What Is a Writ of Seizure and Sale
Published on 29th March, 2019 by Benjamin Li Yong Le
A writ of seizure and sale allows a court bailiff to enter the Judgment Debtor's (loser in a lawsuit) premises, and to seize and sell his movable property. The Judgment Debtor will then have 7 days to settle all payment owed to the Judgment Creditor. If payment is not made, the Judgment Creditor may apply to proceed with an auction sale of the seized items and recover the money from the sale.
A writ of seizure and sale allows a court bailiff to enter the Judgment Debtor's (loser in a lawsuit) premises, and to seize and sell his movable property.
The court bailiff will try to enter during the first attempt. If nobody opens the door, the court baliff will paste a notice informing the Judgement Debtor of the first attempt.
Another date will then be scheduled. If the door is still locked during the 2nd attempt, a locksmith will be called to break the lock and the court bailiff will enter the premises and the Judgement Debtor will point out items of property he wants to seize and the court bailiff will paste a sticker on that item and an iventory will be made.
Common items seized are sofas, chairs, TV and anything of value in the premises.
Private property e.g. condos and landed property can be seized and auctioned off to pay judgement debts but HDB flats cannot be seized.
In the case of HDB flats, only the contents INSIDE the HDB flats can be seized and auctioned off.
The Judgment Debtor will then have 7 days to settle all payment owed to the Judgment Creditor.
If payment is not made, the Judgment Creditor may apply to proceed with an auction sale of the seized items and recover the money from the sale.
This option may be considered if the Judgment Creditor knows that the Judgment Debtor has physical assets of sufficient value that may be sold to recover the cost of enforcement, and pay the amount owed as stated in the court order.
There is no guarantee that a writ of seizure and sale will be successfully executed, and no guarantee that the amount owed and the expenses incurred during the execution process will be recovered.
