when does the sheriff get involved with debt collection??

Hi, I have a question regarding the protocol for debt collection. Yesterday a sheriff came to my door, looking for someone by a name that I had never heard before. I told the sheriff that no one by that name lived at the residence, and that I had only been renting the house since last October. When I asked what the trouble was about, the sheriff replied that it was a matter of debt collection. The man he was looking for owed some money to a credit card company, and he had come to inform this man to take care of the matter ASAP.
This struck me as somewhat odd. Is it standard procedure for a sheriff to make house calls regarding personal debt???
I feel uneasy with the situation, as I am a woman living alone at the end of a very long dirt road in the country. I automatically began to worry that there was another reason, aside from debt collection, for the sheriff's house call.
I would sleep better at night if anyone was able to tell me that this is, indeed, a normal practice, and that the previous tenant was not necessarily being sought by the sheriff for more alarming or criminal charges.
Thank you very much for any feedback!

Did you get his name so you could check with his office?

sounds fairly normal, the sherrif does nothing but house calls usually as when it gets that far it is about removal of assets.

To put your mind at ease I would ring the sherrifs office on monday morning and give them your name and address and the name that the sherriff was looking for and ask them to confirm that it was a member of their staff, if not then report to the police.

222 said:

Is it standard procedure for a sheriff to make house calls regarding personal debt???

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Yes. Any company with a contractual debt can bring the debtor to court to get a judgement against them. The judge can rule that the sheriff should enter the property and take items up to the value of the debt.

The sheriff very rarely ever seizes property. In fact it is often a waste of time and money sending the sheriff after private persons.

A creditor would be better off getting an instalment order or a judgement mortgage.

Thank you all very much for such prompt and reassuring responses! I am impressed with this forum, and thankful that it exists!

222 said:

I feel uneasy with the situation, as I am a woman living alone at the end of a very long dirt road in the country. I automatically began to worry that there was another reason, aside from debt collection, for the sheriff's house call.

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I'm not intending to be rude here, but seriously, get over yourself.
A guy called to your door, doing his job looking for someone who no longer lives there.
The end.
Let's not make a drama out of nothing.

@TwoWheels, I disagree. There are an awful lot of scammers going around. Fake charities, conmens who will clean your windows (inside and out) for €20, scoping out the back of people's properties to see whether any windows are left open or if an alarm is installed... a lot of the more vicious ones target the vulnerable and elderly.

If he was doing his job he should know were the previous tenant is now living.

Peter54 said:

If he was doing his job he should know were the previous tenant is now living.

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Not really it takes months to get a judgement then it goes to the sheriff - he is only working off information given to him by the creditor/courts.

Does anyone know who gives the Sheriff the power to take peoples personal stuff?
I read somewhere that Sheriffs dont have a licence to operate in this country and that usually people give over their possessions 'of their own accord'. Probably because the Sheriff isn't questioned by the person involved.
Does he need a warrant to enter the property? What if someone was to say they were 'Joe Bloggs'? Does the Sheriff ask for ID?

The sheriff is a court officer. He works for the county registrar in the circuit court. He will have a distress warrant to seize goods to the value of the debt.