enforcement

Question 1

1) Giving notice to the judgement debtor of enforcement

Answer 1

EO will give the judgement debtor advance notice of 7 clear days before taking control of the goods – EO has 12 months from the date of the notice to take control of the goods

Question 2

2) Entering premises and securing the goods

Answer 2

2 options:
1- EO may use reasonable force to enter the premises, if necessary (but not against persons), and secure the goods by removing them – EO must give notice after entry to the judgement debtor about what happened

2- EO can enter into a controlled goods agreement with the judgement debtor whereby the debtor can retain custody and use of the goods pending the debtor’s payment of the debt (last chance to pay)

Question 3

3) Sale of the goods

Answer 3

Unless debtor now makes payment, the goods must be sold by the EO for the best price that can be reasonably obtained, usually by public auction – any surplus funds are returned to the judgement debtor

Question 4

What is a third-party debt order?

Answer 4

Where the debtor is owed money in the jurisdiction, a creditor can apply to the court for an order which requires a third party to pay the creditor some or all of the debt owed to the debtor by the third party

Question 5

Interim order v Final order

Answer 5

An interim order can be made on a third party without making notice to the judgement debtor – this prevents the third party from making any payment to the judgement debtor until further order

• Then, the interim order will be served on the judgement debtor and will be followed by an ‘on notice’ hearing where the judgement debtor will be heard.
• The court will decide whether to make a final order requiring the third party to pay the debt to the judgement creditor directly or to discharge the interim order

Question 6

ways to secure property:

• Moveable assets
• Debts owed by other
• Real property
• Earnings
• The nature of the debtors assets is unclear

Answer 6

Moveable assets- TCG
Debts owed by other- third party debt order
Real property- charge the property
Earnings- attachment of earnings orders
The nature of the debtors assets is unclear-order to obtain information from the judgement debtor about its assets

Question 7

When can insolvency proceedings be issued against individuals/companies?

Answer 7

A petition for bankruptcy against an individual can be issued when The judgement debt against them is more than 5,000 GBP

A petition to wind up a company when … The judgement debt against them is more than 750 GBP

Question 8

Procedure for insolvency

Answer 8

1) The petition is issued and presented to the judgement debtor’s local court
2) Once the petition is issued, it is served on the judgement debtor
3) The court fixes a time for the hearing of the petition and the debtor will be notified of a date to attend a court hearing to decide whether a bankruptcy order or winding up order should be made against them
4) If they do not attend to oppose the petition at a hearing, the bankruptcy or winding up order will likely be made
5) The debtor’s assets will be distributed to their creditors according to the order of preference of types of creditors (e.g., employees, secured creditors, unsecured creditors, etc.). Note if the debtor has many creditors, your client will not be preferred to any other creditor and may end up at the end of the order of priority sharing assets pari passu with non-preferential creditors