Paraná Court rules bank negligence does not interrupt debt prescription

The 4th Civil Chamber of the Court of Justice of Paraná has ruled that a search and seizure action dismissed due to a creditor's negligence does not interrupt the statute of limitations for debt collection.

The case involved Banco do Brasil, which filed a search and seizure action in 2011 regarding a vehicle contract from 2009. The litigation was terminated in 2015 without merit due to the bank's abandonment of the case. In 2025, the original defendant filed a new action seeking to recognize the prescription of the debt and the suspension of the vehicle lien.

While the bank argued for a ten-year or even twenty-year prescription period, the court upheld a five-year statute of limitations. This ruling prevents the financial institution from pursuing the debt after failing to manage the original legal proceedings effectively.