Legal Definitions - QEN

QEN stands for the Latin phrase quare executionem non, which translates to "why execution should not be issued." In legal terms, it refers to a formal inquiry or challenge raised by a party to a lawsuit, asking the court to explain or justify why a judgment should be enforced against them, or arguing that there are specific reasons why it should not be enforced. It's a procedural step where a debtor or another interested party can present arguments against the implementation of a court's order to collect a debt or enforce a judgment.

Here are some examples of how QEN might apply:

• Exempt Assets: Imagine a court has ordered the seizure of funds from a person's bank account to satisfy a debt. The person files a QEN, arguing that the money in their account comes solely from disability benefits, which are legally protected from collection by creditors under state or federal law.

  This illustrates QEN because the individual is formally asking "why execution should be issued" against funds that are legally exempt, thereby challenging the legitimacy of the proposed enforcement action.

• Judgment Already Satisfied: A small business was ordered to pay a supplier for goods received. The business promptly paid the full amount of the judgment, but due to an administrative error, the supplier's attorney still initiates proceedings to seize the business's assets. The business owner files a QEN.

  In this scenario, the QEN serves as a formal declaration and proof to the court that the judgment has already been fully satisfied, and therefore, there is no longer any basis for "execution" or further enforcement actions to be taken.

• Procedural Irregularity: A homeowner receives notice that their property is about to be seized to satisfy an old debt, but they claim they were never properly served with the original lawsuit or the judgment order, meaning they never had a chance to defend themselves in court. They file a QEN.

  Here, the QEN is used to challenge the execution based on a fundamental procedural flaw—the lack of proper legal notice. The homeowner is essentially asking "why execution should be issued" when the underlying judgment itself might be invalid due to a violation of due process.