Enforcement attachment. What is that?

A bailiff seizes assets. That is common knowledge, but do you really know what it means and what the actual consequences are? For many people, it remains a vague or even frightening concept, while the legal reality is often more complex and nuanced than the stories circulating.

In a previous blog, we discussed a precautionary attachment: a measure to prevent assets from disappearing before a judgment is issued. Now we zoom in on an enforcement attachment, the step that follows when there is an enforceable title and the creditor actually wants to proceed with collection.

Those who want to but cannot pay

Legal proceedings are rarely useful here. They are expensive and only further increase the client’s debt burden. This group needs guidance rather than pressure. As a creditor, you achieve better results here by acting as a facilitator, for example with a feasible repayment plan or a referral to debt counseling.

Those who do not want to but can pay

For this category, legal proceedings are indeed the appropriate course of action. You must persuade this customer to pay the invoice after all, possibly through a forced sale or bank attachment. In practice, however, it appears that initiating attachment proceedings is often sufficient as a powerful means of pressure to secure payment.

Feasibility and procedures

The most commonly used technique is an enforcement attachment of movable property. For this, the bailiff requires an enforceable title. This is usually a ruling by a judge (judgment or decree), but it can also be a notarial or mortgage deed or a writ of execution. He must serve this title (read: officially hand it over) to the debtor, together with an order to comply with the decision. At least 24 hours later, the debtor’s goods can be seized.

In the official report on the enforcement attachment of movable property, the bailiff also sets a sale date. This is set at least one month in the future and is the day on which the seized goods go on sale. Before that date, the bailiff must leave a notice posted. Some will know this as ‘the yellow paper’, which serves as notification of the judicial sale. If payment is still not received after that date, the bailiff will effectively sell the goods.

Attachment from third parties

In the case of third-party attachment, the bailiff must once again possess an enforceable title, via service of process with an order. The bailiff places the attachment on the so-called third-party garnishee. This can be the employer in the case of wage garnishment, a benefits agency, or the financial institution in the case of bank attachment. After the attachment, the employer, benefits agency, or bank is obliged to transfer the funds to the bailiff.

In addition, a third-party declaration must be submitted. Subsequently, the bailiff will notify the debtor, the garnishee, of the attachment. In this way, the debtor is informed of it. Later, a counter-notification will also take place, in which the bailiff informs the third-party garnishee that he has notified the actual debtor of the attachment procedure.

The procedure for real estate attachment is highly technical and follows a specific course. Financial institutions usually apply it for very large claims.

Prevention is better than cure: The iCredit approach

Enforcement seizure is a drastic step that we prefer to avoid. It is technically complex, costly, and puts the relationship with the client under severe strain. At iCredit, we believe that smart, well-considered, and people-oriented debt management ensures that such extreme measures are usually unnecessary.

To keep your organization running, it is crucial that revenue flows in. If outstanding invoices continue to pile up, the financial health of your company is seriously jeopardized. When you choose outsourcing, we take care of the entire collection process from A to Z.

Do you have your own financial software? Then we are happy to delve into your tools. We analyze your processes, provide specific areas for improvement, and increase efficiency so that you receive outstanding invoices more smoothly. In the absence of an online program, we simply process your files in our system.

Would you like to outsource (part of) your portfolio? Would you prefer to build the collection process yourself? Do you only need a specific action, such as a call list? Whichever scenario you choose, we tailor our approach to collecting unpaid invoices to your organization: from communication to customer segmentation.

The bailiff is not permitted to seize all assets. For instance, there are a number of movable goods that are not subject to seizure. This list (Art. 1408 of the Judicial Code) is established by law and was last amended and modernized in June 2023. A funny detail: before this date, seizure was not permitted on 1 cow and 12 sheep or goats.

This provision was clearly outdated and has been deleted for that reason. It is also worth mentioning that a computer with an internet connection, a mobile phone, and so on, can no longer be seized.

There are also limits regarding third-party attachment. For instance, one must take into account the attachable portions of income. The same limits apply in the context of a bank attachment, when the funds in the account originate from income.

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