Venditio Bonorum Law and Legal Definition
Venditio Bonorum is a Latin term which means “sale of goods.” Pursuant to Roman Law, venditio bonorum denotes the formal process of taking all property from a bankrupt or insolvent person and managing that estate to sell as son as possible and at the highest available price, with the proceed to satisfy as they can, the debts owed to the bankrupt’s creditors.
Vendito bonorum marked a turn in the law from what had been a long-standing practice to seize the person of the bankrupt and keep them in their creditor's bondage and slavery for the duration of their lives or a reasonable time as compensation for the unpaid debt.
The civil law continued the practice of vendito bonorum by taking all the property (estate) of the bankrupt in lieu of his person, and liquidating those assets to, at least in part, and proportionately, satisfies the unpaid creditor(s).
