Advice for Dad - re CCJ,charging order,(Link Financial)

uptomyeyeballsindebt

Hi again,

My Dad has asked me to see if I can find out anything about a credit card debt he had(I think it was originally Barclaycard) that got passed to Link Financial.The debt was £2668.76,it went to court,and it was agreed that he payed £10 a month.He then had a letter come about a re determination,then one about a charging order.All the time he has continued to pay his £10,never missed one.

He has now had a default letter come from Link saying that he has breached clauses 1b and 8 of the agreements,and needs to pay the full amount by the 9th October.On or after the 9th the agreement will be terminated.

We are unsure about what is going on,he has tried to phone,but to say that they didn't help at all would be an understatement,we still don't know what is supposed to be happening.
Has anyone been in a similar situation and can offer some advice as to what may be happening before he tries to get someone a little more helpful on the other end of the phone?

tigerfeet2006

Bumping for the late night crew

GeorgeUK

Who were the letters about the re-determination and charging orders from? Did he ever receive anything from the courts about this or was it just threats from Link saying they "may" get a charging order?

Did they say what agreement it was that he had broken?

shinyhead

Hi,
We need some more info on this, such as how long ago was the CCJ, when was the redetermination and the charging order.

Have these all been threats from Link as George has said or from the courts?

Have to say that if the paperwork has been from the courts then it could be that he simply didn't understand what the redetermination meant, so when he continued to pay his £10 when it should now be £XXX then they'd have had the grounds for a CO, as by the redetermination he would have defaulted. But a CO isn't instant and happens over a long time. He should have a letter from the Land Registry as well if a CO is being/ has been processed.

Once again ask him for the paperwork. If from a court then I suggest he give them a call. They are usually very helpful.

shinyhead

Hi again,

I've just taken a look at the other thread you posted a few months ago. If that's anything to go by I think it's very unfortunate but I think your dad should have gone to the redetermination hearing in April and given his side. As it was held without him they got a forthwith. That means he had a set time to pay this or try to redetermine himself.
Obviously he hasn't done that so technically he's defaulted and Link have the right to go for a CO and will possibly try to force a sale of the house.

Do you know how far the CO process has been going on? There are two stages, the Interim Order comes first with notification of a hearing to be held on a set date and time. If the date of this hearing has passed and he hasn't gone then it will have been made final.

stapeley

Seems that he needs help sorting this out . If its not final can you go with him ? The courts are understanding and given he has kept up with what he was first ordered to pay, I,m sure it can be sorted . It is not morally right for these companies to bamboozle vulnerable people in this way . To confuse people so they do not understand the court procedure and therefore have redeterminations should not be allowed . If your father had gone back to court and been able to show he had kept to the orginal order the case would have been thrown out .

uptomyeyeballsindebt

Can I firstly just thank you all for taking the time to reply,it means a lot,even though it has me worried to bits now!1

Dad is at work at the mo,but I have found out some paperwork,hope this may help.

The original debt was with MBNA,Link Financial applied for the CCJ on 5th March 2008,the amount was £2697.04.
Dad filled in the income and expenditure bit on the admission form,with an offer of £10 per month,which the courts agreed to.
He has payed it on time every month,I have found all his PO proof of postings.

He then had a letter come from our local court dated 1st July 2008 for a Redetermination,he didn't attend,to be honest we didn't realise you had to at the time.As I said,he has continued to pay the £10.

I have found the letter from Link,one addressed to Mom,the other to DAd,dated 9th September and this says,

"Further to recent correspondance we write to inform you that an interim Order was obtained by the above named company(Link) against your interest in the above named property.We enclose the Interim Order and a copy of the application for a Charging Order.
Please note date and time,you should attend the hearing if you object to the order being made.
We would emphasise that once we have obtained a final Order we have the option of enforcing the County Court Judgement.You may avoid this course of action by contacting us prior to the hearing date with your settlement proposals."
The court date is 27th October 2008 at 2pm.

There are also two letters,again one in Moms name one in DAds dated 12th September from the Land registry office,which is a Notice of an application to register a restriction against the land.
It says as a result of the application the following entry is being made:
(12.09.2008)RESTRICTION:No disposition of the registered estate is to be registered without a certificate signed by the applicant for registrationor his conveyancer that written notice of the dispositon was given to Link Financial......
It then says at the bottom,if you object to this application you must do so before 12 noon on 3rd October.......I am so confused now,I am sure he hasn't read that bit.
Then as i said in my first post he had a default notice from link,to which he has to reply to by tomorrow.

I am sorry for going on,but I am confused now and worried about what is going to happen,so I can't understand how Dad and Mom must be feeling.I want to help all I can but I am not clued up on this,it is just so confusing.Please help,what should he do,is there anything that can be done?

stapeley

A charging order does not mean they will lose their home . It does mean if they ever sell ,Link will have first dibs on the money . I would strongly advise a trip to a solicitor . Even at this late stage I am sure it could be sorted out . It is not a huge amount in the scale of things although it must seem so to them . The worry is it maybe the tip of the iceburg.

shinyhead

Right, as the order hasn't been made final there's still a fighting chance.

I suggest:

1. Reply to the LR ASAP and say you intend to object. Their date is not necessarily set in stone.

2. You have until up to 7 days before the hearing to contact Link and the court saying you object to the CO and you want the hearing to be made. I believe you don't need to provide anything in writing for this but then you should get your payment evidence together for the hearing itself.

3. Contact National Debtline ASAP on 0808 808 4000- they're open from 9am to 9pm. Explain your situation. Might be an idea to ring the court as well tomorrow and once again explain your position. Your local CAB may be able to help too as some of the larger ones can offer legal advice from a solicitor for free. You might not have enough time left for the last one though, but still worth a try.

Don't forget to send everything at least by recorded delivery - you might want to send your letter to the LR by special delivery.

uptomyeyeballsindebt

I must again thank you all for your help,you are truly wonderful!

Right,Dad has just phoned National Debt line,and was very pleased that he had done so when he come of the phone.He said that the man was very very helpful,and had so much time for him.
They have told him that it is ashame that it has had to go this far,and he should have gone to the redetermination,but not to worry,because there is things that can be done.They have told him he must attend the next Court hearing,and have advised him to write a letter to both Link and the Court explaining the situation that he is in - you see after my relationship ended,I moved back in with my two year old,and back in March my Nan,who is virtually disabled,also moved in after my Grandad passed away- so they have told him to include these facts in the letter,that he has dependants,and also let them know that he has 2 other CCJs and the amounts are larger,and they have accepted the payments(He is now flapping incase the same happens with these)
They also suggested to increase the offer of payment a little if that was possible,and to send the letters by recorded delivery.They have given him a case number and said they will send him an info pack,and he can phone whenever he needs to.
All of your advice and information has been spot on,as I said you are wonderful!
There is bound to be something else I have forgot to ask,for now is there any examples or templates floating around anywhere for this letter he has to compose,just to see the best way of setting it out?
And also,I presume the letter gets sent to the local court where the hearing will take place,who should it be addressed to?
Sorry for all the questions again!

shinyhead

You need to write a letter of objections why the CO should not be made final.

There isn't a template letter for this but take a look at this factsheet:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=15_charging_orders_in_the_county_court

You simply need to write say you object and copy the arguements from the factsheet plus those given to you by the ND advisor.

Then follow my earlier post.

Just address the court one to the court.