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Can they make me sell my house?

Hi,

I have £6646 credit card debt which is 11 years old now (prob £2000 of that is interest). It has gone through many creditors since the original company sold it on but the current company seem determined to make me sell my house to reclaim the money. They have tried to make me sign a 'Tomlinson agreement' linking my house to the dept but I declined to do so. It went to court and they judged I was to pay back £20 a month(I'm currently unemployed and have been for the last 9months).
They were obviously not happy with this agreement because they wanted the debt in full and have now had the case moved to another court for reconsideration by another judge. If this judge decides to overturn or maybe offer a different decision could I be told by the court to sell my house to pay this debt off?(my house was paid off over 10years ago now when times were good so I have no mortgage)
I have just put in the relevant bits here otherwise it would be an essay and most would prob switch off after the first few paragraphs but if more detail is needed to answer my question I will be happy to offer it :)

Comments

  • Fiddlestick
    Fiddlestick Posts: 2,339 Forumite
    mr.pink wrote: »
    Hi,

    I have £6646 credit card debt which is 11 years old now (prob £2000 of that is interest). It has gone through many creditors since the original company sold it on but the current company seem determined to make me sell my house to reclaim the money. They have tried to make me sign a 'Tomlinson agreement' linking my house to the dept but I declined to do so. It went to court and they judged I was to pay back £20 a month(I'm currently unemployed and have been for the last 9months).
    They were obviously not happy with this agreement because they wanted the debt in full and have now had the case moved to another court for reconsideration by another judge. If this judge decides to overturn or maybe offer a different decision could I be told by the court to sell my house to pay this debt off?(my house was paid off over 10years ago now when times were good so I have no mortgage)
    I have just put in the relevant bits here otherwise it would be an essay and most would prob switch off after the first few paragraphs but if more detail is needed to answer my question I will be happy to offer it :)

    Unless the debt was secured on your property then I can't see how they can make you sell it for a credit card debt.
  • izools
    izools Posts: 7,513 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I don't see why any judge would be interested in overturning a ruling, which was clearly made in line with your circumstances, that you are no doubt sticking to(?).

    Why did it go to court? Had you stopped paying the debt collection agency the agreed amount when you became unemployed?

    If your sole income is currently from benefits then the judgement has been made in contradiction with the Social Security Act 1992 which prohibits a charge being made against benefits. You can appeal for the judgement to be overturned on this basis and the CCJ removed but if you do this then the creditor may seek to place a charge on your property.

    But I can't see why it went to court in the first place, unless you refused even to make token payments?
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  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
    Hi

    It is theoretically possible that they could be granted a charging order against your property and then the judge would force a sal.

    But that is really really unlikely to happen.

    When a creditor goes for a redetermination they can often be trying to get a charging order and can be successful despite what a previous judge ruled as an acceptable monthly payment. You need to look at and understand how these work and whether you have any defence against it (is the house owned jointly with someone else or do you have other creditors that would be unfairly disadvantaged because of the CO etc).

    Even if a charging order is granted it is really rare fora judge t force the sale of your house. Usually the CO would just stay against the house value until such time that you have paid the debt off in full or you choose to sell your house. At that point any proceeds after your mortgage was settled would next go to pay off the charging order.

    This has some more info for you - http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=15_charging_orders_in_the_county_court
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  • It did go to court because my payments were erratic and I did miss quite a few. This was because my income is erratic and I have no fixed income. I have only been entitled to benefits for a month now so will soon have a fixed income but a job is the fix I'm after. I have never refused to pay my debt and I made it clear when I wrote to the court that I have ever intention to pay this debt off but circumstances atm make it hard.
    After seeing the C.A.B. I was told to concern myself with utility bills and council tax first, then if any money was left divide it between my other creditors so token payments have been few and far between because there was rarely much left. I do have more than one creditor I owe to but the others have been ok so far.
    Since the court hearing I have not missed a payment and have now set up a standing order but as much as I intend to keep this agreement I am starting to get the feeling that if I was to miss a payment then that would be it for me.
    From the responses, I get the feeling its very unlikely but legally possible that my house could be taken, which is concerning but thank you for the input, much appreciated and thanks for the link, interesting reading :)
  • UnderPressure
    UnderPressure Posts: 3,204 Forumite
    izools wrote: »
    If your sole income is currently from benefits then the judgement has been made in contradiction with the Social Security Act 1992 which prohibits a charge being made against benefits. You can appeal for the judgement to be overturned on this basis and the CCJ removed

    mmm tell me more never heard of this before and may well be relevant to my circumstances..............
    "You can measure a man's character by the choices he makes under pressure"
    Sir Winston Churchill
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