Friday, March 04, 2011

Legal term of the Day: Writ of venditioni exponas

Though this term is a bit of a mouthful, and probably makes some of you think of something that Hermione Granger would have found in an obscure volume, this is a helpful common law tool in collections work.

In essence, the writ commands a sheriff who has levied on property (to satisfy an unpaid judgment) to attempt a second time to sell the property even though there were no bidders at the first sale without having to repeat the levy process.

In Virginia, the writ has been expanded by statute (Va. Code § 8.01-211) to allow the Commonwealth, in cases where persons owe the government money, to use the writ to transport the property (magically, we might say, to keep up the J. K. Rowling theme) from the county where the levy took place to an adjoining county where, if all goes well, the other sheriff will be able to find a bidder in the new pool of buyers.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

In sympathy with husbands of pregnant wives everywhere: