Charging Order? The myth

eggbox

A Form K Restriction is notification of a Charging Order, it's the CO that may or may not be subject to interest. A charging order made for a CCA debt (a loan or credit card say) isn't allowed to attract interest. But for any other type of debt it's usually 8% a year.

Mum2emily

Hi, hoping someone can offer some advice here.

I am in the middle of selling a house that I own jointly with my ex partner. It needs to sell desperately as my ex partner has remained living there not paying the mortgage so repossession is currently on hold due to sale progressing. To add I have had a long drawn out process at court myself to get an order of sale and full control of sale granted to myself to get my ex partner out of house who was obstructing any viewings and basically being horrendous.

My solicitor has now discovered that there is a pending application for a charge on property by the child maintenance service for child maintenance he owes ironically to me and also another ex partner that he hasn’t paid. She has requested that the land registry expedite the application as it has been pending since March and the sale cannot proceed at all whilst a pending application is on there. I have also called the child maintenance service and spoke to someone from the enforcement department who said they won’t withdraw their application as it will jeopardise their case against my ex partner. To make matters worse they also refuse to correspond with my solicitors as they are a third party and will only speak to me.

I feel sick that the sale may fall through after this past year and all I have been through to get to this point and worse still that the thing that might hold it up is partly due to a charge in respect of money he owes me via the CMS! Also to add the liability order/enforcement action they have placed on hold due to him now being on universal credit but still won’t withdraw application.

Sorry for the long message but hoping someone can tell me (as couldn’t see anyone where debt/charge was being applied by a government agency) but if the land registry expedite the charge can this also only be a  restriction K as well with the debt only being my ex partner’s or because they are government body can they apply an equitable charge? And does anyone have any experience with charges/restriction Ks from CMS/DWP/Local authorities? As a registered owner I have had not correspondence about this either.

Can the sale still go ahead of debt is paid upon completion? My ex partner won’t have any funds until sale takes place and he will likely frustrate the sale if he can if he has to pay this too based on his past behaviour especially if he finds out he will get less money I wouldn’t put it past him to break into house and trash it before a sale completed so buyer pulled out.

Land_Registry

Mum2emily said:

Sorry for the long message but hoping someone can tell me (as couldn’t see anyone where debt/charge was being applied by a government agency) but if the land registry expedite the charge can this also only be a  restriction K as well with the debt only being my ex partner’s or because they are government body can they apply an equitable charge? And does anyone have any experience with charges/restriction Ks from CMS/DWP/Local authorities? As a registered owner I have had not correspondence about this either.

Can the sale still go ahead of debt is paid upon completion? My ex partner won’t have any funds until sale takes place and he will likely frustrate the sale if he can if he has to pay this too based on his past behaviour especially if he finds out he will get less money I wouldn’t put it past him to break into house and trash it before a sale completed so buyer pulled out.

Much depends on what they have applied for and what supporting evidence has been supplied. You refer to it as a 'charge' but that term covers a variety of possibilities.
If it's a charging order against your ex-partner then it will be a form K restriction scenario I imagine
If the application is expedited and completed it's at that point you are notified at the contact address provided for you on the register.
If it is a form K restriction then this thread explains how to comply with it and also how it can be overreached on a purchase. Payment of the actual debt is a separate scenario and not part of the registration process so unable to comment on that aspect.
Your conveyancer should be aware of what has actually been applied for 

Mum2emily

Land_Registry said:

Mum2emily said:

Sorry for the long message but hoping someone can tell me (as couldn’t see anyone where debt/charge was being applied by a government agency) but if the land registry expedite the charge can this also only be a  restriction K as well with the debt only being my ex partner’s or because they are government body can they apply an equitable charge? And does anyone have any experience with charges/restriction Ks from CMS/DWP/Local authorities? As a registered owner I have had not correspondence about this either.

Can the sale still go ahead of debt is paid upon completion? My ex partner won’t have any funds until sale takes place and he will likely frustrate the sale if he can if he has to pay this too based on his past behaviour especially if he finds out he will get less money I wouldn’t put it past him to break into house and trash it before a sale completed so buyer pulled out.

Much depends on what they have applied for and what supporting evidence has been supplied. You refer to it as a 'charge' but that term covers a variety of possibilities.
If it's a charging order against your ex-partner then it will be a form K restriction scenario I imagine
If the application is expedited and completed it's at that point you are notified at the contact address provided for you on the register.
If it is a form K restriction then this thread explains how to comply with it and also how it can be overreached on a purchase. Payment of the actual debt is a separate scenario and not part of the registration process so unable to comment on that aspect.
Your conveyancer should be aware of what has actually been applied for 

Thank you, I have submitted an online enquiry to through the contact form to land registry as I won’t get a copy of any notice if sent to property address. The Child maintenance service have confirmed the application for the charge is one they requested, which relates solely to my ex partner and is nothing to do with me other than I would actually be a beneficiary/cause for them requesting the charge as it is me and one other woman he owes the maintenance to. I am just feeling sick that this will stop the sale 

Land_Registry

Mum2emily said:

Land_Registry said:

Mum2emily said:

Sorry for the long message but hoping someone can tell me (as couldn’t see anyone where debt/charge was being applied by a government agency) but if the land registry expedite the charge can this also only be a  restriction K as well with the debt only being my ex partner’s or because they are government body can they apply an equitable charge? And does anyone have any experience with charges/restriction Ks from CMS/DWP/Local authorities? As a registered owner I have had not correspondence about this either.

Can the sale still go ahead of debt is paid upon completion? My ex partner won’t have any funds until sale takes place and he will likely frustrate the sale if he can if he has to pay this too based on his past behaviour especially if he finds out he will get less money I wouldn’t put it past him to break into house and trash it before a sale completed so buyer pulled out.

Much depends on what they have applied for and what supporting evidence has been supplied. You refer to it as a 'charge' but that term covers a variety of possibilities.
If it's a charging order against your ex-partner then it will be a form K restriction scenario I imagine
If the application is expedited and completed it's at that point you are notified at the contact address provided for you on the register.
If it is a form K restriction then this thread explains how to comply with it and also how it can be overreached on a purchase. Payment of the actual debt is a separate scenario and not part of the registration process so unable to comment on that aspect.
Your conveyancer should be aware of what has actually been applied for 

Thank you, I have submitted an online enquiry to through the contact form to land registry as I won’t get a copy of any notice if sent to property address. The Child maintenance service have confirmed the application for the charge is one they requested, which relates solely to my ex partner and is nothing to do with me other than I would actually be a beneficiary/cause for them requesting the charge as it is me and one other woman he owes the maintenance to. I am just feeling sick that this will stop the sale 

I can appreciate the distress and concerns you have - a sale/purchase is a process that needs to be followed and each 'interest' has to be accounted for as appropriate. That's all part of your conveyancer's job here so I would focus on the process rather than what may or may not stop the sale.
As your ex is a joint registered owner with you then there is a process to be followed and whilst the charge may have nothing to do with you it does impact re his legal/beneficial ownership as he is registered as a joint legal owner
The process allows the CMS to make such an application and if expedited then it will be processed as quickly as possible. Once you are made aware of how the register has been updated the process clicks in as to how you then exchange/complete and deal with the CMS interest as appropriate.
That will also form part of the process whereby your ex/joint owner also needs to be involved in the exchange/completion and ultimate transfer of legal ownership as well
The buyer's conveyancer will seek assurances form you/your conveyancer as appropriate including how any registered interests are to be dealt with so that the buyer completes on a 'clear' title
NOTE - this isn't an issue for this specific thread to consider. But if a form K restriction is registered to protect the CMS charging order you are at least aware of how that can be overreached providing it is complied with as part of the conveyancing process as the thread explains

Mum2emily

Thank you. The online enquiry have emailed me back told me they can’t send me any copies of the notice they have sent or tell me who they have sent them to. So I am now panicking that the CSA will just be applying for a charge against the property and I could be incorrectly included and would never know/have any opportunity to object if that was the case. The only thing they can tell me is that 2 copies have been sent out but I am presuming they will just be to the property address? As how will they know where I now live? 

eggbox

Mum2emily

It may be useful to get a copy of your deeds which can be downloaded online from the Land Registry website (it costs around £3 from memory). This will at least let you know what, if anything, has been placed on the register at the moment.

Mum2emily

eggbox said:

Mum2emily

It may be useful to get a copy of your deeds which can be downloaded online from the Land Registry website (it costs around £3 from memory). This will at least let you know what, if anything, has been placed on the register at the moment.

Thank you, at the moment it is just a pending application but the application has been confirmed to be from the Child Maintenance Service and is the debt the other owner/my ex partner owes me&another of his ex partners in relation to child maintenance he hasn’t paid. 

Because the property cannot be sold at all with a pending application my solicitor has asked for it to be expedited, which is why I am guessing notices have now been issued with an expiry date of 24th December. The child maintenance service said when I spoke to them on the phone that although they wouldn’t want to prevent any sale going through they won’t withdraw their application as this would jeopardise their case against my ex partner. I have since wrote to them pleading for them to withdraw it due to the fact any delay/sale falling through would massively impact me far far far greater (financially, emotionally and mentally) than never receiving the child maintenance he owes me and I would be prepared tow discard any money he owes me in maintenance (which would reduce the debt he owes them from around £5k to around £3k) but I am not hopeful.

Land_Registry

Mum2emily said:

Thank you. The online enquiry have emailed me back told me they can’t send me any copies of the notice they have sent or tell me who they have sent them to. So I am now panicking that the CSA will just be applying for a charge against the property and I could be incorrectly included and would never know/have any opportunity to object if that was the case. The only thing they can tell me is that 2 copies have been sent out but I am presuming they will just be to the property address? As how will they know where I now live? 

We can only use the address for service provided when you were registered as the joint owner and/or updated since. Registered owners are responsible for ensuring that the register is up to date re such matters but I do appreciate many will be unaware of that as purchases/registration are dealt with by their conveyancer.
Registering land or property with HM Land Registry: Update or correct the register - GOV.UK