A warrant has been issued, and a court officer now holds it

A warrant to seize property follows a judgment, and a court officer carries it out rather than the creditor. New South Wales calls it a writ for the levy of property and Queensland an enforcement warrant for seizure and sale. The published versions run twelve months. Certain goods are protected, and what stops one is an order or an arrangement, not a conversation with the sheriff.

What the document is, and who actually holds it

A warrant to seize property is not a decision about the debt. The decision was the judgment, and this is the machinery that comes after it, applied for by the creditor and carried out by an officer of the court. The name changes at the border. Victoria calls it a warrant to seize property, New South Wales a writ for the levy of property or writ of execution, Queensland an enforcement warrant for seizure and sale.

What the courts publish about how long one lasts is unusually consistent.

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   Victoria — 12 months, and only one action at a time.The Magistrates' Court of Victoria says a warrant to seize property is valid for 12 months and cannot be applied for if another enforceable action is already in place. It also says the court does not enforce civil judgments automatically: a creditor has to apply, and the court will not even send the warrant to the sheriff on the creditor's behalf.
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   New South Wales — twelve months, by the Sheriff's own account.The NSW Sheriff's Office creditor fact sheet states that a writ for levy of property is valid for twelve months. The Local Court describes the writ as directing the Sheriff to take and sell property of the person who owes the money, and says the judgment amount is due immediately once judgment is entered.
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   Queensland — one year, renewable, and six years to ask at all.Queensland Courts say a warrant expires one year after it is issued unless it states otherwise, and can be renewed if necessary. A creditor generally must apply within six years of the judgment; after six years, and within another year, the creditor has to apply to the court before enforcement can happen.

South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory each run their own rules and none of their courts was read for this page, so none is stated here. Get your own position from the registry of the court that entered the judgment, or from a solicitor — not from a lender's website, including this one.

You are not the first one this week

Most business owners holding one of these ring their bank first, and the answer has the same shape every time. A bank reads a judgment on the file and declines for reasons that have very little to do with whether the loan would be repaid. The trading is often fine. The record is the problem, and the record does not change quickly.

That gap is where HomeSec has been since 2004. What we look at is whether there is enough unused equity in real property and whether the purpose is a genuine business one: not financials, not a credit score, and not what the argument was about. From a clean, complete scenario funds can be available in as little as 24 hours, and interest can be capitalised for up to six months.

Back to the substance, because the most useful thing on this page is free.

What the officer can take, and what is protected

A warrant is not a licence to clear the building. Each of the three states publishes a limit, and they are worth reading in their own words rather than in a summary.

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   Victoria — what you need to live in basic comfort.The Magistrates' Court of Victoria says the sheriff cannot seize items the debtor needs to live in basic comfort, such as a fridge, television or washing machine. The warrant gives the sheriff authority to attend the debtor's home or business address in Victoria and demand payment of the debt.
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   New South Wales — clothing, bedroom and kitchen furniture, tools of trade to $2,000.The NSW Sheriff's Office says it is not entitled to seize certain items, including personal clothing, bedroom or kitchen furniture and tools of trade that do not exceed $2,000. What it can reach includes furniture, jewellery, cars, boats and appliances.
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   Queensland — the exemptions come from bankruptcy law, not from the warrant.Queensland Courts say a bailiff can seize only certain goods, and give the example that they cannot take tools of trade up to a certain value, or a car up to a certain value, where the debtor needs them to make a living. The exempt list is the one in the Commonwealth bankruptcy legislation — regulation 6.03 of the Bankruptcy Regulations 1966 and section 116 of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 — and the court publishes no dollar figure of its own, so none is given here.

One practical point that catches people out: a bailiff or sheriff can only reach goods the debtor has an interest in. Equipment on finance, leased vehicles and goods that belong to somebody else are a different question, and in New South Wales the owner of seized goods files a Notice to Sheriff of Disputed Property, after which the Sheriff asks the creditor whether to release them. Have the finance contracts and leases out of the drawer before anybody arrives, not after.

It starts with a letter, not a van

The sequence the NSW Sheriff's Office publishes for creditors is the most detailed of the three, and it is calmer than the picture most people have. The Sheriff first sends a letter to the judgment debtor asking for payment, and will try phone contact where a number has been provided. Attendance happens on weekdays between 6.30am and 6.00pm. Only where no suitable arrangement is made does the Sheriff attend and attempt to seize goods.

If goods are seized they may be removed, or left where they are with a person appointed as custodian of them — walking possession, in the trade. Either way the goods are listed on an inventory, and disposing of seized goods is an offence. In Victoria seized items are sold at public auction, with the proceeds forwarded to the creditor up to the value of the debt owing. In Queensland the auction proceeds go to the judgment debt and the associated expenses, less any existing mortgage or charge.

Refusing entry is not the strategy it looks like. The NSW fact sheet tells creditors that where entry is refused they may need to apply to the court for an order authorising the Sheriff to enter private premises, which converts a problem that was going to cost a week into one that costs a month and more money.

Land is a separate question, and the published figures disagree

This is the part worth taking to a solicitor rather than reading about anywhere, including here. A Queensland warrant of seizure and sale reaches real as well as personal property: the court requires a copy of the warrant noted on the title deed, a current title search, an independent valuation by a Queensland-licensed valuer, rate details and mortgage payout figures, and a reserve price is set in advance that is disclosed neither to the creditor nor to any bidder.

New South Wales is where the published figures do not agree. The Sheriff's current page says seizure can include houses and land where the amount owing is more than $20,000. The Sheriff's own creditor fact sheet, which is marked as updated in 2007, says land only where it is not possible to satisfy the debt from personal property and the amount outstanding under the judgment exceeds $10,000 — and recommends legal advice before a creditor asks for it at all. Both are published by the same office. Ask the registry of the court that entered the judgment which figure is current before anybody relies on either.

Victoria's warrant page does not mention land at all. That silence is not permission to assume either way, which is the whole reason this section exists.

What stops it is an order, not a phone call to the sheriff

The most common wasted morning in this situation is spent ringing the sheriff's office. The NSW Sheriff's Office says it plainly: it cannot take instructions from people who owe money or their representatives, and anyone wanting a payment arrangement must speak to the creditor or make an application to the court office. The officer holding the warrant has no power to vary it.

What does work is published, and in Victoria the debtor can start it.

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   Victoria — a debtor can apply for an instalment order.The Magistrates' Court of Victoria says debtors and creditors can both apply, on Form 61A with Form 61B for an individual or 61C for a corporation. Once granted, no further action can be taken to enforce payment unless the debtor's ability to pay changes or it is proved the debtor gave the court inaccurate information. A notice of objection is Form 61D, within 14 days of receiving the outcome, and a magistrate then reviews the registrar's decision.
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   Queensland — an instalment order blocks a warrant while it is complied with.Queensland Courts state that where an instalment order is in place a warrant cannot be issued against the debtor while they follow the terms, and that the order stays in force until the debt is paid, is set aside, is varied, suspended or cancelled by another order, or the debtor defaults on two consecutive payments. The published page is written for creditors and does not say whether a debtor can apply, so ask the registry.
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   New South Wales — the creditor, or the registrar.The Local Court says to speak to the creditor first and put any agreement in writing. Failing that, you can apply to a registrar at the court where the order was made; the registrar decides, and the other party can object. The court also warns that if the arrangement is not complied with, enforcement can follow.

Paying the judgment in full is the other way it ends, and it is the reason this page exists on a lender's site at all. Everything else on this page buys time or protects a tool box.

The costs that are quietly accruing

Two things grow while the argument does. The Magistrates' Court of Victoria says the Parliament of Victoria fixes an interest rate on outstanding civil judgments enforced in that court and that interest applies until the debt is paid in full — the rate table published on that page stops in 2017, so ask the registry for the current figure rather than reading one anywhere else. And enforcement costs are added to the debt: Victoria says all court fees paid for enforcement action may be added to the debt and recovered from the debtor, and the NSW Local Court says additional costs are added to the amount owing when the sheriff acts on a writ.

So the amount on the judgment is a floor, not a ceiling, and the longer version of this morning is the expensive one. That is an argument for dealing with it this week, not for borrowing — which is the next section.

What a secured loan does here, and what it does not

Briefly, because the eligibility page covers the mechanics and whether financials are needed covers the paperwork.

A judgment is payable on the day it is entered, and a business with assets and customers is often perfectly able to pay it three weeks later. That is a timing problem, and the security for this kind of lending is unused equity in real property rather than the trading record that the judgment has just damaged. The range is $20,000 to $5,000,000, the term is open, and interest can be capitalised for up to six months, so the next few months do not have to carry a payment as well. Borrowing with a judgment already entered covers what a judgment changes for a loan application, a judgment entered because nobody answered the claim covers how so many of these arrive unseen, and secured against unsecured sets the two kinds of facility side by side.

What a loan cannot do is set the judgment aside, make a warrant invalid, or get back goods already sold. It pays an amount that is already payable, which ends the enforcement because there is nothing left to enforce. Those are different things, and it is worth being clear-eyed about which one you actually need.

When borrowing is not the answer

Said first, because it is the most valuable sentence here: if the judgment itself is wrong, or you never saw the claim, the money belongs with a lawyer and not with a lender. Every one of these courts publishes a route for setting a judgment aside, and every one of them asks why the applicant delayed — so paying out a judgment you could have had set aside is an expensive way to end the week. What a default judgment is and what it does not decide covers that ground, including the two free checks worth doing before anything else.

Where an instalment order would cover it, that route costs a filing fee and some honesty about the numbers, and it is plainly better than a secured loan. Where the goods at risk are a work vehicle and a tool box, read the exemption wording above before assuming they are gone at all.

Where there is no equity in real property, a secured loan is not our answer and we will say so on the first call rather than the third. The useful calls then are to a financial counsellor — the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 is free, independent and confidential — and to an accountant or a registered liquidator if more than one creditor is pressing. Small business restructuring covers the formal road. And where the amount is below $20,000 we do not lend to it at all, because registering a security over a property for a figure that size is the wrong tool for the job.

This page explains what a warrant to seize property, a writ for the levy of property or an enforcement warrant for seizure and sale authorises after a civil judgment, how long one runs in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, what is protected from seizure, and what the courts publish about stopping it. It is general information, not legal, credit or insolvency advice, and it states no position for any other state or territory: what is right in your circumstances is a question for a lawyer, a registered liquidator, a financial counsellor or the registry of the court that entered the judgment. Figures and rules were checked on 22 October 2026 and can change.

Reviewed by Paul Stone, Joint Chief Executive