Bailiff problems

grahamlaw

Ok done. He will be back soon and I don't know what to do.

GeorgeUK

I still think that Herbie is your best bet, but until you can contact her i would suggest contacting the nationaldebtline. They may be able to advise as to your rights now the WPO has been signed and what you can do about the lying scum.
0808 808 4000

RobertoMoir

grahamlaw wrote: »

Ok done. He will be back soon and I don't know what to do.

Phone the council and ask to speak to whoever is in charge of revenue, or finance or whatever it is called these days and explain your concerns about the illegal levy carried out by the bailiff.

Do this right now.

Be sure to explain that you've got no objections to paying what you owe in council tax and court fees, you simply object to the illegal levy (and hence trespass) carried out by the bailiff, whose actions the council are responsible for as the bailiff is acting as their agent. Tell them that you expect them to suspend any further enforcement action right now while the illegal actions of the bailiff are being investigated.

If the bailiff returns, do not let them in. Phone the police and report a trespasser. When the police turn up, make the point to them that their previous levy was illegal and hence invalid, making the bailiff a trespasser.

grahamlaw

Thanks for the answers everyone. I have spoken to the council, again. 4th time this week and second time today. They have finally decided to help me. They have called the bailiff and put the debt on hold for 28 days.

Now I'm looking to find out if the "agreement" is now void.

Thanks again.

RobertoMoir

Good. Thank goodness for that. Now you have breathing space to look at the issues properly.

grahamlaw

I keep looking at the agreement and at the bottom it says, "1st Payment date 18/06/09 Amount 357.32 then 357.00 every fortnight starting 30/06/09".

Surely because of these dates the agreement is void? I hope. I will take the pictures to prove he never entered the house. But if they disagree who do I go to for help? It's a bad situation to be in and I hope I can make a deal with the council instead.

Thanks again, and for anyone that reads this please deal with your debts as early as possible. You don't need bailiffs round your house.

RobertoMoir

They have no right to enforce the debt because the levy is invalid. It's arguably been "voided" by the council halting enforcement. Perhaps you can ask them to confirm that, by the way.

I suggest you continue with a complaint to your local councillor and the head of revenue at the council at the illegal levy and trespass the bailiff carried out.

I also very strongly suggest you continue trying to contact Herbie as she's our primary bailiff expert here, and keep trying no matter how hard it is. I'm doing what I can to give you what I hope is good advice but you need to appreciate I haven't been a bailiff for well over 15 years now. I can't remember all the details of the laws, I can't remember the details of the processes you'd need to follow to complain, and if I did remember perfectly some parts of what I remember are likely to now be out of date. I've tried to make sure that everything I say on here, to you or others, is things that I'm sure are still the case, but I'm sure you see why you need help from someone more up to date too.

There are a few other bailiff "experts" here too and perhaps one of them will chip in at this point *looks around*... please guys? If only to tell me I'm not leading this person into a mistake?

Any payments you make to the council will come off your overall debt, which includes the fees the bailiff is legally entitled to charge. However, you need to make the point to the council that the levy is invalid due to the bailiff's behaviour, and that the bailiff, their agent, was a trespasser on your property at that point, and therefore not entitled to charge fees for their presence.

GeorgeUK

Were you able to contact nationaldebtline?

Did they have anything to say about the bailiff or your options?

grahamlaw

At the moment I'm trying to get my old scanner working so I can email it to people who can maybe help.

Old scanner + Windows Vista = dust, nothing but dust.

ally663

RobertoMoir wrote: »

They have no right to enforce the debt because the levy is invalid. It's arguably been "voided" by the council halting enforcement. Perhaps you can ask them to confirm that, by the way.

I suggest you continue with a complaint to your local councillor and the head of revenue at the council at the illegal levy and trespass the bailiff carried out.



You need to get the council to confirm what they have done in writing.
Well done for standing your ground and not communicating with the bailiff just because he said he was returning. I suspect the reason he decided to return 'later' is due to the fact his writing down all your good etc and bullying you into signing outside was a scare tactic to get you to cough up. he knew his paperwork wasnt worth the paper it is written on, however you never know how far a bailiff is ever prepared to go. There are 'shady' bailiff's around. He probably had no intention of removing goods etc, did he even have a van with him. I doubt it. Good on you for getting the Council to put things on hold. Have you ever had the Council take this debt back from a Bailiff before? if not, you may have enough grounds to get this done. You might only get one chance to do this and the events of today will certainly help, so make sure you know what you can afford and when the council take the debt back, make sure you dont miss a payment. They will just give it to the bailiff again.

I cant say this enough to anyone reading this.....
NEVER LET THEM IN, NEVER SIGN ANYTHING
if you are vulnerable and could be bullied or intimidated do not even communicate with them. Write a letter to the company when the paperwork is shoved through the letterbox.
If anyone looks through your windows and writes down your goods, it doesnt have your signature on so is not a complete document.

Dont get bullied. But do pay Council Tax, but what you can afford not what a Bailiff says.