Court enforcement officer visit

sevenhills

I had a visit today from a magistrates court enforcement officer. He came to see my daughters boyfriend, they live in my house.

They are broke, stopped paying me a few months back. I am assuming the visit was due to a debt, he does also get letters from Moorcroft debt collectors.

The officer mentioned putting an arrest warrant out for him, then left without seeing him. Not sure if they gamble.

Is he likely to be arrested and locked up, over a debt?

sourcrates

Moved to the DFW forum.

What is the debt for ?

Because if its a court fine, then, although most likely an idle threat, it could be a possibility.

On the other hand if its a consumer credit act related debt then no, you can`t go to prison for that kind of debt, not since the mid 19th century, when they were termed "workhouses".

I assume it was a county court bailiff, so this must have been to court and a judgement awarded, and the creditor has taken further enforcement action in the vain hope of getting paid, is that about right ?

sevenhills

sourcrates said:

I assume it was a county court bailiff, so this must have been to court and a judgement awarded, and the creditor has taken further enforcement action in the vain hope of getting paid, is that about right ?

He said Magistrates court. I don't know what it was about, he hardly goes out of the bedroom.

sourcrates

sevenhills said:

sourcrates said:

I assume it was a county court bailiff, so this must have been to court and a judgement awarded, and the creditor has taken further enforcement action in the vain hope of getting paid, is that about right ?

He said Magistrates court. I don't know what it was about, he hardly goes out of the bedroom.

That sounds more like a court fine than a debt to a company, he probably should deal with it before it gets out of hand.

Sncjw

Yiu say they ar ebroke and he hardly comes out the bedroom. Does he work at all?  

sevenhills

Sncjw said:

Yiu say they ar ebroke and he hardly comes out the bedroom. Does he work at all?  

No, he did work for a short time a couple of years ago. The enforcement officer did say that he comes across this sort of person often.

Grumpelstiltskin

Well by letting him live with you free of charge he is not getting any encouragement to either work or claim benefits.

It sounds as though he could have mental health problems but is he seeing a doctor?

You won't be affected if he is arrested and what ever happens don't bail him out by paying up.

sevenhills

Grumpelstiltskin said:

Well by letting him live with you free of charge he is not getting any encouragement to either work or claim benefits.

It sounds as though he could have mental health problems but is he seeing a doctor?

You won't be affected if he is arrested and what ever happens don't bail him out by paying up.

Its not a happy situation, I won't be paying their bills. I will try to make their stay less comfortable.

They were in money troubles at their last residence, although they cited other issues for moving out.

Jude57

Could it possibly be an unpaid Council Tax debt for a previous address? That's one of the few debts for which people can be imprisoned and it is dealt with by Magistrates Courts. While the likelihood of actually, physically, being imprisoned is fairly low, the likelihood of an arrest warrant being issued to get the debtor to Court is not. It's even more likely if the Magistrates have agreed that the debtor pays the debt, direct to the Council, by regular payments and the debtor defaults.

It's important the young man deals with this, whatever the debt is for. Arrest warrants are no joke. Police will execute arrest warrants for low priority (to Police) things like Council Tax when they aren't busy elsewhere, so very early morning on, say a Saturday or the Thursday before a Bank Holiday. When I worked in Council Tax recovery, it wasn't unusual for a debtor to be held in cells over a weekend and dealt with on the Magistrates next working day, so potentially four days in custody. Tell him that, and put the fear of God into him. Also point out that a prison sentence doesn't clear a Council Tax debt, it would still be payable and he'd have a prison record to live with ever after.

CIS

Jude57 said:

Could it possibly be an unpaid Council Tax debt for a previous address? That's one of the few debts for which people can be imprisoned and it is dealt with by Magistrates Courts. While the likelihood of actually, physically, being imprisoned is fairly low, the likelihood of an arrest warrant being issued to get the debtor to Court is not. It's even more likely if the Magistrates have agreed that the debtor pays the debt, direct to the Council, by regular payments and the debtor defaults.

It's important the young man deals with this, whatever the debt is for. Arrest warrants are no joke. Police will execute arrest warrants for low priority (to Police) things like Council Tax when they aren't busy elsewhere, so very early morning on, say a Saturday or the Thursday before a Bank Holiday. When I worked in Council Tax recovery, it wasn't unusual for a debtor to be held in cells over a weekend and dealt with on the Magistrates next working day, so potentially four days in custody. Tell him that, and put the fear of God into him. Also point out that a prison sentence doesn't clear a Council Tax debt, it would still be payable and he'd have a prison record to live with ever after.

If the court officers were out for council tax, it should only be after a warrant has already been granted. It sounds here like an unpaid fine where the court office is going to refer it to the court for a warrant.

fatbelly

sevenhills said:

I had a visit today from a magistrates court enforcement officer. He came to see my daughters boyfriend, they live in my house.

They are broke, stopped paying me a few months back. I am assuming the visit was due to a debt, he does also get letters from Moorcroft debt collectors.

The officer mentioned putting an arrest warrant out for him, then left without seeing him. Not sure if they gamble.

Is he likely to be arrested and locked up, over a debt?

The boyfriend will know what this is. Ask him.

We can advise once we know what it is, if he asks us.