Debt Collection Agency in the Dominican Republic - No Win, No Fee
Recover unpaid invoices in the Dominican Republic through a licensed collection partner. No win, no fee. Track your case online from first contact to payment.
Get free expert advice
Response from a specialist within 24 hours.
Why Choose Debitura for Debt Collection in the Dominican Republic
Fast, simple and risk-free debt collection in the Dominican Republic
Debitura connects you with a licensed collection partner for the Dominican Republic. ACCS International, founded in 2000 and a member of EOS Global Collection, the International Association of Commercial Collectors and the Federation of European National Collection Associations, handles the regulated collection work under Debitura's platform and No Cure, No Pay terms.
- Risk-free: you pay nothing unless the debt is recovered.
- Quick setup: submit your claim online in minutes.
- Real-time tracking: follow every step of the case in your dashboard.
- Dedicated expertise: a licensed partner manages the case from first contact to resolution.
Getting started with debt collection in the Dominican Republic
Getting started takes minutes. Create a free Debitura account, upload your claim details and supporting documents, and review the success fee before you confirm. Your case is then assigned to ACCS International, the licensed partner handling collection in the Dominican Republic, and the amicable phase begins.
- Sign up and submit your claim through the Debitura dashboard.
- Confirm the success fee, only payable if the debt is recovered.
- Track amicable contact, payment demands and any instalment offers in real time.
- If the debtor does not pay, review a fixed-price quote before any court action, you decide whether to proceed.
Transparent, success-based pricing
With Debitura you only pay when we succeed. Pre-legal collection is No Cure, No Pay: a success fee deducted from recovered amounts, invoiced locally by your partner. Fees depend on the debtor's country, not yours.
- Debtors in Europe (EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, the UK and Switzerland): success fees from 6% depending on claim size.
- Debtors in the rest of the world: success fees from 7.5% depending on claim size.
- Older claims: a surcharge applies for claims 12–24 months overdue and for claims older than 24 months.
- Legal action is optional: you approve fixed-price quotes before any legal spend.
See the pricing page for the full fee schedule, or get an instant estimate when you upload a claim.
How does debt collection work in the Dominican Republic?
Debt collection in the Dominican Republic starts with an amicable phase handled by ACCS International, Debitura's licensed collection partner for the country. The partner sends payment reminders and a formal demand, aiming for full payment or a written instalment plan, most straightforward claims are resolved at this stage. If the debtor still does not pay, escalation to the Dominican courts is a separate step you approve, never automatic.
- Submit your claim in 2 minutes
- Collection action begins
- No Cure, No Pay: pay only if we recover
- You stay in control
- Get paid
The four steps from unpaid invoice to recovered cash
- Step 1 - Amicable collection: reminders and a formal payment demand, handled by a licensed partner. Most undisputed claims are resolved here, without going to court.
- Step 2 - Enforceable title: if the debtor still does not pay, your partner assesses the legal route to obtain an enforceable title, you approve a fixed-price quote before anything proceeds.
- Step 3 - Enforcement: with an enforceable title, the competent enforcement authority can seize assets, bank funds and other property until the claim is recovered.
- Step 4 - Insolvency: if the debtor turns out to be insolvent, your claim is filed and any distribution to creditors is monitored on your behalf.
Every step is tracked in your dashboard, and nothing escalates without your approval. The full legal detail for the Dominican Republic, timelines, costs, courts and enforcement, follows in the guide below.
Debt collection in the Dominican Republic - the complete 2026 guide
This guide explains how debt collection in the Dominican Republic works for creditors and finance teams recovering unpaid invoices, covering the amicable phase, the courts, enforcement and insolvency.
On this page:
Why you can trust this guide
At Debitura, we uphold the highest standards of impartiality and precision to bring you comprehensive guides on international debt collection. Every guide is written from primary legal sources and reviewed by licensed local experts in the jurisdiction it covers.
Questions or feedback? Email us at contact@debitura.com , we update this guide based on your input.
Debitura By the Numbers:
- 767 licensed partners - collection agencies and law firms in our network
- 180 countries covered - with cases handled in 174 of them
- 5,306 businesses registered with Debitura
- 33 days median time to first payment on European cases
Expert-led, locally validated
Written by Lars Holdgaard, Founder of Debitura (+10 years in global B2B debt recovery). Every page is reviewed by top local attorneys to ensure legal accuracy and practical steps you can use.
Contributing local experts:
Last updated:
Debt collection in the Dominican Republic - quick answers
How much does debt collection cost in the Dominican Republic?
Debitura's fee for debt collection in the Dominican Republic is success-based only, No Cure, No Pay, so there is no upfront cost, the exact schedule is set out in the fees section further down this guide. If a claim escalates to court, the creditor pays the court's filing fee up front, but under Dominican civil procedure the losing party typically bears costs and the winning party's attorney may seek payment directly (a rule known as distracción de costas, or the direct award of costs to counsel), so a well-founded claim can recover part of its legal spend. Statutory late-payment interest, where a court has set one, and recoverable costs are covered next.
How long does debt collection take in the Dominican Republic?
Amicable collection in the Dominican Republic typically resolves within a few months once a formal payment demand reaches the debtor. If the debtor still does not pay and the claim escalates, a case before a Juzgado de Paz (justice-of-the-peace court) moves faster than one before a Juzgado de Primera Instancia (court of first instance), and either route can extend past a year once appeals to a Corte de Apelación (Court of Appeal) or the Suprema Corte de Justicia (Supreme Court of Justice, cassation only) are involved. Provisional execution of a judgment, where the court allows it, can let you begin enforcement even before an appeal is decided (Ley 834, arts. 120 and 123-129), shortening the practical wait.
How long do I have to collect a debt in the Dominican Republic?
An ordinary contractual money debt is time-barred after 2 years from the date the claim arises (Código Civil, art. 2273, second paragraph), the Dominican Supreme Court confirmed this exact period for a debt claim in its 2023 decision SCJ-TS-23-0642, applying it instead of the Civil Code's general 20-year residual rule for personal and real actions (art. 2262). The clock resets on a judicial citation, a formal payment demand (mandamiento de pago) or a seizure notified to the debtor (art. 2244), or on the debtor's own acknowledgement of the debt (art. 2248).
| Claim type | Limitation period |
|---|---|
| Ordinary contractual money debt | 2 years (Código Civil, art. 2273) |
| Interest on loans, rent or instalments | 3 years (art. 2277) |
| General or residual civil action | 20 years (art. 2262) |
What interest can I add to a debt in the Dominican Republic?
The Dominican Republic has no fixed statutory interest rate for late payment today: the 1919 executive order that once fixed a 1 percent legal rate was repealed in 2002 (Código Monetario y Financiero, Ley 183-02, arts. 90-91), and the Supreme Court confirmed in 2023 (SCJ-SR-23-00030) that where the parties have not agreed a rate, a judge must fix a case-by-case interés judicial (judicial interest) as objectively and reasonably as possible, under Código Civil art. 1153. Agreeing an interest rate in the underlying contract remains the most reliable way to secure a specific figure.
What documents do I need to collect a debt in the Dominican Republic?
You need the underlying contract or invoice, proof of delivery or performance, any written correspondence showing the debt is acknowledged or disputed, and a copy of any payment demand already sent, since a mandamiento de pago is also what interrupts the limitation clock under art. 2244. Clear documentation speeds up both the amicable phase and, if needed, a court filing.
When should I escalate to court in the Dominican Republic?
Escalate once the amicable phase stalls, and while the 2-year limitation period is still running. A Juzgado de Paz hears purely personal or movable claims up to RD$3,000 in single instance, with no appeal, and up to RD$20,000 with a right of appeal, filing at a Juzgado de Paz is faster and cheaper within that threshold, while a Juzgado de Primera Instancia handles larger or contested claims and requires legal representation. Filing before the limitation period expires preserves the option of a lawsuit even if you continue amicable contact in parallel.
Who does what in the Dominican Republic debt collection?
Collection agencies
A licensed collection partner such as ACCS International handles the amicable phase: skip tracing, payment reminders and negotiation with the debtor. The Dominican Republic has no dedicated debt-collection-conduct statute or collector-licensing regime, so a partner's conduct is instead bound by Ley 358-05 (the General Law on Consumer Protection), which requires honest commercial practice (art. 98(b)) and bans coercion, intimidation or pressure that limits a debtor's free decision (art. 105(e)(8) and (f)(3)). An agency cannot itself seize assets or file suit, only a court and its enforcement officers can do that.
The courts
Civil claims run through a four-tier hierarchy: the Juzgado de Paz (justice-of-the-peace court, 213 nationally, single judge) for smaller claims, the Juzgado de Primera Instancia (court of first instance, with a Cámara Civil y Comercial, or Civil and Commercial Chamber, in larger districts) for general claims, the Corte de Apelación (Court of Appeal, 11 nationally, 5-judge panels) on appeal, and the Suprema Corte de Justicia (Supreme Court of Justice) as a final cassation court only, it does not re-try the facts.
Alguaciles (bailiffs)
Once a court has issued an enforceable title, an alguacil (a judicial process officer and bailiff) carries out enforcement: notifying the embargo (seizure or garnishment) to the debtor or to a third party such as a bank, and, where movable or immovable property is seized, organising its sale. Alguaciles act only on the strength of a valid title, they are not engaged during the amicable phase.
Lawyers
Legal representation becomes necessary once a claim reaches a Juzgado de Primera Instancia or higher, since ordinary proceedings there require a lawyer to prepare pleadings and appear in court. Debitura provides fixed-price quotes from local counsel before any legal step, so you approve the cost before it is incurred.
Which laws and courts apply to debt collection in the Dominican Republic?
The civil court system
The Dominican Republic runs a four-tier civil court hierarchy. The Juzgado de Paz (justice-of-the-peace court, 213 nationally, a single judge) hears purely personal or movable-property claims up to RD$3,000 in single instance, final, and up to RD$20,000 with a right of appeal. The Juzgado de Primera Instancia (court of first instance) holds general, unlimited first-instance civil and commercial jurisdiction, organised into chambers including a Cámara Civil y Comercial (Civil and Commercial Chamber) in larger judicial districts. Eleven Cortes de Apelación (Courts of Appeal) sit as 5-judge panels and hear civil and commercial appeals, and the Suprema Corte de Justicia (Supreme Court of Justice) sits at the top as a cassation court, reviewing points of law only. A 2022 bill proposed raising the Juzgado de Paz thresholds to RD$50,000 and RD$200,000, but the Judiciary's own current published thresholds remain RD$3,000 and RD$20,000.
Key legislation
Civil debt claims are governed by the Código Civil de la República Dominicana (the Dominican Civil Code), a French-derived code originally adopted in 1884 and amended since, most notably by Ley 585 of 1941 on prescription. Procedure runs under the Código de Procedimiento Civil (Code of Civil Procedure), which stems from the original 1884 Decreto núm. 2214 as amended, including by Ley 834 of 1978 (which brought in modern French civil-procedure reforms, such as the rules on provisional execution of judgments) and Ley 38-98 of 1998 (which amended the court's monetary thresholds). Insolvency runs under Ley 141-15 (the 2015 Law on the Restructuring and Liquidation of Companies and Commercial Natural Persons).
Consumer and data protection
The Dominican Republic has no dedicated debt-collection-conduct statute. Ley 358-05 (the General Law on the Protection of Consumer or User Rights) applies instead: it requires honest, equitable commercial practice (art. 98(b)) and prohibits coercion, intimidation, threats or any pressure that limits a consumer's free decision, including reprisals against a consumer who pursues a complaint (art. 105(e)(8) and (f)(3)). For regulated banks and financial intermediaries specifically, the Junta Monetaria's 2024 Reglamento de Protección al Usuario (User Protection Regulation) restricts unsolicited marketing communications, but this rule targets sales and marketing contact, not debt-collection conduct, and does not extend to independent collection agencies.
Step 1 - How does amicable (pre-legal) debt collection work in the Dominican Republic?
Amicable, or pre-legal, debt collection in the Dominican Republic starts as soon as a claim is submitted: ACCS International, Debitura's licensed partner for the country, verifies the debtor's details and contacts them directly to seek payment before any court is involved. Most straightforward, undisputed claims are resolved at this stage. Debitura's own case data shows amicable collection resolving in an average of 2.3 months across markets, within a 6-month exclusive placement period, though timing in the Dominican Republic depends on how quickly the debtor responds.
| Action | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Skip tracing and verification | Confirm the debtor's identity, address and ability to pay |
| Payment reminders | Written and phone contact seeking voluntary payment |
| Formal payment demand (mandamiento de pago) | A demand notified to the debtor, this also resets the 2-year limitation clock under Código Civil art. 2244 |
| Instalment negotiation | A written payment plan where the debtor cannot pay in full at once |
When to escalate
Escalation to the Dominican courts is a separate step you approve, never automatic. Consider it once the debtor stops responding, breaks a promised instalment, or the 2-year limitation period for the claim (Código Civil art. 2273) is approaching, since filing a lawsuit, like a formal payment demand, interrupts that clock. This limitation and interruption regime applies the same whether the debtor is a business or a consumer, the Civil Code and Ley 358-05 do not set a different period for consumer debts. There is no dedicated debt-collection-conduct statute in the Dominican Republic, so amicable contact is bound by Ley 358-05's ban on coercion, intimidation and undue pressure (art. 105(e)(8) and (f)(3)) rather than a specific collection-practices code.
Step 2 - How do you obtain an enforceable title in the Dominican Republic?
To obtain an enforceable title in the Dominican Republic, a creditor files suit before the competent court, based on the claim's value and nature. A Juzgado de Paz (justice-of-the-peace court) hears purely personal or movable claims up to RD$3,000 in a single instance with no appeal, and up to RD$20,000 with a right of appeal, this route is faster and simpler than an ordinary claim. Larger or disputed claims go to a Juzgado de Primera Instancia (court of first instance), where ordinary proceedings apply: legal representation is required, and the court examines the evidence and legal arguments in full before issuing a judgment.
Provisional execution
Ley 834 of 1978 (art. 120 and arts. 123-129) lets a court order provisional, immediate execution of its judgment before an appeal is decided, except where execution is already a matter of right. A court may grant the debtor a grace period before enforcement, but never where the debtor's assets are already at risk, and a grace period never blocks conservatory measures that protect the creditor's position. Provisional execution can be made conditional on the debtor posting security.
More on court proceedings in the Dominican Republic
Appeals from a Juzgado de Primera Instancia go to the Corte de Apelación (Court of Appeal) covering the district, 11 sit nationally as 5-judge panels, 8 divided into subject-matter chambers including a Cámara Civil y Comercial (Civil and Commercial Chamber) and 3 holding broader jurisdiction over civil, labour and children's-court matters. A further appeal on points of law only goes to the Suprema Corte de Justicia (Supreme Court of Justice), which does not re-examine the facts. A companion reform, Ley 845 of 1978, shortened the deadlines for filing an appeal or an opposition, keeping ordinary civil litigation from stretching indefinitely. As a general rule of Dominican procedure, the losing party bears the costs, and the winning party's attorney may seek a direct award of costs (distracción de costas).
Step 3 - How does debt enforcement work in the Dominican Republic?
Once a court has issued an enforceable title in the Dominican Republic, enforcement is carried out by an alguacil (a judicial process officer and bailiff), not by the collection partner itself. The alguacil executes an embargo (seizure or garnishment) against the debtor's assets to satisfy the judgment, following the enforceable title obtained under Step 2.
Ways to enforce
- Embargo ejecutivo (executive seizure): seizure of the debtor's movable property, an alguacil typically notifies a payment demand to the debtor before seizing goods.
- Embargo retentivo (garnishment): the alguacil notifies a third party, such as the debtor's bank, to hold funds or assets owed to the debtor pending the court's decision.
- Real estate embargo: seizure of immovable property, subject to its own notification and registration steps before any sale.
Certain assets, including salary and pension accounts, are generally protected from seizure, with limited exceptions such as alimony obligations. Seized movable or immovable property is typically sold at public auction, with the proceeds applied to the judgment debt. Before an embargo proceeds, the alguacil typically issues a payment demand giving the debtor a short final opportunity to pay voluntarily, avoiding the cost and delay of a public auction.
The enforcement authority
Alguaciles are the Dominican Republic's enforcement officers, this office is well established in Dominican law, referenced independently in the Civil Code's own provisions on their fees for the acts they notify and the commissions they carry out (art. 2272). An alguacil acts only once a valid, enforceable title exists, they do not enforce during the amicable phase. Engaging a lawyer to prepare and oversee the embargo filing is standard practice, since Dominican enforcement procedure requires strict adherence to notification and registration formalities.
Step 4 - How do insolvency procedures affect debt recovery in the Dominican Republic?
Insolvency in the Dominican Republic runs under Ley 141-15 (the 2015 Law on the Restructuring and Liquidation of Companies and Commercial Natural Persons), which covers comerciantes, meaning companies and natural-person merchants, domiciled or with a permanent presence in the country. It excludes state-controlled companies, regulated financial intermediaries and securities-market participants, which have their own regimes. The law aims primarily to protect creditors against a debtor's financial difficulty by offering two tracks: a court-supervised restructuring that keeps the business operating under a repayment plan, or judicial liquidation where restructuring is not viable (art. 1).
When restructuring can be triggered
Under art. 29, grounds for a restructuring petition include non-payment of a due, liquid and demanded obligation for more than 90 days, current liabilities exceeding current assets for more than 6 months, 6 or more missed tax-withholding periods, 2 or more consecutive missed payroll payments, concealment or abandonment of management suggesting fraud, or an existing foreign insolvency proceeding against the debtor's parent company, itself one of the grounds that can open a Dominican case. A creditor may petition for the debtor's restructuring only where its claim totals at least 50 minimum wages (salarios mínimos) and one of these grounds exists (art. 33).
Creditor priority
Ley 141-15 (art. 5(viii)) classifies claims into three tiers for recognition and priority: privilegiados o garantizados (preferred or secured claims), quirografarios (ordinary unsecured claims), and subordinados (subordinated claims). Filing your proof of claim promptly and in the correct tier protects your position in any distribution.
What happens if the debtor cannot pay
If the debtor's assets are insufficient, the proceeding closes as a judicial liquidation. Under art. 191, closure for insufficiency of assets bars creditors from pursuing the debtor personally afterwards, except for claims arising from a criminal conviction unrelated to the debtor's professional activity or from tax fraud (for the tax authority's benefit only), and except for rights personal to the creditor. A guarantor or co-obligor who has already paid on the debtor's behalf may still pursue the debtor directly, and creditors regain the right to pursue the debtor individually if fraud against them, personal bankruptcy or a management ban is later established.
Fees, interest and who pays what in the Dominican Republic
- Our fee: success-based, No Cure, No Pay (see pricing).
- Court and enforcement fees: state filing fees apply only if the case escalates to legal action. No official Dominican court fee schedule was located for this guide, so your partner confirms the exact filing fee and any alguacil (bailiff) enforcement costs before you approve a legal step.
- Statutory debtor items: the Dominican Republic has no fixed statutory interest rate today, a court sets a case-by-case interés judicial (judicial interest) under Código Civil art. 1153 when the parties have not agreed a rate, and interest on loans, rent or instalments is itself time-barred after 3 years (art. 2277). Recoverable costs generally follow a loser-pays rule under Dominican civil procedure, and the winning party's attorney may seek a direct award of costs (distracción de costas) rather than routing that payment through the client.
- Who keeps what: recovered principal is yours, statutory interest and recoverable costs follow the rules above and are shared with the debtor's payment where the law allows.
Cross-border debt collection in the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic acceded to the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards on 11 April 2002, in force since 10 July 2002, with no reservations, so a foreign arbitral award can be recognised and enforced in the country without a reciprocity requirement.
Recognition of a foreign COURT judgment, as opposed to an arbitral award, rests on Ley 834 of 1978 (art. 122), which states that foreign judgments are enforceable in Dominican territory "in the manner and in the cases provided by law", a framework provision rather than a fixed checklist. In practice, a creditor seeks an exequátur (a Dominican court's authorisation to enforce a foreign judgment), and Dominican courts examine matters such as the foreign court's jurisdiction, whether the debtor was properly notified, whether the judgment is final, and whether enforcement would conflict with Dominican public policy.
The Dominican Republic is a party to DR-CAFTA (the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement), but that treaty is a trade and economic-integration instrument, it does not itself provide a mechanism for recognising foreign civil judgments.
Find a Local Debt Collection Lawyer
Need court-ready representation? Share your case once and receive up to three proposals from vetted litigation attorneys. Free, fast, and with no commitment.
- Verified specialists
- Quotes in 24 h, no hidden fees
- Fair, pre-negotiated rates
Dlmgrupolegal is a premier law firm in Santo Domingo offering effective Debt Collection services in the Dominican Republic, positioning itself as the go-to partner for debt recovery with over 15 years of experience and a reputation for personalized service.
.webp)
.png)
.png)
Frequently Asked Questions
Explore our most common FAQs below, or reach out directly at contact@debitura.com if you need help with a specific case.
.svg){kind=icon}
.png)
.png)
.svg)
.svg)
