We obtained a judgment for our client for about $8,800.00 in the Magistrates Court.
The Judgment debtor ignored our demands for payment, so we applied for a Debt Appropriation Order against the debtor’s bank, because, to the extent her bank account is in credit, it is a debt payable on demand by the bank to her, and a judgment debtor is entitled to require a debtor of a Judgment Debtor to pay money to her until the judgment debt is satisfied.
Our client was aware of the account, having deposited money into it for half the cost of a dividing fence.
However, the Registrar refused to grant the order because we had not provided any evidence that there was any money in the bank account, which we were not able to do.
We appealed the decision to a Magistrate on that basis, and because that we had previously obtained debt appropriation orders without needing that evidence.
The appeal is a hearing de novo, i.e. a new hearing, which means we could put in an affidavit annexing the paperwork from 2 previous successful applications and a copy of the payment slip from May 2021.
On Tuesday, the magistrate made orders in our favour, including costs, which I persuaded the magistrate should be added to the debt appropriation order, so now the judgment debtor owes close to $10,000.00.
For assistance with enforcing judgments under the Civil Judgments Enforcement Act 2004, see Michael Paterson & Associates.