Put Leonardo Neri and Barbara Oliveira  – 16/04/2020

Rapporteur Roberto Mac Cracken, of the 22nd Private Law Chamber of the Court of Justice of São Paulo, granted, this Wednesday, April 15, the request for preliminary injunction in the instrument appeal no. 2067269-27.2020.8.26.0000, filed by a retail chain of baby items, ordering the suspension of the collection of bank loan installments, in addition to interest, fines and other late payment charges, for a period of 60 days.

It was also determined that the guarantee of credit and debit card receivables would be released for the same period as the suspension of collection, with the other guarantees being maintained.

The retail chain claims that its stores have been closed since March 18, resulting in a drop of R$821,000 in revenue and maintenance of fixed expenses, which would have resulted in a negative bank balance of more than R$2 million. Given the impossibility of paying the loan installments of more than R$300,000, they requested a suspension of charges for 90 days.

The decision was based on the notorious exceptionality of the current situation experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the suspension of the activities of certain business corporations through State Decree No. 64,881/2020. For the Rapporteur, “there is, at least in theory, without going into the issue of merit, a circumstance capable of generating a risk of serious damage, difficult or impossible to repair, due to the characterization of excessive burden”.

It is worth noting that for individuals and micro and small companies, the banks Bradesco, Banco do Brasil, Caixa Econômica Federal, Itaú and Santander had already granted an extension of loan and financing debts for 60 days.

This was the first decision to address the issue in the Court of Justice of São Paulo and should set precedents for future lawsuits.