By Correspondent
Many residents are struggling to service their debts to various local authorities leading to threats of litigation.
This has raised questions whether a Council can sell one’s house over a debt.
The short answer is yes.
However that can only happen through a process in which one is given ample time and opportunity to save the situation.
There are processes that are undertaken before all this.
The Process
-Summons are issued beforehand.
These come from the courts through the messenger of court.
If the Council legal section receives a list of houses owing money it then issues summons.
2) These are taken to the clerk of court for processing.
After receiving summons, defendants are normally given time to respond.
Normally, the period is about seven days, to allow one time to interact with the council and courts to negotiate a payment plan.
However, in most cases residents ignore the summons.
3) This leads to default judgements, where a case is dealt with and a verdict reached without the residents appearing to defend themselves.
4) When this occurs, a bidding process is initiated and it is done through the messenger or court and not through Council.
The bidding process depends on the highest bidder and the amount offered.
This, property may be sold at an insignificant price and one can actually end up owing, leading to more property being attached.
Gvt Directive on Revenue
Gvt has directed that Councils improve their revenue collection in order to improve service delivery.
Thus in their 2024 budgets Council had to show how they were going to fulfill that agenda.
This scenario means that we are likely to experience cases of Councils dragging residents to court over debts.
