Art. 2644 Conversion to ordinary proceeding

If you're the person suing to collect on a mortgage or secured debt, you have a choice about how to move forward. If you started your case as an executory proceeding (a faster, more streamlined way to seize and sell property when someone defaults on a loan), you can switch it into a regular lawsuit instead. To do this, you simply amend your petition to ask the court to formally notify the defendant and issue a judgment against them for the debt itself, not just an order to sell the property.

However, this switch only works in one direction. If you started your case as a regular lawsuit (an ordinary proceeding), you cannot later convert it into the faster executory process. Once you choose the ordinary route, you're committed to it.

In practical terms, this gives plaintiffs some flexibility if they realize the executory process isn't working out or if complications arise with the property or the debt. But it also means you need to think carefully about which type of proceeding to file at the start, since you can't go back and use the quicker method once you've chosen the standard lawsuit path.