Writ of Fieri Facias & Personal Injury Property Law

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A Writ of Fieri Facias (FiFa) is a Court Order commanding the Sheriff to collect a judgment by either getting the money or to levy and sell sufficient property of the person(s) named in the FiFa to satisfy your judgment. To “levy” means to seize or attach property by judicial order and to then convert the seized property into money through a Sheriff’s Sale to satisfy the judgment.

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Most property seized (levied upon) is personal property, but under certain circumstances, we can also seize Real Property. In general, we will make a ten (10) day money demand on the defendant by personal contact with the person(s) named in the FiFa or by leaving a letter at the person(s) home, if we are unable to make personal contact. This is an optional process since it is not required by law, but in some cases can be effective. If the defendant says that they cannot or will not pay, then we will return the FiFa to you with the results of our money demand.

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It is then up to you to provide us with any known assets of the defendant that are unencumbered (no security interest, no UCC filing, no secured debt, no liens, etc.). You can take your original FiFa to the Georgia Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division in Hapeville, GA to determine if the defendant has any motor vehicles that are either in his/her name or the name of the corporation (if applicable). Their web link is: Motor Vehicle Division.

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Once you have determined any assets you must:

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• Give us a letter requesting that we do a levy, describing these assets and the address where you would like us to do the levy.

• Either give us a printout from the Motor Vehicle Division showing vehicles owned by the defendant or a letter certifying that an UCC search has been done and that there are no liens on the assets you are asking us to levy upon.

• The original FiFa

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Prior to levying, the plaintiff must pay certain fees in advance. They are generally, but not limited to: Legal Advertising in the Gwinnett Daily Post for four (4) weeks, wrecker and wrecker lot storage fees if a vehicle is to be seized, storage fees at a bonded warehouse located in Gwinnett County if appropriate, labor and transportation cost for the physical seizure and movement of any property levied upon if applicable. All of this will be discussed with you by a supervisor prior to levying.

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Once the levy has been done, the items are placed in a bonded warehouse in Gwinnett County selected by the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office and paid by you, or in a wrecker lot in the case of vehicles.

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The seized property is then advertised for four (4) consecutive weeks in the Gwinnett Daily Post (legal organ of Gwinnett County) and then sold on the first Tuesday of the month.

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While we provide some assistance to you, we are unable to do skip tracing or to identify specific property to levy upon. These two tasks must be done by you. We do make a money demand. Please refer to O.C.G.A. § 9-13-50 and O.C.G.A. § 9-13-16.

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Requirements for a Real Property Levy

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• A request, in writing, to the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office Civil Division to levy upon and sell real property to satisfy a Fieri Facias (FiFa). In your request for the Civil Division to levy on real property, you must include a statement that there is either no personal property to be levied upon to satisfy the judgment or that there is insufficient personal property found to be levied upon to satisfy the judgment.

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• We must have the original FiFa. We cannot accept copies of a FiFa. The FiFa must have been recorded in the county where the judgment originated. If the judgment originated outside of Gwinnett County, the judgment must also be recorded in Gwinnett County. If the original Fi.Fa. has been lost, we can accept a properly marked “Alias,” issued by the original issuer (Clerk of Court) with the same judgment date as the original Fi. Fa. and endorsed as an “Alias.”

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• A full and complete legal description of the real property that you want us to levy upon and sell. This description must include the “metes and bounds” in the legal description and be in Word format. This will be used for the Ad, which will be in the legal section of the Gwinnett Daily Post (the legal organ for the county). Please email this to: Nicholas.Higgins@GwinnettCounty.com.

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• A Certificate of Title certified by an Attorney authorized to practice law in the State of Georgia. The Certificate of Title must be less than thirty (30) days old. The name of the current owner of the property must be shown. In addition, it must include a list of all lien holders with their name(s), address(es), and the date the lien(s) was/were recorded.

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• A certified copy of the warranty deed for the subject property. Please note that any mortgage(s) [security deed(s)] must be extinguished (pay off the mortgage) prior to our levying. You will need to provide us with the dollar amount that was paid to do this. We will need proof that this has been done.

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• A check for $50 made out to the Sheriff of Gwinnett County for the statutory Levy fee.

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• A check made out to the Sheriff of Gwinnett County for an amount to be determined by the designated person in the Civil Division to cover the estimated costs for the advertising and any other costs that the Civil Division requires to be paid in advance.

 

Sheriff’s Sale

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If items are available for sale, Sheriff’s Sales are held the first Tuesday of the month, unless that day falls on a National Holiday and then it is held on the day following the first Tuesday of the month. You can check on Sheriff’s Sales in the Gwinnett Daily Post Legal Section, Classification 931.

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From time to time we conduct sales resulting from Tax Fieri Facias that have been sold to third parties. You can check on Sheriff’s Sales in the Gwinnett Daily Post Legal Section, Classification 931.

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When there is a sale, it is held on the walkway at the marble bench closest to the street on the right side as you are approaching the building. This location is set by court order. The legal hours of sale are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sometimes a sale is held at a different location. If there is a different location, the complete address of the location where the sale will occur will be listed in the ad.

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All sales are final. You cannot return items purchased. You must pay with either cash or a cashier’s check (official bank check). Unless you present a State of Georgia Sales Tax Exemption form at the time you make a purchase, you will be charged sales tax on all personal products. Sales Tax on Vehicles is based on where the purchaser lives, not the county where the vehicle is sold. There is no sales tax on real property (real estate).