Electronic auction of seized property is “revolutionary conquest” – TVI24

The Minister of Justice considered this Friday a “revolutionary conquest” of enforcement agents the introduction of the electronic auction that allows the sale of property seized in bidding on the open Internet to all interested parties.

“This tool, apparently so simple, introduces transparency, expands knowledge, promotes equal opportunities and shortens the time of the procedures” on the sale of the property seized, said Francisca Van Dunem in the opening of the Order of the Study Days of Solicitors and Enforcement Agents (OSAE) in Lisbon.

the Minister stressed that the introduction of electronic auction arises in connection with another measure to simplify the activity of enforcement agents, which is the electronic mechanism of attachment of bank accounts, which, since the entry into force in December 2013, has allowed the seizure of about 500 million euros.

Francisca Van Dunem stressed that electronic mechanisms, in addition to increasing the speed of procedures for debt collection and liens, guarantee “greater certainty and security” procedural stakeholders and third parties “potentially interested”.

the minister admitted that there is still much work to be done in the field of executive action, when 65% of cases in the courts relate to debt collection, which reflects the existence of a “complex social fabric and large dificiuldades” financial.

in this scenario, the courts have to find “the quickest ways of resolution” to this type of litigation, noted Francisca Van Dunem, who pointed out the advantages of an electronic auction in terms of transparency, neutrality in terms of sale of goods and access to a large number of people.

houses, land, cars and other property seized by the enforcement officers will now be sold in an electronic auction, with objects photo and detailed information, avoiding the slowness of the courts and allowing quick payment to creditors, as told Lusa the president of OSAE, José Carlos Resende.

the electronic auction to replace the procedure of purchase of the property pawned had to be done by sealed letter in the presence of a judge, with the aggravating circumstance that some courts, lingered two years to mark the auction.

According to the president of OSAE, auctions through the courts, as well as lengthy, resulted in the sale of goods for a price much lower than the actual value of the pawned due to the fact that, in practice, only a few people have knowledge of the forced sale.

With the electronic auction, instead of having to sell assets at a loss, enforcement officers expect greater disclosure of the property seized and thus obtain a more profitable sale by tender on the internet by interested parties. With higher revenue from sales of seized goods, profits not only the creditor and the debtor and the state itself, said José Carlos Resende.

The electronic auction is one of the central themes of the OSAE Study Days, taking place today and Saturday, under the aegis of the new Statute for Solicitors and agents of execution.