The creditor must give written notice to the debtor to fulfill the debt at least 7 days before filing the lawsuit. Often, the debtor will comply on the basis of the pre-action notice alone.
The pre-action phase occurs after the debt has become overdue (matured) and lasts until the lawsuit is filed. The motivation of both parties is to resolve the dispute before the claim is filed, which usually entails increased costs for both parties, not to mention the costs and duration of the entire court proceedings. In fact, the entire procedure (until the final decision after other remedies have been exhausted) takes several years on average, and the costs of the proceedings themselves correspond to this.
The pre-action phase is primarily used to send a pre-action notice to the debtor. If the would-be claimant fails to send the notice at least 7 days before filing the claim, he or she is not entitled to costs in the event of success before the court (in practice, however, courts usually award costs if the debtor fails to comply even within a reasonable time after filing the claim). A pre-action notice also often induces the debtor to voluntarily fulfill the obligation.
The pre-action notice should also contain a sufficient factual and legal specification of the defendant's claim and should be served in a verifiable manner (by post, data message or courier) so that its timely service can be easily proven.
