Sheriffs seize over €100m in two years from those in debt

City and county sheriffs in charge of seizing goods or property from people in debt on foot of court orders have collected over €100m in a two-year period, Department of Justice figures reveal.

The figures highlight the repayments people have had to make by surrendering goods or property to pay their creditors.

Sheriffs in Dublin and Cork, along with court registrars in the provinces, can seize anything belonging to a debtor, from furniture to cars to farm machinery; in effect, anything which is not nailed down.

The role of sheriffs and registrars complements Revenue-appointed sheriffs. Last year, Revenue sheriffs issued 34,463 warrants with a return of €171.3m to the public purse.

Only the Dublin and Cork sheriffs are required to make returns to the department. Available figures do not account for the work of county registrars.

Returns to the department show transactions on debt were: Dublin city sheriff, Oct 2009 to Sept 2011, €50m; Dublin county sheriff, Oct 2009 to Mar 2011, €27m; Cork City sheriff, April 2009 to Mar 2011, €5.6m and Cork county sheriff, Aug 2009 to July 2011, €19.4m.

Sheriffs sell the goods they seize, then pay the creditors. In an arrangement known as “poundage”, they are paid a percentage of funds raised. Poundage is calculated at 5% on the first €5,500 and 2.5% on any additional balance.

After sheriffs deduct fees, expenses and poundage, the balance is paid over to the creditor.

Brendan Dempsey, southern president of the St Vincent de Paul, said he had seen teams of people coming to seize goods and questioned the method of debt collection.

“Nothing is protected from these people,” he said. “We had a case where we went to the house in advance and took the cooker and beds and things the people needed and stored them, and when they were gone we brought them back again. This was a situation where the family had lost business, we were feeding this family so if they took the furniture we would have to provide it.”

Mr Dempsey said the fault lay with politicians who have not changed the laws in this regard.

Senior policy officer with FLAC Paul Joyce questioned the oversight of the system and said there needed to be more accountability.

In 2010, a Law Reform Commission report on personal debt called for a centralised system of enforcement. The system would see a dedicated national office responsible for enforcing judgments. Enforcement would be centralised rather than localised and the proceeds of seizure and sale recorded and monitored.