Legal Definitions - tarde venit

Tarde venit is a Latin legal term meaning "it came late." It describes a situation where a legal order, known as a writ, was delivered to an enforcing officer (such as a sheriff or marshal) too late for them to carry out its instructions or report back to the court by the specified deadline, known as the "return day." Essentially, the officer received the court's command after the time allowed for its execution had already passed or was too imminent to be practically fulfilled.

• Example 1: Eviction Order

  A court issues a writ of possession, ordering the sheriff to evict a tenant from a property by October 15th, which is the designated return day for the writ. However, due to an administrative oversight, the court clerk's office only manages to deliver the writ to the sheriff's department on the afternoon of October 14th. By the time the sheriff's office receives it, there is insufficient time to legally serve the tenant with the required notice and execute the eviction before the October 15th deadline. The sheriff would then make a "tarde venit" return to the court, indicating that the writ was received too late to be acted upon.

• Example 2: Seizure of Assets

  A creditor obtains a judgment against a debtor and the court issues a writ of execution, instructing the sheriff to seize certain non-exempt assets of the debtor to satisfy the debt. The writ specifies that the sheriff must complete this action and report back to the court by November 30th. Unfortunately, the writ is not processed and sent to the sheriff's office until December 1st. When the sheriff's office receives the writ, the return day has already passed. In this scenario, the sheriff would file a "tarde venit" return, explaining that the legal instruction arrived after the deadline for its execution had expired.

• Example 3: Witness Summons

  A lawyer needs a specific witness to appear for a deposition on December 10th, and the court issues a subpoena (a type of writ) for this purpose, with a return day for service set for December 7th to ensure the witness has adequate notice. However, the subpoena is only delivered to the process server, who is responsible for handing it to the witness, on December 8th. By this point, the deadline for proper service has passed, and there isn't enough time to legally serve the witness and allow them reasonable preparation for the deposition. The process server would report back to the court with a "tarde venit" explanation, stating that the subpoena was received too late to be effectively served before the required date.