is spoken by joint debtors. These will be clarified in § 421 BGB, that while each of the debtor is required to effect the entire performance, the creditor may demand them but only once. Here, the creditor has the right to demand the performance at his pleasure from each of the debtor in whole or in part. Until the fulfillment of the full performance all -debtors remain committed. There is close and systematic legal purpose community that stands up together for the redemption of the single fault between the total debtors. The jointly liable are also principal debtor and stand for its own liability a. However jointly liable are not equal borrower and therefore are not on a par with these.

Lapse of the obligation

According to § 362 BGB, the obligation is void if the amount owed has caused to the creditor. The owed amount may vary according to the nature of the obligation to be (money payment, repayment, over ownership, etc.). In this performance it is the way the law is not a question of whether the debtor or anyone else's performance met ( § 267 paragraph 1 sentence 1 BGB). The wife 's brother, a bank or a debtor of the debtor may be about to pay the purchase price; this is neither the consent of the debtor nor the creditor is required ( § 267 paragraph 1 sentence 2 BGB). Usually the debtor will fulfill itself, which then provides the service debt-discharging. Liberating guilt means that he is finally freed by the contractual performance of its contractual obligations as a debtor. However, if the debtor shall pay " in person ", a performance is excluded by a third party.

Another reason for the extinction of the debt ratio is debt relief ( § 397 para 1 BGB), or rescission, in which the services already provided shall be returned to each other ( § 346 sentence 1 BGB).

Accruals

The term customer is limited in accounting to a debtor demand for goods and services, the contractor is called vendor. Accounts Receivable Insurance secure the suppliers from the risk of default on receivables from deliveries and services. In Banking, the debtor is usually referred to as a borrower. Conversely, the ratio in the deposit business of credit institutions, because here is the customer creditors and the debtor bank of investment. In particular, the legal sense of the debtor party is also in foreclosure, shall be enforced against the (§ 808 ZPO).

Switzerland

In the Swiss parlance, the term " debtor " in a debt simply means " powered ".