Distraint

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In English law, distraint or distress is a remedy for non-payment of rent. It involves the seizure of goods (chattels) belonging to the tenant by the landlord to sell them for the payment of the rent. The goods are held for five days and if the rent is not paid, they may be sold. The actual seizure of the goods may be carried out by the landlord (or an agent of the landlord's) or a bailiff. Certain goods are protected against distraint - these are called "privileged goods". Such goods include: goods belonging to the Crown, fixtures, goods delivered to the tenant or debtor for business purposes, the goods of a guest, perishable goods (e.g. food), livestock, gas, water, electricity, tools of the tenant's trade, etc. The precedent for this can be found in the Magna Carta, and it is similar to the action of forfeiture in the United States.

In the UK, there have been proposals to reform this remedy. Concerns have been expressed that the remedy is capable of resulting in violations of human rights, such as Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to respect for private life. The Lord Chancellor's Department (now the Department for Constitutional Affairs) in May 2001 issued the consultation paper Enforcement Review Consultation Paper No. 5: Distress for Rent, which proposes abolishing distraint for residential leases, but retaining it for commercial property subject to certain safeguards to ensure compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998.