Court terms and outcomes

• Continuation
• Sist
• Dismiss
• Decree

Continuation

A continuation of an action allows for the case to be continued to another date. It is only a temporary postponement and allows the client time to make an arrangement with the landlord, seek money advice or make an application for benefit.

This order is made by a sheriff. The client, lay representative or landlord can make a request to the sheriff to have a case continued.

Heritable summary cause actions are either continued1Sch 1 r8.2(3) Summary Cause Rules in or adjourned2s16(1) H(S)A 2001 on one occasion only for a period of up 12 weeks. No further continuations or adjournments can be granted unless there are exceptional circumstances. This may vary from court to court. The sheriff’s decision is final.

 

1     Sch 1 r8.2(3) Summary Cause Rules »

2     s16(1) H(S)A 2001 »

Sist

Sisting of an action allows a temporary halt of proceedings.

Unlike continuation, with sisting, the case comes off the court agenda. To reawaken the case, the landlord must make an incidental application to the court to recall the sist. This often happens when the client defaults on a payment arrangement.

Dismiss

If a case is dismissed by the sheriff, it means they feel there is no case to hear.

This may happen if the landlord has requested the case be dismissed, the landlord has not followed the proper procedures to bring the client to court, or the arrears have been cleared.

If the case was dismissed because the landlord did not follow procedures correctly but the grounds for the case remain, the landlord can start legal action against the client again from the beginning. If it was dismissed for any other reason, it is the end of the case.

Decree

A decree is a court order. When a creditor is seeking a decree against a client, they are asking the court to make a decision in their favour. A creditor usually seeks three craves (ie, demands). For housing cases, they are likely to be for:

•the clients to be evicted;
•eviction and repayment of rent arrears;
•for the expenses of the action.

 

Decree time limits

A decree specifies a period of time during which the landlord can start the eviction process. The decree prescribes a maximum period of six months starting from the date the decree was extracted.1Art 2 The Scottish Secure Tenancies (Repossession Orders) (Maximum Period) Order 2012 No.128 The time limit may be less than this, but not more.

Note:

•If a landlord evicts the tenants within this time, the tenancy ends.
•If the landlord does not evict them within this time, the order ceases to have effect.
•If the client continues to fail to pay rent, the landlord must meet the pre-action requirements before further court action can be taken.

 

1     Art 2 The Scottish Secure Tenancies (Repossession Orders) (Maximum Period) Order 2012 No.128 »