Once you receive a judgment it is your responsibility to collect on it. Judgments are good for 10 years and can be renewed for an additional 10 years by court order so you might decide some level of enforcement is a good idea. There are several ways in which you can proceed to collect, including garnishment and seizure, depending on how much time, effort and money you want to put into it.
A Writ of Enforcement must be prepared and filed with the Court of King’s Bench and the Personal Property Registry (PPR) before collection of the debt may begin. This will cause the debt to show on the tenant’s credit rating and allow you to share in monies collected by other debtors by way of garnishment and/or seizure.
You can register a Writ against the tenant’s vehicle or land, garnishee their bank account or employment and/or seize assets.
It is important to note that:
- when you begin enforcement proceedings you are doing so on behalf of all creditors (anyone else who has filed a Writ of Enforcement against the tenant)
- any statutory claim, i.e. Workers Compensation Board, Maintenance Enforcement, etc. takes priority over your claim (regardless of when it was filed)
- the Writ must be renewed with PPR every 2 years
What can be seized?
Prior to commencing enforcement you want to look at the eligible assets your debtor has. You want to take everything into consideration and consider seizing items such as:
- Motor Vehicles
- Bank Accounts
- Public and Private Shares
- Patents
- Paintings
- Collectables
- Airplanes
- Jewelry
- ATV’s/Motorcycles
- Musical Equipment
- Land/Real Estate
