A key ruling by the Neuquén Court of Appeals in Civil, Commercial, Labor and Mining matters determined that banks cannot include credit card debts within a current account debt certificate to execute them directly. According to the Argentine News Agency (NA) through a report from Microjuris, the judicial decision (case "Banco Credicoop c/ Cobian") is based on the fact that allowing this maneuver would "violate the protective public order established by the credit card law." The court rejected the executive lawsuit initiated by the bank, maintaining that the prohibition applies even if the current account is "operational" (i.e., a normal account) and not just an account opened exclusively for the card. The judges explained that the Credit Card Law (LTC) is of public order and creates a consumer protection system (protected by the National Constitution and the Consumer Defense Law) that would be nullified if this enforcement route were permitted. The ruling, cited by Microjuris, highlights the key differences that protect the debtor: Interest: the LTC prohibits the capitalization of interest (interest on interest) and sets caps for punitive damages. Prescription: the executive action of the LTC prescribes in one year. Cause of the debt: the LTC process allows for discussing the "cause" of the debt. The court also rejected the bank's request to partially execute the debt (excluding the card). The judges determined that the title was entirely unenforceable, as it was not possible to determine the "clean" balance of the current account, since the bank had already capitalized interest on a balance that included the improper debits of the card.
