Countries › Peru › Guide › 14. Disputes › Debt collection in Peru: executive titles, the single enforcement process, attachments and interim measures

Debt collection in Peru: executive titles, the single enforcement process, attachments and interim measures

Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Stable

Creditors holding an executive title (a final judgment or arbitral award, a conciliation record, a protested negotiable instrument, a public deed, a recognised private document and others) skip a full trial and go straight to the single enforcement process of the Civil Procedure Code. The judge issues an enforcement order; the debtor has five days to contradict it and only on narrow grounds (unenforceable or illiquid debt, formal nullity or forgery, or extinction), with appeal in three days. Interim attachments are granted without hearing the debtor and notified after execution, bank accounts are frozen by electronic order, and a debtor with no known assets can be pushed toward INDECOPI insolvency.

USD figures use S/ 3.452 per US dollar, the banking system selling rate published by the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP for 27 October 2026, from the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú statistics series PD04640PD. UIT amounts use the 2026 UIT of S/ 5,500 set by Decreto Supremo Nº 301-2025-EF, as cited in SUNAT Resolución de Superintendencia Nº 000016-2026/SUNAT. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Time for the debtor to contradict an enforcement order	5 daysCódigo Procesal Civil art. 690-D (DL Nº 1069), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Time to contradict enforcement of a judicial title	3 daysCódigo Procesal Civil art. 690-D (DL Nº 1069), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Time to appeal the order deciding the contradiction	3 daysCódigo Procesal Civil art. 691 (DL Nº 1069), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Executive claims heard by the juez de paz letrado	Up to 100 URPCódigo Procesal Civil art. 690-B (DL Nº 1069), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Time for the debtor to name free assets on request	5 daysCódigo Procesal Civil art. 692-A (DL Nº 1069), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Interim measures granted without hearing the debtor	Yes, notified after execution textCódigo Procesal Civil art. 637 (DL Nº 1069), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Conciliation record with agreement is an enforcement title	Yes textLey Nº 26872 art. 18 (DL Nº 1070), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Unidad Impositiva Tributaria 2026	5,500 PENDS Nº 301-2025-EF, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
SBS banking system selling rate, 27 October 2026	3.452 PEN per USDBCRP series PD04640PD, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. Enforcement can only be sought on an executive title, judicial or extrajudicial. The titles are: final judicial decisions; final arbitral awards; conciliation records under the law; negotiable instruments that give rise to the exchange action, duly protested or with the substitute formality, or without protest where the law allows; certificates of registration and title issued by the securities clearing and settlement institution for book entry securities; anticipated evidence containing a recognised private document; certified copies of anticipated evidence with an express or deemed confession; private documents containing an out of court settlement; unpaid rent documents where the lease is proved in writing; public deeds; and other titles given executive force by law.
Cost to do it: Drafting contracts as public deeds or with promissory notes adds notary costs at signing but avoids a full ordinary trial later; the notary tariff is not set by the law.
Example: A Lima supplier that took a promissory note signed by its customer and had it protested can file an executive claim at once, without proving the underlying sale. / A foreign lender that documents a US$500,000 loan by public deed before a Peruvian notary holds an executive title under art. 688.10.Decreto Legislativo Nº 1069, que mejora la administración de justicia en materia comercial, modificando normas procesales del Código Procesal Civil (El Peruano, 28 June 2008), Sole article (Código Procesal Civil art. 688), 2008-06-28 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. Enforcement is sought by whoever has a right recognised in the title against whoever appears as obliged in it. For extrajudicial titles, the civil judge is competent, and the justice of the peace judge (juez de paz letrado) if the claim does not exceed 100 Unidades de Referencia Procesal; for judicial titles, the judge who heard the claim; for enforcement of security, the civil judge. The enforcement order directs the debtor to perform, failing which forced execution starts. The debtor has five days from notice to contradict and raise procedural defences, offering only party statements, documents or expert evidence. Contradiction may only argue that the obligation is unenforceable or illiquid, the title is formally void or false (or an incomplete instrument was filled in breach of agreements), or the obligation is extinguished. Against judicial titles, only performance or extinction proved by documents can be alleged, within three days. Other grounds are rejected outright.
Cost to do it: Court fees and counsel apply; the main saving is time, because the debtor's defences are limited by law.
Example: A Peruvian buyer sued on a dishonoured cheque cannot argue that the goods were defective inside the executive process; it can only argue extinction, illiquidity or a defect in the title. / A debtor facing enforcement of a US$200,000 arbitral award can only allege, within three days, that it paid or that the obligation was extinguished, proved by documents.Decreto Legislativo Nº 1069, que mejora la administración de justicia en materia comercial, modificando normas procesales del Código Procesal Civil (El Peruano, 28 June 2008), Sole article (Código Procesal Civil art. 690, 690-A, 690-B, 690-C and 690-D), 2008-06-28 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. If there is contradiction or defences, the creditor answers within three days and the judge decides by order, holding a single hearing only if evidence requires it. Without contradiction, the judge orders enforcement without further steps. The order deciding the contradiction can be appealed within three days and the appeal has suspensive effect. If the title lacks formal requirements, the judge refuses enforcement outright. When the order to proceed is issued and the creditor does not know of the debtor's assets, the judge requires the debtor to name, within five days, free assets sufficient to cover the debt, failing which it will be declared in dissolution and liquidation, and the case is sent to INDECOPI's insolvency commission. The same warning applies at the enforcement stage of ordinary, abbreviated and summary cases.
Cost to do it: No specific fee; the art. 692-A warning is a low cost way to force disclosure of assets or trigger liquidation.
Example: A creditor that wins the contradiction stage but finds no assets asks the judge to order the debtor to name free assets within five days. / For a US$80,000 judgment against a company with no visible assets, the art. 692-A warning can lead to the company being declared in liquidation and the case moving to INDECOPI.Decreto Legislativo Nº 1069, que mejora la administración de justicia en materia comercial, modificando normas procesales del Código Procesal Civil (El Peruano, 28 June 2008), Sole article (Código Procesal Civil art. 690-E, 690-F, 691 and 692-A), 2008-06-28 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. The judge grants interim measures on the plausibility of the right and the need for a preventive decision because of delay or another justifiable reason, choosing the form of measure suited to the claim. Counter security is required to compensate the affected party; it can be real or personal, including a sworn undertaking. Measures are granted without hearing the affected party and notified to it after execution, when it can appeal without suspensive effect. Attachment of credits in third parties' hands is ordered by retention; where the holder is a financial institution, the judge sends the retention order by email and banks must report to the banking regulator the address that receives such orders. Sequestration with dispossession is available for executive title debts.
Cost to do it: Counter security (for example a sworn undertaking or a bank guarantee) set by the judge; the creditor is liable for damages if the measure proves unjustified.
Example: A supplier with an executive title asks for retention of its customer's bank balances; the order is emailed to the banks and the customer learns of it only after the funds are frozen. / Freezing US$300,000 (S/ 1,035,600) in a debtor's Peruvian accounts may require a bank guarantee as counter security, at the judge's discretion.Decreto Legislativo Nº 1069, que mejora la administración de justicia en materia comercial, modificando normas procesales del Código Procesal Civil (El Peruano, 28 June 2008), Sole article (Código Procesal Civil art. 611, 613, 637, 643 and 657), 2008-06-28 official text · verified 2026-10-28

5. Other executive routes: a conciliation record with agreement is an enforcement title, and its certain, express and enforceable obligations are enforced through the enforcement of judicial decisions process. A final consumer arbitral award and a consumer conciliation record are executive titles, and a supplier that fails to comply is fined automatically up to the maximum, with fines doubling until it complies. A public procurement dispute board decision acquires executive force if no party objects in writing within 20 business days of notice, or if no arbitration is started within the statutory caducidad periods after an objection.
Cost to do it: Conciliation centre fees for the record; consumer arbitration under the Consumer Code is free.
Example: A landlord that reaches a conciliation agreement on unpaid rent can enforce the record directly if the tenant later defaults. / A US$40,000 dispute board decision under a public works contract becomes enforceable if neither side objects within 20 business days.Ley Nº 26872, Ley de Conciliación, as amended by Decreto Legislativo Nº 1070 (El Peruano, 28 June 2008); Código de Protección y Defensa del Consumidor, Ley Nº 29571; Ley Nº 32069, Ley Nº 26872 art. 18; Ley Nº 29571 art. 144; Ley Nº 32069 art. 80.2, 2008-06-28 official text · verified 2026-10-28

Step	Term	Article
Claim with executive title	Any time within the limitation period of the right	art. 688 and 690-A
Enforcement order (mandato ejecutivo)	Issued on admission	art. 690-C
Contradiction and defences	5 days (3 days for judicial titles)	art. 690-D
Creditor's answer to contradiction	3 days	art. 690-E
Appeal against the order deciding contradiction	3 days, suspensive effect	art. 691
Debtor names free assets on request	5 days, or declared in liquidation	art. 692-A

Single enforcement process under the Civil Procedure Code as rewritten by DL Nº 1069 (days as stated in the Code)

Worked example

A Peruvian subsidiary of a US distributor holds a protested promissory note for S/ 345,200 (US$100,000) signed by a Lima retailer. It files an executive claim before the civil judge with the note and asks for retention of the retailer's bank balances, offering counter security. The judge grants the retention without hearing the retailer and emails it to the banks. The retailer has five days from notice to contradict, and can only argue that the debt is not due or liquid, that the note is forged or formally void or was filled in breach of agreements, or that it has paid.
If the retailer does not contradict, the judge orders enforcement without further steps. If the frozen funds do not cover the debt and no other assets are known, the creditor asks the judge to require the retailer to name free assets within five days, on pain of being declared in liquidation and the case moving to INDECOPI.

Step by step

At signing, secure an executive title: public deed, promissory note, conformed instruments or an acknowledged private document.
On default, protest the instrument where required and gather the original title.
File the executive claim before the competent judge (juez de paz letrado up to 100 URP, civil judge above) with the title and a request for interim attachment and counter security.
Diary the debtor's five day contradiction window and your three day answer.
If no assets are known, invoke art. 692-A; if several creditors are unpaid, consider an INDECOPI filing instead.

Common traps

A negotiable instrument that was not protested (where protest is required) or that lacks formal requirements is refused outright (art. 690-F).
The debtor can raise forgery or completion of an instrument in breach of agreements, so keep evidence of how blank instruments were completed.
Interim measures require counter security, and the creditor answers for damages if the measure turns out to be unjustified.
Once the debtor's insolvency procedure is published in El Peruano, seizures stop and the claim must be filed with INDECOPI instead.
These rules follow the wording that DL Nº 1069 gave the Civil Procedure Code in 2008; confirm any later amendment of the specific article with counsel before filing.

Sources

← Insolvency and creditor claims in Peru: the INDECOPI concursal procedure, filing thresholds, the stay, creditor meetings and rankingPre suit conciliation and mediation in Peru: when conciliation is mandatory, the procedure, sanctions and enforceable agreements →

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