How to seize assets for civil judgment enforcement?

Legal Consulting Office of Lao Dong Newspaper answers:

Article 54 of Decree 152/2026/ND-CP (effective from July 1, 2026) stipulates the seizure of assets for civil judgment enforcement as follows:

1. In case the property has been subject to preventive measures, temporary emergency measures, measures to ensure judgment enforcement, or measures to enforce judgment enforcement that generate transactions related to that property, that property shall be distrained and handled for judgment enforcement. The judgment enforcement officer shall have a written request to the Court to declare the transaction invalid or request the competent authority to cancel documents related to the transaction for that property.

2. In case there is a property transaction without other assets or there are other assets but not enough to ensure judgment enforcement obligations and judgment enforcement costs, the handling is as follows:

a) In case there is a property transaction but the transfer of ownership and use rights has not been completed, the Judgment Enforcement Officer shall proceed to seize and handle the property according to regulations. When seizing property, if there is a dispute, the Judgment Enforcement Officer shall implement according to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 39 of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement, in case it is necessary to declare the transaction invalid or request the competent authority to cancel documents related to the transaction, it shall be implemented according to the provisions of Clause 4, Article 39 of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement;

b) In case there is a property transaction from the time the judgment or decision takes legal effect but the transfer of ownership and use rights has been completed, the Judgment Enforcement Officer does not seize the property but implements it according to the provisions of Clause 4, Article 39 of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement and has a written notice to the relevant agency, organization, or individual to coordinate in temporarily suspending the transaction, temporarily suspending the registration, transfer of ownership, use rights, and changing the current status of the property.

The handling of assets is carried out according to the decision of the Court or competent authority;

c) In case there are other transactions related to property that do not transfer property ownership and use rights to others, the Judgment Enforcement Officer shall proceed to distraint and handle the property for judgment enforcement. The legitimate rights and interests of the transaction participants are exercised in accordance with the provisions of civil law and relevant legal regulations.

3. Civil judgment enforcement agencies only seize and handle common assets such as land use rights, houses and other assets attached to land when other assets are not sufficient for judgment enforcement or when there is a request from the judgment debtor specified in Clause 4 of this Article.

4. In case of payment obligation enforcement and the judgment debtor hands over assets to the civil judgment enforcement agency for handling or requests the distraint of specific assets among many assets without hindering judgment enforcement and that assets are sufficient for judgment enforcement, related expenses, the Judgment Enforcer shall issue a decision and carry out the distraint of assets according to the provisions of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement and this Decree. The judgment debtor is restricted from the right to conduct transactions with other assets until the completion of the judgment enforcement obligation.

5. In case the distrained property is being leased, the Judgment Enforcement Officer shall implement it according to the provisions of point b, clause 2, Article 80 of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement.

6. The judgment enforcement officer issues a decision to additionally seize according to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 80 of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement in case of discovering additional assets of the judgment debtor attached to the seized assets.

In case other assets are found not attached to the seized assets, the Judgment Enforcement Officer shall issue a new seizure decision for that asset and handle it according to the provisions of law.

In case the distraint decision has errors but does not change the content of the distraint decision, the Judgment Enforcement Officer shall issue a decision to amend and supplement the distraint decision.

Thus, from July 1, 2026, the distraint of assets for civil judgment enforcement is regulated as above.