Where the attachment concerns property in the hands of a third party and in premises occupied as a dwelling house by the third party, it shall be authorized by the court of the place where the said property is located.
Upon presentation of the summons to pay served on the debtor in accordance with the provisions of Article s 92 to 94 of the OHADA Law, upon the expiry of the period of eight (8) days of its date, and upon the eventual presentation, where possible, of the order of the court provided for in the preceding paragraph, the bailiff or process server may attach property in the hands of a third party held on behalf of debtor.
Following the same procedure, the creditor may also attach any property in his hand which belongs to the debtor.
The bailiff or process server shall invite the third party to declare the property which he is holding on behalf of the debtor and any part of it which may have been subject to some previous attachment.
In case of refusal to declare or in the event of any inaccurate or false declaration, the third party may be ordered to pay for the subject matter of the attachment subject to any action which he may file against his debtor. He may also be ordered to pay damages.
Where the third party declares that he does not have any property belonging to the debtor in his possession or where he refuses to make any declaration, a report to that effect shall be drawn up. The said report shall be handed over to, or served on the third party, with an indication in bold characters of the sanction referred to in the preceding paragraph.
Where the third party declares that property belonging to the debtor is in his custody, an inventory thereof shall be drawn up which shall, under pain of nullity, contain:-
1) The reference of the writ by virtue of which the attachment is carried out;
2) The date of the attachment, the full names, and residence of the distrainor or, in the case of a corporate body its legal form, corporate name and registered office; a possible choice of residence by the distrainor;
3) The full names and residence of the debtor or, in the case of a corporate person, its legal form,corporate name and registered office;
4) The full names and residence of the third party;
5) The third party’s declaration, and in bold characters, an indication that any inaccurate or false declaration shall make him liable for the debt, without prejudice to being held liable for any damages.
6) A detailed description of the property attached;
7) A statement in bold characters that the attached assets shall be inalienable, that they are placed in the hands of the third party, that they may neither be transferred nor removed, save under the circumstances provided for in Article 97 of the OHADA Law, under pain of criminal sanctions; and that the third party is required to disclose the present attachment to any creditor carrying out a subsequent attachment on the same property;
8) A statement that the third party may avail himself of the provisions of Article 112 of the OHADA Law, which shall be reproduced in the document;
9) A statement that the third party may assert his claim over the property attached , by a simple declaration or registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt or by any means with written proof addressed to the bailiff or process-server of the distrainor;
10) An indication of the court before which shall be brought any opposition relating to the attachment and sale;
11) An indication, where applicable, of the full names and status of the persons who were present during attachment process and who shall sign the original and the copies; in the case of refusal, it shall be mentioned in the report;
12) A reproduction of the criminal provisions governing fraudulent disposition of attached assets.
Where the third party is present during the attachment, the bailiff or process server shall verbally remind him of the provisions of Article 109 (5 ), (7) and (8) of the OHADA Law. Mention shall be made of these declarations in the attachment report and a copy bearing same signatures as the original shall immediately be handed to the debtor; such handing over shall serve as notification.
Where the third party was not present during the attachment, a copy of the report shall be served on him giving him a period of eight (8) days within which to inform the bailiff or process server of any details relating to all previous attachments and to send to him the report thereof.