Charging Order? The myth

Samsung_Note2

Great..thank you egg box.

Appreciate the simple straight forward answer.

happyhelston

Morning all,
After a very long and drawn out struggle to save our house, we spoke to the mortgage company (Landmark) who informed us they were about to repossess and we voluntarily surrendered our lovely house.
It subsequently sold at less than our mortgage and we are now awaiting any contact from Landmark.
When we took the mortgage out it was with Northern Rock - we ended up with charges against the house from credit cards -

Now the house is sold, we have no access to any information from Landmark (they told us not to contact them) but now the charges sharks are circling with regular phone calls.
I was made bankrupt before the voluntary surrender of the house and Landmark informed me at the time that they would not be seeking any shortfall from me but my husband gets the debt - what a lucky chap. I am not sure whether both Restons and Moorcroft who are chasing the charges debt are legally allowed to and I need some help arming myself with all the facts - if indeed I am liable I want to get something sorted but the reason I got the charges in the first place was because I tried to sort it myself and ended up worse off !!
I would love some help as this forum has been invaluable before but please only write if it is not to berate me on my errors of judgement and the fact I got into this mess - I am well aware of this but no forum can ever know the lengths I went to in an attempt to keep the house and my children together and the distress it caused and continues to

Many thanks

eggbox

happyhelston

Nobody is going to judge you especially if you have a family and have lost your home?

That experience, I can only imagine, was extremely unpleasant to go through? However, the better news for you is that you, now, don't have to put another moments thought into any debts that have been left behind? This is simply because you have lost the asset the debt company's could attach their debts to.

The debts haven't been wiped off as the original CCJ's (required to pursue the Charging Orders) are still valid and you may still get letters requesting you to pay the debts. But the Charging Orders were against your beneficial interest in the house you lost and, as there wasn't any, they are now dead.

DCA's, therefore, can still pursue you for payment but they no longer have any leverage to try and pressure you to make payments? So ignore the letters and, above all, DO NOT CONTACT THEM!

Any debtor who contacts a DCA will be seen as a soft touch and someone they can work on to get payments off. Once they get the message you aren't interested in paying they will move on.

If you require information off Landmark you send them a Subject Access Request (SAR) HERE this makes them legally responsible to forward you any data they have processed, regarding the sender, within 40 days.

Since GDPR came into force company's are twitchy about not complying (as penalties are now more severe) so I would ask them again for the info you want and, if they refuse, explain you will be sending a SAR if they don't comply?

happyhelston

That is absolutely fantastic advice, thank you so much for taking the time to reply.
I was about to do my usual thing and contact the debt company so I will now not do so.

The information about SAR is fantastic too. We only found out the house had sold from Rightmove and nothing further so it is the oddest situation to be in, especially as I loved the house but its a life lesson.

Truly without people like you and Forums like this I would never have had the invaluable information that has given me so much knowledge.

Thank you

eggbox

No problem and remember worrying or regetting the past will alter those past mistakes by a big fat zero amount.

So let them go and, instead, use that energy into making sure your have a better future.

Rangers123

Land_Registry wrote: »

I would not recommend checking every day as that could be costly at £3 per check. I would rely on your conveyancer to confirm when it has been completed as they can check online using our business e-services.

Looking at the current details I note that we have written to the conveyancer to request additional details. Timescales naturally lengthen when incomplete applications are submitted.

I also note that the 'sale' referred to in previous posts is not quite as expected. I mention this purely as a reminder for anyone reading this thread that the devil is always very much in the detail.

The Transfer submitted is from the current four registered proprietors to one of them plus partner - not strictly speaking a Transfer by two or more to a third party for value in the context of overreaching as this thread has sought to in part cover.

Names have changed for some, presumably on marriage, but that is one aspect which has been raised with the conveyancer. Accounting for changes of name is a basic requirement when applying to update the register and very much a detail which needs to be covered off by supporting evidence or a conveyancer's certificate.

Hopefully the conveyancers involved will be able to supply the requested details and resolve the matter so that the Transfer can be completed shortly

Thank-you LR. I can't believe the incompetence of the buyer's conveyancer. Have they now provided the necessary information?

helpappreciated

We sucessfully sold our house and bought a much smaller one four years ago, without paying creditors. We had restrictions in my name, but the house was jointly owned, as is our new one. Now Shoosmiths acting for Cabot are applying for a charging order (restriction} on this house, based on the original Court order. Is there anything we could/should do, or should we just sit tight and live with it.
Any thoughts would be very welcome - thank you

jpirate

Egg box may be better placed to tell you, their help and advice is really good but from what I understood it should have been very unlikely that they went for another charging order for the same debt as it costs them each time they do it.

Is it the same debt?

Pending egg box's advice, all I can think is sell the house before there is a charging order (restriction) and put the money into a joint account and rent?

Or if you want to try and battle it out (again) try and repeat what you did last time and if you get a Charge/Restriction and sell, just inform them but don't pay - however that you have done this once may make them very alert to the actual process and you may not get away with it this time as they may be very alert to the time scales and request the funds in time.

It seems surprising they have done this, maybe they are getting wise to the process.

Hope I haven't been too pessimistic, it's a real pity as this is what bothered me about it all... Getting a 2nd charge on the newer property. What a swine.

Best of luck and keep us informed. I still think it is highly unfair that the joint owner suffers for the debt of the other one... My partner will be the innocent victim and I feel really sorry about it

Just out of interest was the debt so big that you coudn't have paid it off with the proceeds of the sale of the first house and still got a smaller house- I know I wouldn't want to do that either really but it might come to that for me sadly.

jpirate

Just read your message again. Not sure they can apply for a charging order using the same court order. I would have thought they would have to go back to court for a new one.

Hopefully they may just be trying it on. How did you find out about them wanting a charging order? They may be writing to you threatening it, to see if you can be frightened into paying.

I think you need to hear from Egg Box and LR on here asap.

Hopefully theyll be along soon

Land_Registry

Rangers123 wrote: »

Thank-you LR. I can't believe the incompetence of the buyer's conveyancer. Have they now provided the necessary information?

I've checked in with the processing office and they have completed it this morning - slight processing delay at our end once the solicitor had submitted the evidence we needed