Urgent help needed with bailiffs!!!

mb947

The situation is that last year I signed up to rent student accomodation with the intention of returning to uni this year, but this didn't happen meaning I'm stuck with a house which I can't pay for. I have not paid any rent since November and subsequently owe £1200 to the landlords which I really cannot pay! Over the last couple of months I've had letters that it will be going to court etc, but without the money to settle it I have had to let it play out. Now I've had a letter pushed through the door from 'her majesty's court service' saying that the auctioneer called to remove the goods and will be calling tomorrow unless I pay up. I'm really nervous as there is a hand written note on the letter saying "car reg no. **** *** may be removed - final warning", the worrying part being that this is my Dad's car and if it was removed it cause serious problems at home (my Dad isn't aware of this). Also I'm unsure where I stand with regards to them gaining entry as I have no intention of answering to them tomorrow.

Any help would be appreciated, I can upload a scan of the letter if needed. Thanks.

carol01

hiya mb947
i dont think they can take the car if the car is registered to your dad but he would have to prove this to the bailiffs hope this helps

Faye449

Can you get a photocopy or something of the car log book with his name on it and fax it to them and send a copy recorded delivery? It might work?

mb947

Hi Carol. I didn't think they could, but I'm just wondering whether they will use a take now and ask questions later policy as the car would easily cover the debt and lots more.

Faye, I might be able to get a copy, but there is only a name and mobile phone number on the letter, which I expect is just for use to make a payment. I've tried searching for any contact details online without any luck.

carol01

mb947 wrote: »

Hi Carol. I didn't think they could, but I'm just wondering whether they will use a take now and ask questions later policy as the car would easily cover the debt and lots more.

Faye, I might be able to get a copy, but there is only a name and mobile phone number on the letter, which I expect is just for use to make a payment. I've tried searching for any contact details online without any luck.

hi you will need to get the log book from your dad to prove it is not yours.
maybe drive the car away from your property maybe put in a friends garage until you have the proof you need, i would suggest doing this a.s.a.p if they are comming tomorrow.
i dont know much about bailiffs but on all the threads i have read do not let them in !!!!!

Ames

Did you get all the court paperwork? For bailiffs to get involved is quite a lengthy process and I'm surprised it's gone through all the motions in five months. It's possible that they're acting as debt collectors rather than bailiffs.

As for the car, if you can prove it's not yours (ie get a copy of the logbook, or any official document that shows the owners name) then they can't take it, they'd be breaking the law if they tried and you could call the police.

Whatever you do though don't let them in the house, as (if they really are bailiffs) they can then make a levy and break in later to take goods, and it'll be much harder to prove what's your parents' and what's yours.

Is the property still empty, or has the landlord found someone else to move in? If so you're only liable for rent up until they moved in. Have you tried to find someone to take over the lease?

First things first though, is to find out if it is a bailiff or not. What paperwork have you had, like court documents? It *may* be possible to get it taken back to court if you didn't receive all the right notifications, but I don't know too much about it.

mb947

Ames wrote: »

First things first though, is to find out if it is a bailiff or not. What paperwork have you had, like court documents? It *may* be possible to get it taken back to court if you didn't receive all the right notifications, but I don't know too much about it.

I'm pretty sure it's a bailiff (the header of the letter I recieved is Oldham County Court). I have had a very similiar letter about a visit that was due to take place on 09/04 (I was in all day and they never came), I recieved a letter from the court a few weeks ago telling me that I was to pay and various letters from the landlords over the past few months. No, the house isn't vacant, there are still 2 other tenants there as we are in a joint tenancy agreement. The way it has worked out though is that one of the other tenants parents has decided to take the matter to court, so as not to involve their son (which is fair enough) because we are all liable.

Well if I was to get hold of a copy of the log book and the bailiff calls and threatens to take the car, would just posting it out of the letter box to them stop them from taking it?

Ames

Yes, it's a good idea to give them info through the letter box and not open the door.

Right, I'm a bit unclear on what's happened, can you go through it from the start? Who has actually taken you to court? Did you defend it? If it's been to court then you must have had lots of chances to make a payment plan before it got to bailiffs, did you get those chances? (Not judging, just making sure there's been no errors on their part).

So the tenancy means that you're all liable for the full amount right? Have you tried to find someone to move into the room you should have had? Then you'd only be liable for up to someone moved in? If not, are you doing that now to make sure that the amount doesn't keep rising?

I don't understand how someone's parent can take you to court as it's nothing to do with them? Or were they guarantors? If so didn't you have a guarantor?

It's very unusual for bailiffs to get involved in this kind of debt, so can you give a proper breakdown of what's happened and when to get to this point?

immoral_angeluk

Do NOT let them in under any circumstances. You need to provide them with proof the car isn't yours ASAP and come to some arrangement with them to pay what you can afford now, before they catch you unawares and you answer the door, or they continue to add charges onto the debt.

penguin83

Hi mb, county court bailiffs are usually relatively straight forward to deal with. What is it your are wanting to do? Do you agree that you owe the money and want to pay by instalments or do you wish to take the matter back to court and defend it?

xxx

RobertoMoir

Got to be honest, your refusal to deal with this up until now and your confusion over what exactly is happening is not going to make it any easier to sort this out. Sorry but it has to be said - not to make you feel bad but to make you realise you need to spend some time on sorting the problem out and to deal with things earlier in the future.

Anyway, speech over... So:
Bailiffs can only take items that belong to the debtor (e.g. you), so that's some relief to start with. Your father may need to demonstrate his ownership of the car they are threatening to take. This isn't difficult, registration docs will help.

Have you been taken to court? Have you been sent a letter to that effect?
If so, what happened? You may need to contact the courts to find out.

You may be able to have bailiff enforcement suspended for the moment while you sort things out. I strongly suggest you do this, and the court / county court bailiff will tell you what form you need to fill in as I keep forgetting and its been a long day and I am not in the mood to go look it up right now. I think its a N245.

With that done, assuming you're not disputing that you fundamentally owe the money you will need to talk to the court about paying it back.

You might want to consider looking at this website http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/ and making use of the contact number there for help.