Notice of Intention to Enforce a Judgment
If you’ve received a Notice of Intention to Enforce a Money Judgment or a Non-Money Judgment, there are a number of things you can do.
Notice of Intention to Enforce a Money Judgement
This means that someone has been awarded a court order to recover money from you. They are going to enforce the order through the Enforcement of Judgements Office (EJO).
You can:
- pay the amount on the attached notice in full to the person you owe it to within 10 days
- contact the person to find out if an arrangement can be reached to pay off the unpaid amount
You should not contact the Enforcement of Judgements office as they do not have the power to set up an arrangement or take payment at this stage.
What happens next
If you don’t do either of the above the person can ask the EJO to enforce the judgement they have obtained against you.
Once a case has been accepted for enforcement you will have to pay for the extra costs. This will involve:
- a custody warrant issuing against all your goods and assets putting them under the control of the EJO - this will mean that you can’t sell any of your belongings
- your name being placed on the Register of Judgements which may affect your credit rating and can be accessed by the public for up to 12 years
- various enforcement orders can be made which may impact on your assets and earnings - for example, seizure orders can be made to seize goods your earnings may be attached and money in your bank account may be taken - you will be summonsed to appear for examination and if you do not go a warrant for your arrest can be made to the police to arrest you and bring you before the office
Notice of Intention to Enforce a Non-Money Judgement
This means a creditor has been awarded a court order to recover land, property, or goods from you. They are intending to enforce the order through the Enforcement of Judgements Office.
You can:
- give the land, property, or goods named on the court order back to the creditor within 10 days and the matter will go no further
- contact the creditor to find out if a suitable arrangement can be reached - if an arrangement is made enforcement action can be put on hold
The following things may then happen. If the court order is for:
- repossession of your house, you can be evicted
- repossession of land, the land on the court order can be taken from you
- repossession of goods, the goods on the court order can be taken from you