Just wanted to say Thank you...

Hi there,
I haven’t really started many threads on this forum, but have often gleamed through the site for useful information and snippets on dealing with debt.

Today, I accompanied my mother to the courts as Shoosmiths (acting for RBS) had already successfully got a CCJ and had issued a redetermination order.

Arrived in good time– met the slime ball solicitor(Shoosmiths) who was working for RBS and he wanted a quick few words with Mum before the hearing. Basically, reading through his threats he wanted his pound of flesh and there was no way we could stop what would happen – he tried to get Mum to agree to paying more money but Mum said that she felt it best to end the conversation as they weren’t going to agree on anything.

Well, we are all called in to the court, and slime ball runs through what they want and the Judge asked Mum if she understood what was happening. Mum tried to explain about her circumstances and gave the Judge some background information that we’d gathered (as directed by Citizens Advice bureau) but the Judge just snapped at Mum telling her she didn’t have time to go through all that information as she had the facts in front of her. What facts she had, we have no idea, as Mum has not presented any information.

Anyway, the Judge then checked out Mums statement of affairs (all her outgoings in a month) and was starting to side with RBS. Basically, RBS wanted a charging order put on Mum’s house to secure the debt (currently she’s paying £5.00 a month which will take 45 years to pay off) and to increase payments. By this point, Mum was near hysterical as they were really going for the kill – however, I had a blinding flash of inspiration (Martins money forum) and mentioned that I thought they were unable to place a charging order on her house as Mum had not defaulted on any payments since the CCJ had been placed back in June. I also mentioned a landmark case ( Mercantile Credit Co Ltd v Ellis in 1987. ) that set president for similar cases such as Mums - Well as quick as a flash, the Judge sat back in her chair and said I was totally right that she was unable to challenge the order in place as Mum had not defaulted – case dismissed!

So the long shot of it is, Mum just has to make sure she never misses a payment (she has a direct debit in place already) Now what I can’t really understand is to me – it felt like the Judge and solicitor were working in cahoots (I’m nearly sure that’s not possible) but it was, excuse my French, Bloody unbelievable and then to make matters even more laughable – the Judge congratulates me on my calmness and my depth of knowledge in the law (Maybe she was taking the p***?)

Mum and I left thinking we’d previously been in a parallel universe as it was so bloody peculiar! Anyhow, all’s sorted now but it made me realise that the law isn’t always there to protect you – in fact, where debt is concerned they are nearly always going to get their pound of flesh, unless you do your homework...

I would like to say on behalf of my Mum & I, a huge heartfelt thank you to all you people out there that contribute fantastic advice and support – Thank you for caring enough to share such private matters with complete strangers.