A forfeit is a way to ensure the fulfillment of an obligation, as well as a measure of responsibility for its non-fulfillment, improper fulfillment. The grounds for application, types of forfeit are determined by the current civil legislation.
A forfeit is the amount of money specified in the law, civil contract, which one party to the obligation must pay to the other party, subject to the violation of this obligation (its untimely performance). The penalty acts as a way to ensure the fulfillment of obligations by participants in civil turnover, since it is the likelihood of bringing to this responsibility that prompts the counterparties to fulfill their obligations in a timely manner, in full. The incurrence of certain losses by the recipient of the forfeit does not matter for its payment, therefore, the interested counterparty is not obliged to prove the existence of these losses.
Types of forfeit
The main classification assumes the existence of two types of forfeit: legal and contractual. The legal penalty is determined by any regulatory legal act, and the contractual penalty is fixed in the agreement of the parties. An example of a legal penalty is the provision of Article 395 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The amount and conditions for the application of the contractual penalty are determined by the counterparties independently. In addition, the penalty can be expressed in the form of a fine or a penalty interest. A penalty usually involves the payment of a certain fixed amount, which can be expressed as a percentage of the principal liability, or simply as a predetermined amount. Penalties imply the accrual of a certain percentage for each day of delay made by the counterparty, although the maximum amount of forfeit in this case may also be limited by the parties to the contract.
Grounds for the application of a penalty
The basis for the application of a forfeit is a violation of an obligation, which is most often expressed in a delay in its performance. In this case, a prerequisite is the existence of the liability of the debtor for such a violation, since in the absence of this liability, the penalty cannot be collected. The documentary basis for the application of a legal penalty is a normative legal act, which provides for its recovery. If we are talking about a contractual penalty, then the written agreement of the parties acts as a documentary basis, since on the basis of an oral agreement, the penalty is not paid, which is enshrined in civil law.
