Justice minister says debtors deserve one last warning

Justice Minister Daniela Kovářová has urged creditors to give debtors one last warning before sending in a bailiff. In an interview for Hospodářské Noviny the minister said that debtors were often unaware of the gravity of their situation and often had property confiscated because of relatively small sums of money such as unpaid fines dating back several months or years. She said a final warning would not only give them a chance to raise the money quickly but would save them having to pay extra expenditures linked to a bailiff’s visit. The move would necessitate a change of legislation, but the minister has urged creditors to introduce it right away on ethical grounds. Critics of the move say that a last-minute warning would only give chronic defaulters a chance to hide their property in time.