Appealing enforcement against exempt property

Property exempt from enforcement — appealing a private enforcement agent’s actions

Under Article 435(2)(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure (GPK), a debtor may appeal against enforcement directed at property which the debtor considers exempt from enforcement. Under Article 436(1) of the GPK, the appeal must be lodged within two weeks of the action if the party was present when it was carried out or had been summoned; in other cases, the period runs from the day of notification. Where enforcement is directed at an item of property, the appeal period begins upon service of the notice scheduling the sale. It should be expressly noted that missing this deadline does not prevent the debtor from asking the enforcement agent to terminate the sale already initiated before an order awarding the property is issued (the enforcement agent cannot withdraw that order), or to return the sum received from the public sale before it has been received by the creditor. The enforcement agent may prefer to compensate the bidders who participated in the public sale rather than continue to cause harm to the debtor.

The debtor may also appeal against the distribution of proceeds on the ground that the property is exempt from enforcement. Missing the deadline precludes only the setting aside of the public sale as an enforcement action. A separate appeal against the public sale is inadmissible, and it therefore cannot be set aside through such an appeal. Nor may the debtor appeal against the order awarding the property on the ground that the property sold was exempt from enforcement. These are the binding conclusions in point 2 of Supreme Court of Cassation Interpretative Decision No. 2/2013 of 26.06.2015.

If you have questions about property exempt from enforcement, inventory and public sale by a private enforcement agent, or general questions about enforcement proceedings, it is best to consult a lawyer specialising in enforcement proceedings and appeals against the actions of private or state enforcement agents.