November 2025

Decision of the Single-Member Court of First Instance on the Limitation of Claims Arising from a Loan Agreement

Most recently, Judgment No. 12259/2025 of the Single-Member Court of First Instance of Athens (formerly the Justice of the Peace of Athens – ordinary procedure) was issued, which upheld our action against a well-known credit institution under special liquidation and granted our request for a declaratory ruling that its claim arising from a consumer loan agreement has become time-barred.

More specifically, in 2009 a consumer loan agreement was concluded between the deceased father (the deceased) of our client (the heir) and the said credit institution under special liquidation. The initial duration of the loan was set at ten years, providing for repayment in 120 consecutive monthly instalments of principal and interest, while additional deeds were subsequently executed amending the term relating to the loan’s repayment duration. Nevertheless, although the above consumer loan agreement was never serviced either by the deceased or by our client (the heir), the credit institution under special liquidation never terminated the agreement. As a result, the individual instalments retained their autonomous character and became subject to the five-year limitation period provided in Article 250(15) of the Greek Civil Code. Pursuant to Article 250(15) of the Civil Code, “claims for interest, amortisation instalments and dividends become time-barred after five years.” This provision constitutes an exception to the general twenty-year limitation period set by Article 249 of the Civil Code and serves the broader interest of ensuring the swift settlement of recurring claims that arise frequently in everyday commercial transactions, thereby preventing the perpetuation of related litigation.

On the basis of these factual and legal arguments, the Court held that one hundred and thirty-two (132) instalments of principal and interest agreed under the consumer loan agreement, as subsequently amended, had become time-barred and that the plaintiffs therefore do not owe the defendant the total amount of the said instalments or the interest corresponding to them. Furthermore, the Court awarded our client’s legal costs against the said credit institution under special liquidation.