A warrant sale was a statutory means of collecting debts in Scotland until 2001. Legal procedure for warrant sales was governed by the

Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 A debtor or debitor is a legal entity (legal person) that owes a debt to another entity. The entity may be an individual, a firm, a government, a company or other legal person. The counterparty is called a creditor. When the counterpart of this ...

. The practice was controversial, those who opposed it were concerned that it affected the poorest section of society who genuinely were unable to pay a debt, others claimed the legislation was needed to ensure people paid their debts. It became a contentious political issue in the late 1980s, when Scottish councils used the legislation against an ever-increasing number of Community Charge defaulters. This involved councils applying for a warrant from the local court to collect the money owed by non-payers. Sheriff officers (private companies, even though their title suggests they are court employees) were the choice of the local authorities to collect the outstanding debts. Under the 1987 act, the

debt collector Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The de ...

s were permitted to enter a debtor's home and poind (put a value on) items, which would be subject to a later,

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

under warrant (warrant sale). The practice was abolished when Tommy Sheridan, MSP, of the Scottish Socialist Party, introduced a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

in 2001, and the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

voted to remove the legislation from Scots law under the Abolition of Poindings and Warrant Sales Act 2001. In July 2022, MSP Jackie Baillie accused the Scottish government of attempting to reintroduce warrant sales as part of the Moveable Transactions Bill.

References

Scots law legal terminology Debt collection Sales Housing in Scotland Poverty in Scotland 2001 disestablishments in Scotland Governmental auctions {{Scotland-law-stub