Financial & legal advice needed

Rebelruby

I wonder if anyone is able to give me some advice.

My partner is currently being made bankrupt for an oustanding council tax bill from 2004 for £3,753. This was passed to the trustees who have put a charge on the house and they are now forcing us to sell for to give them £40,000 (the debt and their fees). In the past week, I have recevied a letter from the VOA office agreeing that my property has been incorrectly banded and that they will contact to council to have my band reduced and will be reimbursed back to 1993.

Am I able to take this back to court on the grounds that the original debt was incorrect and should never of been that amount? If so, are there any solicitors out there that would like to take this on? Would be really grateful for any advice

TFD_2

Rebelruby wrote: »

I wonder if anyone is able to give me some advice.

My partner is currently being made bankrupt for an oustanding council tax bill from 2004 for £3,753. This was passed to the trustees who have put a charge on the house and they are now forcing us to sell for to give them £40,000 (the debt and their fees). In the past week, I have recevied a letter from the VOA office agreeing that my property has been incorrectly banded and that they will contact to council to have my band reduced and will be reimbursed back to 1993.

Am I able to take this back to court on the grounds that the original debt was incorrect and should never of been that amount? If so, are there any solicitors out there that would like to take this on? Would be really grateful for any advice

£40,000? Christ.... I bet he wishes he'd paid that bill at the time.

Not sure this is the place to ask though, it's the credit card forum.

lisyloo

Why go back to court?
Wouldn't your first step be to ask them to amend the bill by phone or by letter?

However the situation would still remain.
Even if the figures are adjusted there would still be a large bill owed.

LeeSouthEast

lisyloo, I think her point is if the property had been banded correctly in the first place, then the arrears (and thus associated charges) would never have existed in the first place.

Assuming he'd paid that bill, of course.

stebiz

Rebelruby wrote: »

I wonder if anyone is able to give me some advice.

My partner is currently being made bankrupt for an oustanding council tax bill from 2004 for £3,753. This was passed to the trustees who have put a charge on the house and they are now forcing us to sell for to give them £40,000 (the debt and their fees). In the past week, I have recevied a letter from the VOA office agreeing that my property has been incorrectly banded and that they will contact to council to have my band reduced and will be reimbursed back to 1993.

Am I able to take this back to court on the grounds that the original debt was incorrect and should never of been that amount? If so, are there any solicitors out there that would like to take this on? Would be really grateful for any advice

The OP surely had other debts. There is no way on this planet that a court would order a bankrupcy for 40k on £3,753 for a debt.

As for your initial question. Yes I think you have a valid point of appeal.

Stebiz

lisyloo

I think there is a lot of missing information that we haven't been given.

A judge would have to order enforcement of the charge.
If it doesn't have a sound basis then a judge will never agree.
However the first step should surely be to talk to them by phone or letter.

Rebelruby

Hi, thank you, I have another thread, Repossessed over council tax, there is a lot more detail on there. there are no other debts only the fact that my partner thought he could deal with this on his own and didn't seek any legal advice - which I will deal with him later after I have sorted this mess out!!! I haven't yet told the Trustees that I have this letter as I'm sure they are going to say that it's too late.

Rebelruby

Hi, I know this sounds absolutely absurd, but we have no other debts, our mortgage is up to date as well as the council tax. He tried to pay the bill but due to the bankruptcy order starting, I think the fact that he never seeked legal advice and the length of time this has taken is what has made the amount go so high. Now I have just received this letter, I'm just hoping that whilst the remortgage goes through, to see if there some loophole that says as we were overcharged in the first place we need to renegotiate the fees as I have tried already and they will not budge below £40k. I have already paid the trustees £12k but they want they rest

lisyloo

I think you need to get urgent advice.
Is he entitled to legal aid?
If not see the CAB.

There may be legal limits on the charges and interest that can be applied and certainly if the amount is wrong then it needs to be adjusted.
The amount does sound completely wrong to me although IANAL (I am not a lawyer).
But to put your mind at rest a little, I am pretty sure it needs a judge to force the sale and if there are serious question marks over the debt, then it won't happen.
Keep the paperwork from the VOA office and take several copies.
Try to hold onto the original.
It's a very valuable document right now.