Haywood County Sheriff's Office

Civil Process

The Civil Process division consists of a Lieutenant and two Deputies dedicated to serving the more complex civil proceedings that the Sheriff is required by statute to handle. Under North Carolina General Statues the Sheriff is required to do three things; maintain court security, operate a jail, and serve civil process. These include Evictions, Writs of Possession, Executions, Claim and Deliveries, and Tax Garnishments and Collections. These activities are often complex and require specialized training and expertise to execute.

Evictions are a proceeding that a landlord can undertake in Magistrate's Court to remove a tenant from a property. This is a multi week process involving several defendant contacts. A Writ of Possession or a Claim and Delivery are processes used by a plaintiff to recover an item of personal or real property from a defendant.

An Execution is a process that a plaintiff can use to collect money from a defendant once a judgment has been entered by a judge in civil court. This is a three month procedure during which a Deputy must investigate the defendant’s assets to determine weather he or she has any real or personal property that can be levied and sold to satisfy the judgment. Usually this involves hours of interaction with the defendant and the plaintiff and can lead to public auction or sale of property. A lion’s share of the man hours expended by civil process is devoted to serving and processing Executions

One of the three Civil Process Deputies primarily handles tax issues. He serves process that is generated by the Haywood County Tax Collector to garnish wages or bank accounts or to seize assets for sale to satisfy unpaid tax debts. This Deputy often gets taxes paid by merely contacting the tax payer about these matters.

Also included in the Civil Process Division is the Domestic Violence task force, the Child Support Enforcement Officer, the Environmental Enforcement Officer, DARE Officer, and School Resource Officers. These units have their own pages on this site.

How to evict someone from a property:

To evict a tennant from your property you must first give the tenant a 10 day notice to vacate the property.

If the tennant does not vacate the property than you must next go to the Clerk of Court in the Haywood County Justice Center and file a Summary Ejectment. There is a filing fee.

The Summary Ejectment will be served by a Deputy on the Defendant. If the Defendant cannot be found the Deputy can post the Ejectment.

There will be a court date in Small Claims Court usually within ten days. Small Claims Court or Magistrate's Court is less formal than District Court and you do not need a lawyer though you may hire one if you wish. The case is heard by the Civil Magistrate.

If the Civil Magistrate finds in your favor, he will order the defendant to vacat the property within ten days.

During these ten days, the Defendant has a right to appeal. If the Defendant does not vacate the premises or file an apeal within the ten days, you must go back to the Clerk of Court and file a Writ of Possession of Real Property. There is a filing fee for this process.

The Writ of Possession will come to the Sheriff's Office. A Deputy will call you with a time and date that is seven days from the date of the Writ. At that time and date you must meet the Deputy at the property to take possession of the property.

If the deffendant has not left by this time, the Deputy will force him to leave. If there is still personal property on the premises then you must store the property for ten more days either in the residence or in storage.

During these ten days the Defendant must contact the landlord and make arrangements with the landlord to get his property. Once the property is turned over to the Landlord if the Defendant comes to the property without permission he is tresspassing and subject to prosecution. A landlord cannot hold the Defendant's property hostage to collect money owed to the landlord.

If the tennant does not collect his property within the ten days the landlord may dispose of it as he wishes.

How to collect money owed from someone:

If you feel someone owes you money than you must file a lawsuit to collect. If the amount is under $5000 than you may file a Small Claims action against them at the Clerk of Court. Remember that there is a fee for this but you do not need an attorney.

At the court date, if the Magistrate finds in your favor, the deffendant will be ordered to pay the awarded damages and a judgement will be entered against him.

If the amount is owed is over $5000 then you must hire an attorney and pursue them in Distrct Court. This may be an expensive and lengthy process.

If he does not pay, however, then you must take additional steps. You must then file a proceeding called a notice of rights to be designated. This gives the deffendant the opportunity to protect some basic assets neccessary to live such as a portion of their home, a car, and some of their personal property.

Next you must execute on the judgement. You file a writ of execution at the Clerk of Court. The Execution is sent to the Sheriff Office. The Sheriff's Office Civil Process Division will then investigate to determine if the Deffendant has any real or personal property that can be levied on and sold to cover the debt.

If the Deffendant does not have any property that can be levied on than it is sent back unservable. You then have up to ten years from the date of the original judgement to reissue the writ of execution. A large percentage of deffendants cannot be levied upon.