Writs for the Levy of Property for Debt Recovery

14 August 2025 in Debt Recovery | 4 min read | skip to FAQs

Writs for the Levy of Property are court orders used to enforce a debtor to pay a debt. Creditors who are pursuing a debt should be aware of the variety of court orders, including garnishee orders, bankruptcy, insolvency and writs for the levy of property, which may be used to enforce a judgment debt. This article explains the legal mechanism of writs for the levy of property. For further information on garnishee orders, please see this dedicated article.

The Debt Recovery Process

Common steps in debt recovery are:

1. A creditor first attempts to privately negotiate the payment of a debt that they are owed from a debtor informally. This may be done through a conversation, emails or telephone calls.
2. If informal recovery of the debt is unsuccessful, debtors can contact a lawyer. A lawyer can draft a letter of demand which is a formal request made on the creditor’s behalf that a debtor pay the debt. The debt recovery lawyers at Brander Smith McKnight Sydney Lawyers recover over 75% of debts with a simple letter of demand. A letter of demand clearly indicates to the debtor that if they fail to pay the debt owed, legal action will be taken
3. Where a letter of demand is unsuccessful and the creditor is unable to recover the debt, the creditor’s lawyer may commence legal proceedings against the creditor with a statement of claim. A statement of claim is the document which commences legal proceedings. It is a concise document setting out the legal cause of action and the essential facts of the case. Upon receiving the statement of claim, the defendant has 28 days to draft, file and serve a defence. In some instances the defendant fails or refuses to file a defence within the 28 days. In which case your lawyer can file a judgment for a default judgement against the defendant.
4. If the matter proceeds to a hearing, the relevant court will then provide a decision regarding the debt owed to the creditor. If the court rules in favour of the creditor, they will be awarded a judgement debt for the amount decided by the court.
5. If the debtor fails to pay the amount prescribed by the judgement debt, the creditor can apply to enforce the judgment debt using enforcement methods such as garnishee order, writ for levy of property, bankruptcy or insolvency.

It is important to note that there are other means of recovering a debt via alternative dispute resolution methods. The debt recovery lawyers at BSM Sydney Lawyer will actively pursue these methods in an attempt to save you time, stress and legal fees. Alternative dispute resolution techniques include negotiation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, adjudication and expert determination.

Writs for the Levy of Property

Writs for the levy of property are amongst the various options available to enforce a judgement debt as outlined in the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW). A writ for the levy of property allows the sheriff to take control and sell the creditor’s property for the purposes of paying the creditor’s debt. The types of property that can be subject to a writ for the levy of property include the creditor’s goods, money, land, equitable interests and choses in action. Writs for the levy of property can be pursued in conjunction with other orders under the Civil Procedure act such as garnishee orders.

The debt recovery lawyers at BSM Sydney Lawyer are experts in this area and can assist creditors in completing and filing the forms in order to pursue a writ for the levy of property through the courts. Our experienced lawyers can also negotiate with the debtor and effectively represent you through the court system.

What is an Equitable Interest?

This is an interest that is both enforced and created by equity. An equitable interest is also commonly referred to as a beneficial interest. This is because an equitable interest is established for the purpose of deriving some form of benefit. For example, beneficiaries of a trust have an equitable rather than a proprietary interest in property which is managed by the trust’s trustee. Equitable interests can be subject to writs for the levy of property.

What is a Chose in Action?

In simple terms, a chose in action is a legal term which refers to property rights over intangible things. For example, a chose in action may be in relation to things such as intellectual property or shares in a company. Choses in action can be subject to a writ for the levy of property.

How can BSM Sydney Lawyers assist you?

Our debt recovery lawyers are highly experienced and have a high level of success in debt recovery. Over 75% of debts can be recovered with a simple and inexpensive letter of demand. However, if despite using alternative dispute resolution the debtor needs to be pursued through the courts we are able to effectively advocate for you and achieve a judgment debt. If the debtor fails to pay this court ordered debt, enforcement methods such as garnishee orders, bankruptcy, insolvency or a writ for levy of property will be applied for by the lawyers at Brander Smith McKnight. Our debt recovery lawyers consistently achieve a successful debt recovery rate of over 90%. The senior debt recovery lawyers at BSM Sydney Lawyer provide a free 20 minute consultation to advise you of your debt recovery options.

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BSM Lawyer Sydney have offices conveniently located in Sydney CBD, Sutherland, Parramatta, Shellharbour and Wollongong.