Charging Order? The myth

SuziQ wrote: »

I am currently recovering from 3 surgeries for bowel cancer and am in receipt of Income support and Carers allowance, and I have a child on the Autistic spectrum who I get HRC DLA for. He would react very badly to being moved from here. If it does go to court, would these 2 issues strengthen my case against being forced to sell? I have lived here 24 years, in fact 14 years before I met my ex. How I wish I had never made him joint owner!!! The debt is just over £7,000, by the way, and there is approx £100,000 equity in the home

You have just listed six or seven factors, any one of which would be a good argument against an order for sale

I am going to stick my neck out here and say that there isn't a single judge anywhere in the country who would grant one in your situation.

i was told by the solicitor that I saw yesterday, pretty much what I was told here-and he agreed, that not all solicitors realise the difference between joint owners in this situation. He emailed the solcitor in question, conforming that my ex doesn't live here anymore, and my circumstances, but they have today emailed ME not him, saying that if I don't provide them with my ex's address, they are going ahead and seeking an order to sell. I find it odd that they replied to me, that they ignored my circumstances etc and expect me to anger my ex by giving them his whereabouts. I have forwarded the email to the solicitor I saw, but he made it clear that he would need to be retained to fight this, and he said at this stage, right is on my side and he doesn't think I need to take on the expense (not that I can afford it!) So the joy continues. To make matters worse, when I faced my ex about all of this, we ended up having the biggest row we have ever had, said some awful things to one another, and he has made all sorts of threats, including going for custody of our child. I don't for one moment think he would win, as my son is very secure here and gets lots of support from me as his carer (ex works around the clock, completely unstructured and no way could he make his work fit our child's needs), but I do feel bitter about all of this!

Thanks Fatbelly. I just wish my ex would sort the debt out, but he would have to sell one of his work vehicles to do so and then his earnings would be affected, low as they are. Thanks for the reassurance though. I am fearful that if they do go for a court date I won't be informed as this has happened before-hence the case being given against my ex in his absence. I am going to 'phone the court on a regular basis to see if any case has been listed, just in case!

Thanks eggbox. The only thing I want to say though is that they ARE a bone fide solicitors firm, not a debt collection agency. Which does make me wonder-although I suppose even real solicitors make mistakes. I talked to a friend who works at a solicitors today and she says they often just try to frighten people, as in her experience there are enough people that 'cough up' to make it worth trying!

blueback wrote: »

I am so gald that Northern Rock took the Charging Order in the first place because I am now saving, have no debts and have over £90000 unenforceable.

This. I had two and a half years of hell until a well known credit card company named after a foodstuff finally took me to court, after ignoring 2.5 years of phone calls and post.

Now that a CO is in force, they are in the negative equity doodoo with me. Well done them. Since it's been in place I've paid them 10 pounds a month and concentrated on mortgage arrears with ALL of the disposable income. There's no way I'd ever have been able to do that without constant house visits from all the other creditors otherwise.

I worked out how long it was going to take to recover and concluded I was going to be unable to borrow for six years anyway - so didn't give two figs about my credit rating any further. I started looking at CCJs as a means of protecting ME.

Amazing how constructive they are over the phone when they mention court and you say "good, OK, when?" The way the other creditors were treating me changed HUGELY as soon as I had the first CCJ. When you can say "if I pay you rather than them I am in contempt" it's much easier to have a practical conversation.

This all assumes you're brave enough to assume you can do without credit going forward. Fortunately now we have pre-pay cards you don't NEED a credit card to function in society.