Enforcing a judgement

Once you have a court judgement, if the debtor does not immediately pay up, you will need to enforce payment of the debt.

Enforcing the decision

At this stage, you will require professional help - either from a sheriff officer or a solicitor.

The first step is for sheriff officers to visit the debtor (your co-owner who has not paid their share of repair costs and lost the small claims case), leaving a formal demand for payment for the amount due with interest and expenses. This is called the charge.

The next step to consider is arrestment of wages or, if the debtor is a landlord, arrestment of rents from any properties they own in Scotland.

Finally, you can serve an inhibition which would prevent the co-owner from selling their property before paying off their debt. An inhibition lasts five years but can be renewed.

More about sheriff officers