Scheduled fees — where they come from and when they end

What is a scheduled fee (taulukkomaksu)? It is an enforcement fee paid to the state, charged debt by debt on every payment that accrues. It does not go to the creditor or the enforcement officer but to the state, to cover the costs of enforcement. The fee rises in steps according to the size of the payment: €2.50 (payment up to €14), €5 (€14–27), €7 (€27–67), €12 (€67–165), €27 (€165–335), €56 (€335–670), €84 (€670–1,680), €134 (€1,680–8,400) and at most €210 (payment over €8,400). No scheduled fee is charged in the enforcement of fines or child maintenance, or if you have been granted legal aid in the matter.

When do the scheduled fees end? Once scheduled fees have been collected from you in the garnishment of recurring income (pay, pension or the like — including a payment plan replacing wage garnishment) for a total of at least 18 months within the preceding two years, the collection of the fee stops. If the garnishment breaks off and starts again within a year, the fee is not charged in the new case either. This is stated directly in the law (Act on Enforcement Fees, section 5) — it is not a discretionary benefit.

Do I always have to pay the scheduled fee on voluntary repayments? Yes. The exemption only covers the garnishment of recurring income. On voluntary extra payments, a lump-sum payment of the whole debt and the garnishment of a tax refund, the scheduled fee is always charged — even after 18 months. It is also charged when you pay a debt that is in enforcement directly to the creditor.

I believe scheduled fees have been collected from me wrongly — what do I do? The same route as with other errors: 1) ask the enforcement officer for an explanation and a self-correction, 2) if no correction is made, file an enforcement appeal with the district court within three weeks. More detailed instructions are in the enforcement guide, under "If you are dissatisfied with your enforcement officer".

Collection costs, interest and what the debt consists of

Do I have to pay the collection costs and interest, or is the original principal enough? Under the law you are liable, in addition to the principal, for penalty interest and reasonable collection costs, so the principal alone is generally not enough. For consumer debts, however, the law sets strict limits on collection costs: a payment reminder at most €5 (at most two of them, at least 14 days apart), a payment demand at most €14, €24 or €50 depending on whether the principal is at most €100, at most €1,000 or larger, and a cap on total costs: €60, €120 or €210, likewise by principal. For a directly enforceable debt, such as a health centre fee, the collection costs may total at most €51. The amounts include VAT.

The law says the debtor is only liable for costs actually incurred by the creditor — how can this be verified? You have a statutory right (Debt Collection Act, section 4 a) to receive from the creditor or collection agency, on request and free of charge once a year, an up-to-date breakdown of your debt: principal, interest and costs with their grounds. Ask for the breakdown in writing, compare the costs with the maximums above and complain about any excess. Collection agencies are supervised by the Regional State Administrative Agency and the Consumer Ombudsman — you can report to them, and unlawful costs do not have to be paid.

I believe the whole collection is unfounded — what can I do? Dispute the debt immediately in writing to the creditor and the collection agency: say why you dispute it (already paid, wrong amount, no order exists, the debt is time-barred). Voluntary collection of a disputed debt may not continue — the creditor must take the matter to the district court if they disagree. Keep receipts and messages. If you receive a summons, respond to it without fail (see Summons and court proceedings).

I owe money to a company that has gone bankrupt — do I have to pay? Yes. The company's bankruptcy does not cancel your debt: the claim against you is the property of the bankruptcy estate, and the estate administrator collects it or sells the claim on. Before paying, confirm in writing who has the right to receive the payment — do not pay to the old account until the recipient is clear. A payment made to the right party releases you from the debt.

Are debts inherited?

The exceptions concern the administration of the estate, not inheriting as such: a shareholder of the estate can become personally liable if the estate inventory is neglected (deadline three months from the death), if false information is deliberately given in the estate inventory or assets are concealed, or if the estate's assets are distributed before the debts are paid. Even in an over-indebted estate it is therefore enough that the estate inventory is done on time and honestly — the debts are nothing to fear.

A spouse is not liable for the other's debts during the marriage either — each is liable for their own. Joint liability applies only to joint debt: if a housing loan was taken together, both are liable for it in full, and when one dies the liability remains with the surviving co-debtor.

Also remember: a debt lapses for good when the time limit of the enforcement order (15 years, or 20 years if the creditor is a private person or the debt is based on a crime that led to a prison sentence) runs out. After that the debt cannot be collected from anyone — not even from the estate.

Summons and court proceedings

If you think the debt is correct, you can admit the claim — but still check the interest and costs. If the debt or part of it is wrong, dispute it and state your grounds: a mere "I object" is not enough; you need a reason (already paid, wrong amount, no contract exists, the debt is time-barred).

Can the enforcement officer help with the response? No — the summons is the court's matter, and the enforcement officer is an impartial executor. Free help is available instead from the legal aid office (free for those on low incomes) and from financial and debt counselling, which also helps you assess whether the debt is correct in the first place. The district court's registry advises on procedure, not on the substance of the case.

I received a summons for a debt that I believe is already being collected in enforcement — what should I do? The same debt cannot have two judgments. First check in the enforcement e-service exactly which debt is in enforcement (creditor, date of the judgment and case number). Respond to the summons within the deadline and state in your response that the claim has already been decided and is in enforcement collection — identify the earlier judgment. If it turns out to be a different invoice from the same creditor, handle it as a normal summons. Do not leave it unanswered in the belief that the matter is already being handled.

What does "takaisinsaanti" (recovery) mean? The word has two meanings. Debtors are usually concerned with recovery of a default judgment: if a default judgment has been issued against you, you cannot appeal to the court of appeal, but you can apply for recovery from the same district court within 30 days of verifiably receiving notice of the judgment. The application must state a reasoned ground for changing the judgment — and if it is accepted, the case is examined normally. Recovery has been used, for example, to overturn judgments containing illegal payday loan interest (see section 5 of the enforcement guide). Note the court fee for civil cases (several hundred euros — the current amount is on oikeus.fi) and the cost risk if you lose. The other meaning is recovery to a bankruptcy estate — the creditors' tool for reversing asset arrangements made by the debtor, not something the debtor applies for.

What is garnished or distrained — and what is not

What can be taken: property with monetary value — pay and pension above the protected portion, funds in a bank account (the protected portion is left), tax refunds, cash, a car, securities, a home.

Outside enforcement is the exemption right (beneficium): ordinary household goods (furniture, appliances, dishes, clothes), reasonable personal items, the tools you need to earn your living up to a reasonable value, aids needed because of illness or disability, and study materials. Benefits granted for a specific purpose — such as social assistance, housing allowance and child benefit — may not be garnished either. Taxable income-security benefits, such as the general support (yleistuki) or a pension, are on the other hand garnishable above the protected portion.

Can garnishment be prevented? Lawful garnishment cannot be prevented, but it can be influenced: a payment plan (your employer will not find out), reliefs and payment-free months, and correction or appeal if the decision is wrong. All of these are covered in the enforcement guide. Hiding property is not a way out — it is a risk (see What you should never do).

How is the value of a car or house determined? Can enforcement sell too cheaply? The enforcement officer estimates the value and can use an expert, for example an estate agent's valuation. In the sale you are protected by a minimum price rule: at auction, the highest bid may not be accepted if it clearly falls below the fair market price of the property in the locality. You can also ask for permission for a so-called free sale, that is, selling the property yourself under supervision — the price is often better than at auction. If you think the sale price breached the minimum price protection, you can appeal to the district court within three weeks.

My child has money in an account and I have access to it — can the funds be garnished? The child's own funds belong to the child and are not garnished for the parent's debt — mere access rights do not make the money yours. But if you deposit your own money into the child's account to avoid enforcement, the arrangement can be set aside as artificial and the funds garnished.

What about a joint account with a spouse? Funds in a joint account are presumed to belong to the account holders in equal shares unless otherwise shown — your share can be garnished. If your spouse shows the funds are theirs (for example with statements showing their salary going in), their share is not touched. Practical advice for a debtor's partner: keep your own money in your own account — a joint account makes proving ownership hard exactly when it would be needed.

May I withdraw cash, and do I have to report it? The part left in your hands you may use freely, including withdrawing it in cash, and it does not need to be reported separately. A different matter is the enforcement inquiry (ulosottoselvitys): there you have a statutory duty to tell the truth about all your assets, including cash. When asked, you must not lie (see the next section).

What you should never do

What if I transfer my property into someone else's name before enforcement starts — or during it? Don't. The consequences escalate: 1) an artificial arrangement is set aside — if the property is formally in someone else's name but in reality in your use and control, the enforcement officer can garnish it anyway; 2) underpriced sales and gifts, especially to those close to you, can be reversed; 3) if you have substantially hindered the creditor's chances of getting paid, a court can extend the 15/20-year enforcement time limit by ten years — so hiding assets can lengthen enforcement by a decade; 4) destroying property or giving it away without grounds can be a crime (dishonesty by a debtor). Selling distrained property is, in addition, directly forbidden.

May you lie to the enforcement officer about your assets? No. Giving false information or concealing assets in enforcement proceedings is debtor's fraud (Criminal Code, chapter 39): the punishment is a fine or imprisonment for at most two years, and more for the aggravated form. In addition, the hidden assets are garnished and the arrangements reversed. If your finances are in a knot, the right route is debt counselling and debt restructuring — not hiding.

How enforcement operates

Is the enforcement officer obliged to help me understand my situation? The enforcement officer is an impartial authority — neither your agent nor the creditor's. You have the right to information about your own cases: the amounts of the debts, the stage of collection and the reliefs available, and your questions must be answered. The officer does not, however, draw up applications for you or assess whether the debts are correct. For that there is the free financial and debt counselling service, which goes through your whole situation — including debts outside enforcement.

I am in enforcement both as a creditor and as a debtor — how does that work? The cases are separate and are not automatically set off against each other. Funds to be remitted to you as a creditor are your property — and they can be garnished to pay your own debts, so in practice the accruing money is directed to your own creditors. Tell your own enforcement officer about the situation so the handling is coordinated.

How are the collected funds divided between creditors? Can I influence which debt is repaid first? In wage garnishment you cannot choose: the accrual is divided between the creditors in the order laid down by law, as a rule in proportion to the size of the claims, and for example child maintenance has priority over the others. What you can do is target a voluntary extra payment at a specific debt in the enforcement e-service — useful if you want to pay off a small debt completely or the debt with the highest interest. Remember the scheduled fee (see the first section).

Can I change my enforcement officer? Not on grounds of dissatisfaction — the responsible officer is assigned ex officio. Two routes exist: a disqualification objection (for example a close relationship with you or the creditor, or a personal interest in the case; decided by the district bailiff) and, in cases of improper treatment, contacting the leading district bailiff, who can transfer the case to another handler — more on this in section 7 of the enforcement guide.

Do enforcement officers get commission on the debts they collect? Not any more — but the question is not pulled out of thin air. Until 2021, about a third of district enforcement officers' pay consisted of collection and action fees that grew with their personal collection results, and the system was widely criticised. The fees were abolished on 1 May 2021 when a new pay system came into force: today, senior enforcement inspectors' pay is fixed (the demands of the post, personal performance and experience) and does not depend on how much is collected from debtors. The loss of the old fees was compensated with a fixed supplement that likewise does not depend on collection results. Even in their time the fees were paid by the state — they were never added to the debtor's debt; the scheduled fee charged to the debtor is a different thing and goes to the state. (Source: the specifying collective agreement for senior enforcement inspectors, 24 May 2021.)

I have no income and no assets — does the matter just lapse? The enforcement officer records an impediment for lack of means and returns the case to the creditor. Enforcement ends for the time being, but: the impediment causes a payment default entry, the creditor can send the debt back for collection or have it registered as a passive receivable (in which case, for example, your tax refund is garnished automatically for two years), and interest keeps running. The debt only lapses through final time-barring. If your situation is permanently weak, look into debt restructuring with debt counselling — having no income does not automatically prevent it.

If I move abroad, does enforcement follow? Moving does not cancel the debt. Your property in Finland and income paid from Finland (for example an earnings-related pension) is garnished normally regardless of where you live. Finnish enforcement does not reach income abroad directly, but the creditor can apply for enforcement in your country of residence: between the Nordic countries under their own convention, and in the EU under regulation, a Finnish judgment qualifies for enforcement. Child maintenance and tax debts have their own effective international collection channels. The final time-barring of the debt runs under Finnish law regardless of where you live.

Debt restructuring, composition and pardons

Can enforcement help or prevent me from getting debt restructuring? Neither. Debt restructuring is decided by the district court, not enforcement — and being in enforcement is not a barrier; long-running enforcement is in fact a common background to applications. The barriers (for example manifestly frivolous indebtedness) are assessed as laid down in law, and a barrier can be overridden for weighty reasons. When the payment programme is confirmed, garnishment for the debts covered by the restructuring ends. Financial and debt counselling drafts the application with you free of charge — start there. The basics of debt restructuring are in section 6 of the enforcement guide.

What is a composition (akordi)? Can you make one with enforcement? A composition is a voluntary agreement with the creditor: the creditor forgives part of the debt, typically in exchange for a lump-sum payment. For the creditor this can make sense if the alternative is years of uncertain enforcement collection. You cannot make a composition with enforcement, because enforcement does not own the debt — it only executes the creditor's claim. Negotiate directly with the creditor or collection company, in writing and with a realistic sum; debt counselling helps. If a composition is reached, the creditor withdraws its enforcement application to the agreed extent. Note that the scheduled fee is charged on a payment made to the creditor during enforcement.

Can the creditor, enforcement or the president pardon debts? The creditor can — the debt is their property (see composition). Enforcement cannot: it does not decide on the existence of the debt; the only exception is the state's own enforcement fees, which can be waived on grounds of reasonableness. The president does not pardon debts — the power of pardon concerns criminal punishments, not private-law debts. The law's own "pardon" is the final time-barring of the debt once the 15/20-year limit has run out.

My debt is being collected in enforcement — can I still pay the original creditor directly? You can, and the payment is valid, but: 1) the scheduled fee is charged anyway — the law says so expressly, and 2) if the creditor's notification to enforcement is delayed, garnishment continues and you will be untangling overlaps. The clearest way is to pay through enforcement. If you pay the creditor directly, keep the receipt and notify the enforcement officer of the payment yourself as well.

Eviction

How does an eviction happen? In stages, not by surprise: 1) the landlord obtains an eviction judgment from the district court and takes it to enforcement; 2) the enforcement officer sends an exhortation to move with a moving date — at the earliest one week and as a rule at the latest two weeks from service; 3) if you do not move by the set date, the eviction is carried out: the occupants and the property are removed from the premises. Property other than of little value is taken into safekeeping, and the record shows where it can be collected and by when. An enforcement fee is charged to the person evicted (€110 for eviction from a home; half if you move out before the eviction is carried out).

Can an eviction be postponed? The moving date can be postponed if this does not cause the applicant appreciable harm — the eviction must, however, as a rule be carried out within two months of the case becoming pending, and with the applicant's consent the postponement can be at most six months. Payment of rent for the postponement period can be set as a condition.

Can families with children be evicted? Yes, but the law has a safeguard: if children whose housing arrangements are unclear, or persons in need of immediate care, live in the premises, the enforcement officer must notify the local housing and social authorities as soon as possible — and they must be given the opportunity to arrange housing or assess the need for social services before the eviction is carried out.

Can an eviction be carried out in winter? Yes — the law has no winter eviction ban. The season may in practice weigh in the postponement assessment, but you should not count on it.

Coping — when the debts weigh too much

Is exhaustion or self-harm risk a ground for payment-free months? Your state of health can be a ground for relief: the enforcement officer can limit the amount garnished or grant payment-free months if your ability to pay is substantially weakened, for example because of illness. Exhaustion and mental strain are comparable to illness — a statement from a doctor or your care provider supports the application. Tell the enforcement officer about your situation; they will not know unless you do.

For money matters, free help is available from financial and debt counselling and Velkalinja (contact details in the enforcement guide). A debt counsellor goes through your situation and finds out whether, for example, debt restructuring is possible. No one is permanently at a dead end with their debts — even debts become time-barred eventually.

Data protection and register information

How long does enforcement keep information about me after enforcement has ended? Two registers often get mixed up. In the enforcement register (National Enforcement Authority), information is kept for the period laid down in law even after the case has ended, but the enforcement register certificate given to outsiders only shows the enforcement cases of the previous two years (four years for authorities). In the credit information registers (Asiakastieto, Dun & Bradstreet), removing a payment default entry requires your own action — the exact instructions are in section 4 of the enforcement guide.

Can I ask for my data to be deleted completely once enforcement has ended? No — the National Enforcement Authority's processing of data is based on a statutory task, so the GDPR "right to be forgotten" does not apply. Instead, you have the right to inspect your own data and to demand the correction of incorrect data, and the register data is deleted in due course as the law provides.

Where do I send a GDPR request concerning enforcement? The data controller is the National Enforcement Authority (Ulosottolaitos): an access or correction request can be made in the enforcement e-service or in writing to the Authority — instructions are on the page ulosottolaitos.fi → Tietoa meistä → Tietosuoja. If the matter is not put right, you can notify the Data Protection Ombudsman (tietosuoja.fi). The credit information companies' registers have different data controllers — requests concerning them go directly to Asiakastieto and Dun & Bradstreet.