In Japan, only lawyers are allowed to recover debts on behalf of a third party. Exceptionally, debt collection companies that have obtained a license from the authority are allowed to collect certain types of debts such as loan claims held by financial institutions[1]. Therefore, business debts such as sales proceeds can only be collected by lawyers like us.

Debt recovery requires not only legal skills but also practical skills such as gathering information about the debtor. For example, depending on the debtor’s financial strength, it is often advisable to compromise and reach a settlement or payment plan from a cost-benefit point of view.

We feature our debt recovery service on a separate page: Debt Collection in Japan[2](click the button at the bottom).

Note:

[1] The Act on Special Measures Concerning Claim Management and Collection Businesses (Act No. 126 of 1998)

[2] While there seems to be a subtle difference between debt recovery and debt collection as a matter of terminology, we use them exchangeably for convenience.

Debt recovery law and practice

For any queries about our debt recovery service, please complete our Debt Collection form or contact us at +81 (0)92 287 4640.