O consumidor superendividado e a proteção do mínimo existencial: análise da suficiência dos mecanismos de proteção previstos na Lei nº 14.181/2021

Abstract

This study investigates the over-indebted consumer and the protection of the existential minimum, focusing on the sufficiency of the protection mechanisms provided for in Law No. 14.181/2021 to ensure human dignity in consumer relations. It starts from the analysis that over-indebtedness is not limited to inadequate individual choices made by consumers, but is also caused by structural factors of consumption, such as credit expansion, aggressive advertising, consumer vulnerability, and informational asymmetry between suppliers and consumers. The general objective of the research is to verify whether the prevention and treatment instruments established by the Over-Indebtedness Law are sufficient to protect the existential minimum of the good-faith natural person consumer. To this end, the deductive method is used, through bibliographic and documentary review, with analysis of legal doctrine, legislation, scientific articles, and case law. The study examines the concept of overindebtedness, its relationship with consumer vulnerability and hypervulnerability, and the mechanisms of responsible credit, financial education, duty to inform, global conciliation hearing, and payment plan. It is found that Law No. 14,181/2021 represented a relevant advance by legally recognizing over-indebtedness and creating specific tools for the prevention and treatment of debts. However, it is concluded that the adopted tools are only partially sufficient, as they still face normative, practical, and jurisprudential limitations, especially regarding the concrete definition of the existential minimum, the scope of debts subject to renegotiation, creditor cooperation, and the institutional structure necessary to effectively protect consumers in a state of overindebtedness.