Please advise - it's all gone SO wrong
lisawaters
Posts: 2,081 Forumite
Forumite Lisawaters (real name Mike) started this discussion back in 2010, and thanks to other forumites was helped by DIY SOS. (The original story is below.) Three years on he's written a book.
Back to the original post...
AS SEEN ON TV! Hi... welcome to this thread. It's a long one, and it has gained a life of its own through the incredible posts people are making. It's supposed to be about my problems with a very bad builder, and occasionally it is. But you might want to throw in your own thoughts about your life. It's a friendly and accepting bunch of people finding out about themselves. Read from the start if you have time, or just go to the latest messages and pick it up as you go along...
Summary...
Four years ago I was married, kids, big house, good income, self employed. Things were OK. Today, I'm living in a building site, divorced, in debt, broke, severely depressed and on benefits. How did this happen? I paid a builder up front to do some work...
I began to get clinical depression in 2004. I had to stop working and we lived off our savings. Then we got divorced. The big family house was sold, and I rented a flat and then after a year bought a practically derelict house. It was owned by a lady whose health was ruined by the damp. The house was stacked floor to ceiling with boxes and clothes. There was also an ivy tree growing up through the middle and though the roof. The surveyor and I couldn't even get into three of the rooms.
I had enough divorce money to renovate it, and a builder was recommended. I engaged him, paid him some money up front (yes, I know - I'll come to that!) and he started stripping it down. More requests for money were met. He was doing a good job. Then a larger payment was requested so he could order oak frames and stuff.
Then he simply left the site. No rows, no explanation.
After a few weeks it was clear he wasn't coming back. He'd quoted low to get the job because he knew I'd pay cash up front. He probably used the money to pay his debts and finish other jobs. Whatever. After months of unreturned calls to him I engaged a solicitor to go after him. I was now severely depressed and had diabetes, high blood pressure, all that. No kitchen or freezer or culinary skills. And I had laser eye surgery that went badly wrong. The solicitor obtained a CCJ against the builder for £22,050. She wanted several thousand pounds more to obtain a charging order against him. I couldn't pay her as I'd spent the last of my savings on a roof and my car was sold to buy a boiler and bathroom suite and I had to move in to the cottage as my friends were tired of finding me on their sofa each morning. Living in the cottage was like camping on a building site. Dust got into everything, there was a single cold tap in the garage, and power came through four extension leads. That was in July 2008. I used the showers at the nearby swimming pool. The cottage got a lot colder that January. And this January was worse. And I am still washing up dishes in the sink in my bathroom sink.
I obtained a final charging order against the builder. Outside the courtroom he said he'd get a loan for the money he admitted he still owed me (aka stole) but he did nothing further about it despite knowing that my plan was to obtain an order forcing him to sell his house. I even offered him a couple of grand off if he paid in seven days. No response. I still believed he was a good bloke who had temporary problems.
I contacted the Citizens' Advice Bureau and a legal helpline. Because his house was in joint names with his wife, and the debt was his alone, they said, I could not force him to sell the house. The police weren't interested as it's a civil matter. Then my Incapacity Benefit stopped after a personal capability assessment medical examination.
Although I might get some money from the builder when he sells his house as I'm now listed as a creditor on the property register I'll be in my 70s probably. Or 80s. Who knows? He could leave the house to his children and I wouldn't see a penny. It's another court case and masses of work to get him to court and only 0.4% of Force of Sale judgments are in favour of the creditor.
It's a chocolate box c18th flint cottage outside but inside should be stainless steel, pure white walls, there's wiring for a computerised lighting and audio system. All planned before things went very wrong. It's in a conservation area but is NOT listed because successive previous owners ruined it structurally. I paid £170k for the house. Done up it could be worth at least £250k. The house is currently worth £150k at most and would probably only sell to a builder who wanted a quick turnaround project. It will only cost about £20k to finish it to a high standard.
I wasn't doing it up to sell though. It's yards from the beach and I love it and want to live in it. I won first prize in the town's gardens competition for my hanging baskets last summer and the exterior at the front looks great. But it's a wreck inside. There's plywood over the hole he left in the living room wall for the patio doors. I can't heat it. Most of the ceilings aren't there. The small garden is littered with asbestos sheet left by the builder.
But no-one will lend me the £20k. My mortgage lender isn't interested because the DWP is currently paying the mortgage as I won the Tribunal, but I don't know for how long. My bank credit card was maxed out ages ago on plumbing stuff so the bank isn't returning my calls. Now I've been told I probably can't make the builder sell his house despite my having obtained a County Court Judgment and a Final Charging Order against him because of the way he and his wife own their home - tenants in common.
I might be able to get an Attachment to Earnings against him, but I can't tell the court how much he should pay me a month. I suspect he lied about having a job and is really just taking deposits off people for work he has no intention of doing. [text removed] He admits he turns over £100,000 a year but has never shown a profit or paid income tax. His wife works too. The court might allow him to walk away paying £80 a month if he IS employed but he's arranged that wil five or six other creditors and never paid them a penny. According to the law, he doesn't have to! That means I'll be paid off in 23 years' time if all goes well and if he keeps up the payments. And if I don't have a stroke from all the stress he has caused me.
I don't fit the profile for the council or charities to help me, mainly because I'm under 60 and I 'own' the house. I am at the end of my tether and have no idea what to do next. I am already ruined financially and physically and mentally. And the system lets him go into people's houses and take their money without forcing him to pay back a penny.
He knows the system's mad. He has a nice warm house and it's not at risk of repossession. Mine is.
No I shouldn't have paid him up front. But he was recommended as a sound fellow and a good builder. You have to trust people sometimes. Like all conmen, he was very likeable and convincing. I now realise if his lips were moving, he was lying. And of course I was naive. I was excited! Things were going well for me after a tough divorce and I was getting over my depression. How little I knew then.
In March 2010 I was featured on BBC's The One Show in an insert about how having CCJs and court orders doesn't mean the debtor has to pay if he doesn't feel like it. They named and shamed him too. I had emails and calls from other people who have also been ripped off by this thief, and I believe he is still doing it today.
I posted this thread expecting to have a few replies, but people are amazing. This thread's had more than 100,000 views and I've had some 1,500 messages of support and sympathy. That's a lot of nice people.
I haven't decided when or if I should apply for the Force of Sale. I need more information before I decide. I will probably only get one chance.
I'm not sure what more anyone can do, and I am struggling with depression, real poverty and ill health caused by him and living in a wrecked house. I hope something comes along soon.
Thanks,
Mike
http://picasaweb.google.com/purdiecomms/BeforeDuringAndNow?feat=directlink#
Back to the original post...
AS SEEN ON TV! Hi... welcome to this thread. It's a long one, and it has gained a life of its own through the incredible posts people are making. It's supposed to be about my problems with a very bad builder, and occasionally it is. But you might want to throw in your own thoughts about your life. It's a friendly and accepting bunch of people finding out about themselves. Read from the start if you have time, or just go to the latest messages and pick it up as you go along...
Summary...
Four years ago I was married, kids, big house, good income, self employed. Things were OK. Today, I'm living in a building site, divorced, in debt, broke, severely depressed and on benefits. How did this happen? I paid a builder up front to do some work...
I began to get clinical depression in 2004. I had to stop working and we lived off our savings. Then we got divorced. The big family house was sold, and I rented a flat and then after a year bought a practically derelict house. It was owned by a lady whose health was ruined by the damp. The house was stacked floor to ceiling with boxes and clothes. There was also an ivy tree growing up through the middle and though the roof. The surveyor and I couldn't even get into three of the rooms.
I had enough divorce money to renovate it, and a builder was recommended. I engaged him, paid him some money up front (yes, I know - I'll come to that!) and he started stripping it down. More requests for money were met. He was doing a good job. Then a larger payment was requested so he could order oak frames and stuff.
Then he simply left the site. No rows, no explanation.
After a few weeks it was clear he wasn't coming back. He'd quoted low to get the job because he knew I'd pay cash up front. He probably used the money to pay his debts and finish other jobs. Whatever. After months of unreturned calls to him I engaged a solicitor to go after him. I was now severely depressed and had diabetes, high blood pressure, all that. No kitchen or freezer or culinary skills. And I had laser eye surgery that went badly wrong. The solicitor obtained a CCJ against the builder for £22,050. She wanted several thousand pounds more to obtain a charging order against him. I couldn't pay her as I'd spent the last of my savings on a roof and my car was sold to buy a boiler and bathroom suite and I had to move in to the cottage as my friends were tired of finding me on their sofa each morning. Living in the cottage was like camping on a building site. Dust got into everything, there was a single cold tap in the garage, and power came through four extension leads. That was in July 2008. I used the showers at the nearby swimming pool. The cottage got a lot colder that January. And this January was worse. And I am still washing up dishes in the sink in my bathroom sink.
I obtained a final charging order against the builder. Outside the courtroom he said he'd get a loan for the money he admitted he still owed me (aka stole) but he did nothing further about it despite knowing that my plan was to obtain an order forcing him to sell his house. I even offered him a couple of grand off if he paid in seven days. No response. I still believed he was a good bloke who had temporary problems.
I contacted the Citizens' Advice Bureau and a legal helpline. Because his house was in joint names with his wife, and the debt was his alone, they said, I could not force him to sell the house. The police weren't interested as it's a civil matter. Then my Incapacity Benefit stopped after a personal capability assessment medical examination.
Although I might get some money from the builder when he sells his house as I'm now listed as a creditor on the property register I'll be in my 70s probably. Or 80s. Who knows? He could leave the house to his children and I wouldn't see a penny. It's another court case and masses of work to get him to court and only 0.4% of Force of Sale judgments are in favour of the creditor.
It's a chocolate box c18th flint cottage outside but inside should be stainless steel, pure white walls, there's wiring for a computerised lighting and audio system. All planned before things went very wrong. It's in a conservation area but is NOT listed because successive previous owners ruined it structurally. I paid £170k for the house. Done up it could be worth at least £250k. The house is currently worth £150k at most and would probably only sell to a builder who wanted a quick turnaround project. It will only cost about £20k to finish it to a high standard.
I wasn't doing it up to sell though. It's yards from the beach and I love it and want to live in it. I won first prize in the town's gardens competition for my hanging baskets last summer and the exterior at the front looks great. But it's a wreck inside. There's plywood over the hole he left in the living room wall for the patio doors. I can't heat it. Most of the ceilings aren't there. The small garden is littered with asbestos sheet left by the builder.
But no-one will lend me the £20k. My mortgage lender isn't interested because the DWP is currently paying the mortgage as I won the Tribunal, but I don't know for how long. My bank credit card was maxed out ages ago on plumbing stuff so the bank isn't returning my calls. Now I've been told I probably can't make the builder sell his house despite my having obtained a County Court Judgment and a Final Charging Order against him because of the way he and his wife own their home - tenants in common.
I might be able to get an Attachment to Earnings against him, but I can't tell the court how much he should pay me a month. I suspect he lied about having a job and is really just taking deposits off people for work he has no intention of doing. [text removed] He admits he turns over £100,000 a year but has never shown a profit or paid income tax. His wife works too. The court might allow him to walk away paying £80 a month if he IS employed but he's arranged that wil five or six other creditors and never paid them a penny. According to the law, he doesn't have to! That means I'll be paid off in 23 years' time if all goes well and if he keeps up the payments. And if I don't have a stroke from all the stress he has caused me.
I don't fit the profile for the council or charities to help me, mainly because I'm under 60 and I 'own' the house. I am at the end of my tether and have no idea what to do next. I am already ruined financially and physically and mentally. And the system lets him go into people's houses and take their money without forcing him to pay back a penny.
He knows the system's mad. He has a nice warm house and it's not at risk of repossession. Mine is.
No I shouldn't have paid him up front. But he was recommended as a sound fellow and a good builder. You have to trust people sometimes. Like all conmen, he was very likeable and convincing. I now realise if his lips were moving, he was lying. And of course I was naive. I was excited! Things were going well for me after a tough divorce and I was getting over my depression. How little I knew then.
In March 2010 I was featured on BBC's The One Show in an insert about how having CCJs and court orders doesn't mean the debtor has to pay if he doesn't feel like it. They named and shamed him too. I had emails and calls from other people who have also been ripped off by this thief, and I believe he is still doing it today.
I posted this thread expecting to have a few replies, but people are amazing. This thread's had more than 100,000 views and I've had some 1,500 messages of support and sympathy. That's a lot of nice people.
I haven't decided when or if I should apply for the Force of Sale. I need more information before I decide. I will probably only get one chance.
I'm not sure what more anyone can do, and I am struggling with depression, real poverty and ill health caused by him and living in a wrecked house. I hope something comes along soon.
Thanks,
Mike
http://picasaweb.google.com/purdiecomms/BeforeDuringAndNow?feat=directlink#
0
Comments
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Beggar-me-jeesurs. Talk about unlucky or what!
I can't help much with the advice but thought i'd say - fuk me - what a nightmare. I think you should go to the press and magazines, they will pay you a few hundred for the story - it is something to live on right now I s'pose....
edit: post the builders details and i'll arrange for him to vanish! lol
2010 - year of the troll
Niddy - Over & Out :wave:
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Hi Lisa, sorry to hear you are having such a hard time.
All I can say is be very careful about relying on the charging order to get your money back. There are threads on here when people have had charging orders and have been advised that their Solicitors should not inform the creditors until the last minute making it nigh on impossiblt for them to actually get the cash before the contracts have been exchanged and the money from the sale is safely stashed away somewhere!
Better forewarned for you on this one.
What happened with the Jag? You still got it or did you have to sell it?
All I can add is, keep the dream because it sounds like that's what's keeping you going atm. Hope you get better soon.
PooOne of Mike's Mob, Street Found Money £1.66, Non Sealed Pot (5p,2p,1p)£6.82? (£0 banked), Online Opinions 5/50pts, Piggy points 15, Ipsos 3930pts (£25+), Valued Opinions £12.85, MutualPoints 1786, Slicethepie £0.12, Toluna 7870pts, DFD Computer says NO!0 -
Wow..what a time your having!! I really dont think i could advise you much but i do hope you can begin to figure somethings out!
Just a thought but might be worth checking freecycle and gumtree you never know people might be giving away odd bits to help with getting your house fixed up......10k in 2010 challange - or 8k in my case!! £351.87 / £8'000 - member 123!
LBM - July 09 £6982.97 :mad: Dealing with my debt..finally!!!!:j,Total - £2518.92 (Mar 10)
won £1136 barclays charges, £1126 hfc ppi, £1126 loan charges, £212 outfit ppi, £170 outfit charges, £156 vanquis charges, £140 Northern rock charges..... and still fighting....0 -
The Jag transformed into a boiler and 11 radiators, sadly...
It warms up damn fast though!0 -
I didnt want to read and run im so sorry about this carry on, i dont know what to suggest, when you give in good faith you expect a job done surely there is more that can be done, does his wife know what he has done? can you not tarnish his business report him in a paper, he will loose out on business will he not i dont know what i would do myself arghhhhh .... can you try again to get the cash back ? or tell him he has to finish the job ?? what about reporting him to a standards agency ? im so very sorry for you xI AM A MONEY MAGNET, THEY ARE MAKING MORE MONEY FOR ME AS WE SPEAK:pMIKES MOB, DFW NERD 1071, DFW LHS 132!MIRACLES HAPPEN I'VE SEEN IT WITH MY OWN EYES. LBM 08£77240.69 Current outstanding total £36083.01 Paid so far = £41157.680
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have you thought about going to the ~BBC's Rogue Traders, or possibly even DIY SOS? I'm sure one of them would pick up your case and help!0
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totally agree with Ceejaydee23 i would tarnish him publicly, he is a thief!!! i have no further advice i'm afraid, i just didn't want to read and run
I have had a dealing with a dodgy builder too recently after buying this wreck of a house forked out £50,000 to do it up and now there's cracks in all the new plaster work, light switches falling off and water taps leaking and a cooker hood that blows out instead of sucks...the warranty is up on that now...he's been due to come 7 times to fix it
i know it's a very smaller scale but i sort of know where you are coming from
good luck with what you decide to do xHoping to of finally learned my lesson...slowly but surely0 -
Def try Freecycle. You never know what is on offer or what peoplemight dig out to give away.
I have no advice about the scum sucking builder. Foul little cretin.
I would for the time being try to make one or two rooms as liveable as possible and go from there.
It is crap but if you want the house I guess this something you have to go through. Horrible vile builder tho. I really do hate people like that.
Keep postinghere, its very inspiring what people can do.
xxxxNevertheless she persisted.0 -
Hi Lisa
Sorry to hear about your bad luck.
I'm a bit confused by your post - you said that you'd got a charging order on the builder's house but then you are also trying to get the money taken out of his wages?
If you have got a charging order on his house, what will happen is that when the house is sold, you will get your money, probably plus interest out of his share of the proceeds. The reason you would have been advised to do this rather than try and get money out of his wages, is that if he is self-employed there is no 'employer' who organises his pay. So you have had the right advice.
But you will get your money eventually, so (and I know this is easy to say) you shouldn't worry about it further. You have done all you can so put it to the back of your mind, get on with your life and whenever his house is sold look forward to what will feel like an unexpected windfall at the time.
I'm in the middle of renovating a flat and I know it is horrible to live on a building site, and I do sympathise. I am trying to get debt free at the same time, so doing the work is taking ages as I can only do the bits that I can afford to each month and previously I was taking a scattergun approach, a bit here, a bit there. My tip would be to focus on one room, like your bedroom or the front room and get it done. At least then you will have one nice place to sit and that will make you feel better, and then you can think about the next room. Trying to think of the whole project just makes me feel overwhelmed, whereas if I break it down into tiny steps (eg today I am going to sand the door frame, tomorrow I will sand the back of the door), gradually it starts coming together. It's going to take me all year though
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Oh hun, I have absolutely no words of wisdom at all but I just wanted to post to let you know I am sorry you're having to go through this all.
As a few people above have said, what would it take to make one room habitable and nice. Do you have any fight left in you to be able to do that?Start Date: 27/11/2010
Padding: Day 42
Target £8000
Amount: £562.230
This discussion has been closed.
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