Fieri Facias is Latin meaning “that you cause it to be made.” A writ of fieri facias (or writ of fi. fa.) is a writ to enforce the collection of a claim that has gone to judgment and has become final. It directs the sheriff to levy and make the amount of a judgment from the goods and chattels of the judgment debtor.
REFERENCE DESK
Execution of Writs, 45 Pa.C.C. 577 (PA Atty. General, 2017):
A fieri facias is a writ of execution directing the sheriff to cause the sum or debt to be made out of goods and chattels of the judgment debtor. The foundation of the writ is a judgment for debt or damages. The judgment could only be obtained after an original writ had brought the parties into court. A fieri facias based upon that judgment could, therefore, hardly be said to be an original writ.
A levari facias is much less an original writ, because it is a writ of execution directing the sheriff to sell the goods and *578 chattels which have theretofore been levied upon, usually by a writ of fieri facias.
A writ of habere facias possessionem is based upon a judgment in ejectment, and commands the sheriff to cause the plaintiff to have possession of the land. The parties must have brought into court the original writ of ejectment before the writ of habere facias possessionem could issue, and therefore it cannot be said to be an original writ.
United States v. Richards, 2009 WL 10690320 (N.D. Ga. Dec. 3, 2009):
“Fieri facias” is a “writ of execution that directs a marshal or sheriff to seize and sell a defendant’s property to satisfy a money judgment.” Id. at *1 n. 2.
Schwartz v. Rent-A-Wreck of America, 397 F. Supp. 3d 778 (D. Ma. 2018):
Fieri Facias is a writ that instructs a sheriff to seize and sell a defendant’s property in order to satisfy a monetary judgment against the defendant.