Debt
How to negotiate overdue debts?
Know what you can pay before calling, ask for a discount and time, compare offers, never accept an installment that doesn't fit, get it in writing.
Calling the creditor gives you butterflies. It feels like you'll be judged, pressured, humiliated. But negotiating is your right, and whoever comes to the conversation prepared leaves with a much better agreement.
What to do now
- Before calling, know how much you can pay. Add up your income, subtract essential expenses and see what is truly left. That number is your limit. Don't negotiate without it.
- Start with the debts that grow fastest or threaten most. Revolving credit card balances and overdrafts grow fast. Rent, water, electricity and secured debts (house, car) can cost you your roof or your means of work. Prioritize.
- Use official channels. The creditor's own website or app, Serasa Limpa Nome (which holds discount drives throughout the year), consumidor.gov.br and your city's Procon. The federal Novo Desenrola Brasil program, from 2026, has had its deadlines extended more than once: check at gov.br/fazenda whether it is open and whether your debt qualifies.
- Ask for three things: a discount, time and a grace period. Old debts often come with big discounts for paying in full. If you can't pay in full, ask for smaller installments and a month's breathing room before the first one. Ask what the agreement's total effective cost is.
- Compare before closing. Sometimes the same debt shows up with different offers on different channels. Don't close on the first call if the offer doesn't fit; ask to get back to them later.
- Demand the agreement in writing. Amount, number of installments, dates, and that your name will be removed from the delinquent-debtor lists after payment (the creditor has up to five business days after payment, under Precedent 548 of the Superior Court of Justice, STJ). Keep receipts for everything.
- Don't pay unknown middlemen to "clear your name." Scams with fake negotiators are common. Always confirm the channel on the creditor's official website.
- If no negotiation fits, turn to the Over-Indebtedness Law. Law 14,181/2021 allows a conciliation with all your creditors together, at Procon, the Public Defender's Office or in court.
When it happened to Bairo
Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez learned to negotiate in the worst possible scenario: with the business collapsing and many people depending on him. At that moment, he says, there was an easy reaction at hand: complaining about the partner, the system, the country, bad luck.
He chose something else. He sat down, faced the size of the problem and decided to do what he didn't yet know how to do. Years later, when, according to him, the banks refused to integrate the solution he had built for agribusiness, the lesson repeated itself: instead of arguing with the "no," he used the "no" as ground and went to build the road another way.
The path
Negotiating is not begging. It is talking with someone who also wants to resolve things, knowing your limit and unashamed to say it. Bairo learned that the other side's "no" is rarely the end; it is almost always the start of the real conversation. Prepare your numbers, take a deep breath and make the call.
After closing an agreement, treat it as a budget priority. Paying the first installment on time rebuilds the creditor's trust and makes room to negotiate your other debts more calmly. If something goes wrong along the way, give notice before falling behind and propose an adjustment. A surprised creditor hardens; a creditor who was warned usually negotiates.