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The other choice for enforcing a possession order by asking the county court to issue a warrant of possession is for the property owner in Cardiff to apply to transfer the order to the High Court for enforcement by a High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO).
High Court Enforcement Officers are named as the Bailiffs, Sheriffs or enforcement agents in Cardiff.
A possession order can be applied in Merthyr Tydfil, Chatham, or Cardiff/Caerdydd through the High Court when:
If the High Court in South Glamorgan has the possession hearing as this is quite unusual, though the normal thing is that when a Cardiff landlord approaches the High Court to apply for a possession order, the order will be transferred to the County Court, and the exceptions are disputes of points of law or of fact.
The Cardiff landlord seeks permission from County Court for transferring its possession order to the High Court in order to get enforcement by HCEO.
County court determines if the enforcement in Cardiff/Caerdydd, Merthyr Tydfil, or Chatham can be transferred to high court.
If the possession order is approved during the possession hearing at the county court, the Cardiff landowner has the right to ask for a transfer of enforcement of the possession order to the High Court.
After the possession order is acquired the landlord in Cardiff will need to apply to the county court and request that the order to be moved to the high court for implementation.
If there are any applications made by the Cardiff tenant, such as a possession order appeal against, an application for move cannot go through.
The landlord can also apply for a writ of control if they need to recover the rent arrears and court costs of more than £600 in Cardiff/Caerdydd, Merthyr Tydfil, or Chatham.
The writ of control gives the authority in Cardiff to seize and sell tenant/debtor's goods and it is commonly known as a writ of fi fa or writ of Fieri facias.
However, the debt cannot be transferred to the High Court if the debt or rent arrears are regulated by the Consumer Act 1974 (CCA), that is because agreements regulated by the CCA can only be enforced in the South Glamorgan county court.
A Cardiff landlord can apply for transfer of the possession order to a High Court for the following reasons:
Enforcement in Cardiff is normally faster through HCEOs than the bailiffs of the county court
Rental income losses caused by delays in enforcement through the bailiffs of the county court in South Glamorgan
Prevention of further damage to the property in Cardiff or antisocial behaviour
The High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO) can enforce the possession order and seize tenants' goods in Cardiff if they owe money
Right from the transfer of the order, the interest on judgement debt of arrears will accumulate which is currently at the rate of 8%.
HCEOs offer faster eviction speed in Cardiff and are more expensive than the bailiffs in County Court in South Glamorgan, thus, a tenant may not be comfortable with the transfer arrangement and kick against it for a wide range of reasons.
Tenants may have the following reasons to object:
Landlord's failure to provide evidence that there will be problems while using the county court bailiffs in Cardiff
Court costs are expensive
The tenant may require more time to look for a new play to live in Merthyr Tydfil, Chatham, or Cardiff/Caerdydd before eviction takes place
The common factors of tenants that are classed as exceptional situations that court in Cardiff might consider are overdue rent, children or any relevant factors.
If the County Court in South Glamorgan grants the landlord's transfer application, the writ of possession can't be issued until there is expressed permission by the High Court, and the exceptions to the rule are:
Authorization for the issuance of a possession writ is also not needed in case there is a breach of possession comprising of suspension of order where there is or lack of payment of money in Cardiff.
When permission is obtained in the High Court to impose a possession order (i.e., except in cases of mortgage repossession and actions against trespassers), the landlord in Chatham, Merthyr Tydfil, or Cardiff/Caerdydd must inform' any person in real possession' of the property of the demand.
The High Court should not permit unless each tenant in Cardiff is given such a notice as the Court considers enough.
There is no particular method for sending the notice to those in South Glamorgan.
The facts of the case will depend on what is enough notice.
When dealing with just one tenant in Cardiff who is aware of the transfer to the High Court, the landlord may just send a reminder, reminding the tenant of the court order and he should also remind the tenant to give up the possession.
The Writ of Possession can be set aside after execution in Cardiff if the landlord fails to provide the necessary details where the pending appeals against the possession order are concerned or doesn't give enough notice.
There are cases where various HCEOs in South Glamorgan trying to skip the set procedure by directly giving high court full responsibility regarding the problem as stipulated in Sec. 41 or via form N293A wrongly against leaseholders in the place of intruders.
So, to stop these malpractices, a senior Master of the High Court (Queens Bench Division) issued a practice note to avoid these unfair practices.
The HCEOs can carry out enforcement of a possession order in Cardiff faster than the county court bailiffs.
It can happen just a few days after the expiry of the notice of the landlord's application for high court permission, when needed or of the issue of the writ of possession in Chatham, Merthyr Tydfil, or Cardiff/Caerdydd.
An HCEO is not compelled to inform tenants in Cardiff before making a trip in order to implement the possession writ as no such provision is provided, but, in some cases, you may find some HCEOs sending the summons a day or 2 before a visit to the property.
If the HCEO intends seizing the tenants' goods and recover the landlord's property in Cardiff, it is imperative that a 7-day notice is given to the tenants in question.
High court in South Glamorgan enjoys the powers to set aside or uphold possession or control writ.
Form N244 should be used when applying to the high Court.
However, if the stay or set aside is granted, the tenant in Cardiff must inform the HCEO because the High Court may not have told them.
If there is any other application, like the question to set aside the possession order that is original, you must make it to the South Glamorgan county court.
HCEOs in Cardiff aren't the employees of the court, they are actual the commercial agencies authorized by the High Court.
In England and Wales, the names of authorized HCEOs are available from the HCEO's directory.
High Court enforcement officers practice a code of conduct.
According to that code of conduct writ of possession cannot be executed on Sunday, Good Friday or Christmas Day in Cardiff until unless the court orders otherwise.
Since 6 April 2014, HCEOs and other bailiffs in Cardiff have been required to operate in accordance with a set of rules.
The rules include the requirements that the HCEO must not:
Enter a residential property in South Glamorgan before 6:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m. without the court authorization
Enter the Cardiff premises if the only person available is a child under 16 years of age
Take the fridge, cooker, washing machine, or some other essential household items
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