Debts that no longer fit your salary have a way out under the law

PRACTICAL GUIDE

How to prepare for debt renegotiation

A renegotiation request works best when it reaches the judge or Procon with clear numbers. People who understand the amount the law protects, know how to list their creditors and are aware of the consequences of each stage have a better chance of building a plan that holds up to the end.

The amount the law requires to be preserved

The existential minimum is regulated by Decree 11.150/2022. As amended by Decree 11.567/2023, the existential minimum corresponds to a monthly income of R$ 600.00. The calculation is done month by month, comparing the consumer's total income with the debt installments due that month.

In April 2026, the STF (Brazil's Supreme Federal Court) concluded the judgment of ADPFs 1005, 1006 and 1097. The amount of R$ 600.00 was maintained, but the Court ordered the National Monetary Council to review this parameter every year, based on technical studies. By majority, the STF also held that payroll loan installments cannot compromise the existential minimum. For retirees and public servants with payroll loans, this change alters the calculation of how much is really left.

How to build the list of creditors

A common mistake is forgetting creditors. Anyone left off the list does not take part in the conciliation. So you do not depend only on memory, check the Loans and Financing report (SCR) in Registrato, the Central Bank system accessed with a silver or gold gov.br account. It shows the debts registered in your name at financial institutions. Also gather:

• contracts, credit card statements and store credit booklets;
• pay slips or benefit statements from recent months;
• receipts for basic expenses, such as rent, water, electricity, medicine and food;
• settlement offers you have already received, even those you turned down.

What happens at each stage

At the conciliation hearing, all creditors are called. A creditor who misses it without justification has its collection suspended and late-payment charges interrupted, and becomes compulsorily subject to the plan, provided the amount owed to it is certain and known. It is only paid after the creditors who attended (art. 104-A, § 2, of the Consumer Protection Code).

If there is an agreement, the judgment approving it describes the plan and is enforceable (art. 104-A, § 3). The plan may provide longer terms, reduced charges, suspension of pending lawsuits and the date on which your name is removed from credit blacklists (art. 104-A, § 4).

If there is no agreement with a creditor, the consumer can ask for a compulsory court plan. Under it, the creditor receives at least the adjusted principal. The first installment is due within 180 days of court approval and the rest is paid in equal monthly installments, with full payment within at most 5 years after the consensual plan (art. 104-B, § 4).

The conciliation stage can also take place at consumer protection bodies such as Procon, which may hold a global hearing with all creditors (art. 104-C, § 1).

Precautions during and after the plan

The effects of the plan depend on the consumer avoiding conduct that worsens the over-indebtedness (art. 104-A, § 4, IV). Taking new credit in the middle of the plan can undermine everything. The request is not a declaration of civil insolvency, but it can only be repeated 2 years after the previous plan is paid off (art. 104-A, § 5).

It is also worth knowing that deducting an ordinary loan directly from a checking account, even the account that receives the salary, is lawful while the client's authorization lasts, and the legal limit for payroll loans does not apply to it (STJ, Topic 1085). These debts are also included in the plan.

A hypothetical example

A teacher takes home R$ 4,000.00 and has a payroll loan, two credit cards and an overdraft. Her October installments add up to R$ 3,700.00, leaving R$ 300.00 for the whole month, below the R$ 600.00 existential minimum. With the list of creditors taken from Registrato and receipts for basic expenses, she presents a proposal that reduces the installments and respects that limit. One of the banks misses the hearing without justification: its collection is suspended and it is paid after the others.