In the opening of a hearing of a motion to transfer a debt claim to an ordinary claim track, the court was asked to hear a preliminary argument that had not been made in the motion, inasmuch as it could not have been made by the defendants as a preliminary argument.
Based on an old judgment, it was argued that the debt had not yet materialized, inasmuch as the statement of claim did not contain any demand from the guarantors (the defendants) to settle the debt of the principal debtor.
The argument was not made in the filed motion because the defendants were the owners and managers of the principal debtor and could not argue that they did not know about the debt.
The judge, who greeted the plea with enthusiasm, went further by dismissing the claim – which decision required the plaintiff to file an appeal.
In the first hearing of the appeal, the head of the panel agreed to accept the appeal and return the hearing to the ordinary track without charging the defendants for expenses, as its question in the opening of the hearing was answered smilingly: “what aren’t you allowed to try?”.
The move led to negotiations and the formation of a convenient repayment scheme.