Enforcement in Romania: Bank Accounts, Real Estate and Shares

Legal position as at: 2 November 2026

At a glance

• Who can use it: any creditor holding a Romanian enforceable title, wherever it is based. Foreign persons have the same procedural rights as Romanian ones (Civil Procedure Code, art. 1084(1)); a UK, US, Indian or Swiss creditor uses the same procedure as a Romanian one.
• First step: check that your title is already enforceable and give a Romanian lawyer the debtor's registration number and any known bank details.
• The main deadline: the right to enforce a judgment is time-barred 3 years after it becomes final (art. 706).
• Quick and slow routes: garnishment of bank accounts needs no prior demand, freezes the account when the bank is served, and the bank must deposit the money within 5 days (art. 783, 784, 787); real estate requires valuation, a sale notice of 20 to 40 days and possibly a second auction (art. 836, 838, 846).

A judgment is only as good as the debtor's assets. Romanian law gives the creditor one procedure, run by a court bailiff (executor judecătoresc), that can reach the debtor's bank accounts, receivables, movables, real estate and shareholdings at the same time. This article explains how it works under the Civil Procedure Code (CPC), which assets are protected, how assets are found, and the deadlines that matter.

It assumes you already hold an enforceable title. To obtain one, see the payment order procedure and suing a Romanian company; for foreign titles, enforcing a foreign judgment or arbitral award; to secure assets before judgment by precautionary attachment (sechestru asigurător), freezing a debtor's assets.

What you need before enforcement can start

Enforcement can only be carried out on the basis of an enforceable title (titlu executoriu), meaning a judgment or document that the law allows to be enforced by a bailiff (CPC art. 632(1)). In a commercial debt case this is usually one of the following:

• a judgment given on appeal (apel), or a first-instance judgment that cannot be appealed (CPC art. 633);
• a final (definitivă) judgment, or a judgment with provisional enforcement (CPC art. 632(2));
• an arbitral award, which can be enforced even while an action to set it aside is pending (CPC art. 635);
• a European enforcement title for which EU law requires no prior recognition, which is enforceable by law without any further formality (CPC art. 636);
• a payment order, described in our payment order article;
• other documents to which the law gives enforceable force, such as certain notarial deeds or bills of exchange and cheques (CPC art. 638(1)).

The claim must be certain, liquid and due (cert, lichid și exigibil): its existence is clear, its amount is fixed or can be calculated, and payment is owed now (CPC art. 663). A first-instance judgment in an ordinary commercial claim is generally not enforceable while it can still be appealed, unless the law or the court grants provisional enforcement (CPC art. 448 and 449).

The procedure step by step

Step 1: the enforcement request. Enforcement starts only at the creditor's request (CPC art. 664(1)). The request is filed with a competent bailiff in person, through a representative, or sent by post, courier, fax or e-mail (art. 664(2)). It names the parties, the obligation and the enforcement methods the creditor wants, and attaches the enforceable title in original or certified copy, together with proof that the stamp duty has been paid (art. 664(3) and (4)).

Step 2: choosing the right bailiff. As a rule, a bailiff from the area of the court of appeal is competent as follows (CPC art. 652(1)): for real estate, where the property is located; for movable assets, where the debtor has its registered office or where the assets are; where the debtor's seat is abroad, any bailiff. For garnishment, the bailiff must have an office in the court of appeal area of the debtor's registered office (art. 782(1)). If assets are spread across several court of appeal areas, a bailiff in any of them may act for all of them (art. 652(2)). Breach of these rules makes the acts void (art. 652(5)).

Step 3: court approval. Within at most 3 days of registering the request, the bailiff asks the enforcement court (instanța de executare) to approve enforcement (CPC art. 666(1)). The enforcement court is, as a rule, the district court (judecătoria) for the area of the debtor's registered office (art. 651(1)). It decides within at most 7 days, in chambers and without summoning the parties (art. 666(2)). The approval has effect throughout Romania and allows the creditor to use all enforcement methods at once or one after another (art. 666(4)).

Step 4: notice to the debtor. The bailiff then serves on the debtor the approval, a certified copy of the title and, unless the law provides otherwise, a formal demand to pay (somație) (CPC art. 667 and 668). Garnishment is an exception: it is set up without a prior demand, and the debtor is informed at the same time as the bank or other third party (art. 783(1)).

Garnishment of bank accounts and receivables

Garnishment (poprire) is usually the first step against a trading company. It reaches money and other intangible movables that a third party owes to the debtor or holds for it, including amounts that will fall due later under an existing legal relationship (CPC art. 781(1)). For bank accounts, it covers both the credit balance and future incoming payments (art. 781(2)).

How it works in practice:

• The bailiff sends a garnishment notice to the bank or other third party, which from that moment may not pay the debtor (CPC art. 783(2)). A notice sent to one branch of a bank covers only accounts held at that branch; if there are none, the bank must tell the bailiff about accounts at other branches (art. 783(5)).
• All garnished sums are frozen from the moment of service; payments or assignments made afterwards cannot be relied on against the garnishing creditor (art. 784(1) and (4)).
• Within 5 days of service, or of the due date for future sums, the third party must deposit the money or freeze the assets and send proof to the bailiff (art. 787(1)).

If the third party does not comply, for example by paying the debtor instead, the creditor, the debtor or the bailiff may ask the enforcement court to validate the garnishment within at most one month from the date by which the third party should have paid (CPC art. 790(1)). The court then orders the third party to pay the creditor directly, up to the amount it owed the debtor (art. 790(4)).

What remains protected in a garnished company account. Some money cannot be garnished (CPC art. 781(5)): sums with a special purpose set by law over which the debtor has no power of disposal, non-reimbursable grants and project funding from national or international bodies, and sums for paying future salaries for 3 months from the first garnishment on that account. Salary payments may therefore continue for that period.

Real estate

Real estate enforcement is slower. The land register (cartea funciară) shows who owns the property and what charges it carries.

• When the approval is served, the bailiff asks the land registry office to note the enforcement in the land register, naming the creditor and the amount (CPC art. 822(1)).
• The bailiff sets the market value of the property by a reasoned decision, or appoints a valuation expert if a party asks within 15 days or the bailiff cannot carry out the valuation (CPC art. 836(1), (3) and (4)).
• Within 5 days of fixing the price, the bailiff sets the sale date, which must be between 20 and 40 days after the sale notice is posted (CPC art. 838).
• At the first auction, bidding starts from the valuation price. If no one offers that price, a second auction is held within at most 30 days, starting at 75% of the first starting price; if that is not reached and at least two bidders are present, the property is sold to the highest bidder, but for no less than 30% of the first starting price (CPC art. 846(5) and (8)).

When the proceeds are distributed, enforcement and other common costs come first, and creditors holding a pledge, mortgage or other preserved preference over the property sold are paid before employees' claims and before ordinary unsecured creditors (CPC art. 865(1) and 867). Before investing in a real estate enforcement, check the land register extract for prior mortgages, because they may absorb most of the sale price.

Movable assets

If the debtor does not pay within one day of being served with the demand and the court approval, the bailiff seizes (sechestru) its movable assets, even if a third party holds them (CPC art. 732(1) and 733(1)). Where doors are locked and the debtor refuses to open them, a police officer, gendarme or other public force agent must be present (art. 734(1)).

If the debt, interest and costs are not paid within 15 days of the seizure, the bailiff sells the assets at public auction, by direct sale or in another way allowed by law, and perishable or rapidly depreciating assets can be sold at once (art. 753).

Shares in Romanian companies

Where the debtor is a shareholder, for example a holding company or an individual guarantor, its shares can be enforced against. The Companies Law allows the shareholder's creditors to garnish what the shareholder would receive on liquidation, or to seize and sell its shares or partnership interests (părți sociale) even while the company exists (Law 31/1990 art. 66(2)).

Shares in unlisted joint-stock companies (societăți închise, whose shares are not traded on a stock exchange or other market) and interests (părți sociale) in limited liability companies (SRL) and partnerships are first offered for amicable sale and, failing that, sold by the bailiff at public auction, unless a special law provides otherwise (CPC art. 757(3)). The bailiff must prepare terms of sale that include, on pain of nullity, the articles of association, the number and type of shares, any security over them, transfer restrictions and pre-emption rights of the other shareholders, and the last two annual financial statements (art. 757(4)). These terms are sent to the debtor, the creditor, the company and the other shareholders, who have 5 days to object (art. 757(5)). In practice, a minority stake with pre-emption rights and no dividend history may attract few bidders.

Protected assets

CPC art. 727 exempts items indispensable to an individual debtor and family (household goods, food and fuel for limited periods, items needed by persons with disabilities, personal letters and photographs) and anything exempt by law. Assets used for a profession may be enforced against only within limits (art. 728). For individuals, salaries and similar periodic income can be garnished up to one third of net monthly income for ordinary debts (art. 729(1)(b)), with further protection for low incomes and full protection for certain social benefits (art. 729(3) and (7)). These limits matter mainly against individual guarantors.

Finding the debtor's assets

The law gives the bailiff, not the creditor, the main tools:

• Anyone who owes money to the debtor or holds its assets must answer the bailiff's questions in writing (CPC art. 660(1)).
• Public institutions, banks and any other person must provide the bailiff, on request, with documents and information needed for enforcement, and tax authorities must provide the data they hold (art. 660(2)).
• The bailiff has free access to the land register, the trade register and other public registers that show the debtor's assets (art. 660(5)).

It still helps to give the bailiff what you know: bank details from invoices, main customers, property addresses.

What can go wrong

• Limitation. The right to enforce is time-barred after 3 years, unless the law provides otherwise; for titles on rights in rem the period is 10 years (CPC art. 706(1)). For judgments and arbitral awards, it runs from the date they become final (art. 706(2)).
• Lapse for inactivity. If the creditor, through its own fault, does not carry out an act requested in writing by the bailiff for 6 months, the enforcement lapses by law (CPC art. 697(1)).
• Wrong bailiff. Acts carried out by a bailiff without territorial competence are void (CPC art. 652(5)).
• Debtor challenges. The debtor may challenge enforcement acts within 15 days from the date it learned of them or was served (CPC art. 715(1)). To suspend enforcement pending the challenge, the debtor must usually deposit security calculated on the disputed value (art. 719(1) and (2)).
• Insolvency. From the opening of insolvency proceedings, all enforcement measures against the debtor's assets are suspended by law, and the creditor must file a claim in the insolvency instead (Law 85/2014 art. 75(1)). See when a Romanian debtor becomes insolvent.
• No assets. Enforcement is a poor fit where the debtor has no visible assets or all valuable assets carry prior mortgages. For all routes, see our debt recovery guide for foreign creditors and our debt collection page.

Costs

The creditor advances the cost of each step it requests and the debtor ultimately bears enforcement costs (CPC art. 670(1) and (2)); see court fees and costs in Romania.

Documents a foreign creditor should prepare

• The enforceable title in original or certified copy, with proof that it is enforceable.
• A certified translation by an authorised translator of any document not in Romanian, with an apostille or legalisation for foreign public documents.
• A Romanian power of attorney (împuternicire avocațială) for the lawyer, based on a written legal assistance contract, with proof of the signatories' authority to represent your company.
• The debtor's name, registered office, registration number and any known accounts, customers and properties.

When to take advice

If you hold a title against a Romanian debtor, or expect to obtain one, it is worth planning enforcement before the judgment is final.

In a first e-mail, send us the judgment or other title, the contract, the invoices and the correspondence, the debtor's name and registration number, any clause on courts or arbitration, and anything you know about the debtor's banks, customers or property. Fees are agreed in writing before work starts.

This article is general information on Romanian law as at 2 November 2026, not advice for a specific case. To discuss your matter, write to us at