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Urgent Advice Sought re Council Liability Order in Court tomorrow.
LindaJB
Posts: 1 Newbie
My daughter is due in Court tomorrow - she telephoned the Council today, having already submitted all the associated paperwork and details when they took her to Court last year for the previous years' Council tax but has been told that as her name is on the Land Reigstry she is liable joint and severally.
She urgently needs some advice please.
She previously owned a house with her ex. He moved out, she tried to get a mortgage to buy him out, she had everything in place but he dragged his heels so it fell through for her.
He stopped paying his share of the mortgage, so they fell into arrears.
2 years later he got a court order to make her vacate the house so he could sell it. His solicitor demanded she hand in her set of keys for him. He gained access and changed the locks, from this point she was unable to access the house.
In Feb 09 she was forced to go bankrupt because of her ex., and the debts associated with the property.
She os now being chased by the council for the council tax from May 2009 to June 2010.
She has explained her case but all she gets told is that she is joint and severally liable for the debt.
She does not know if they are chasing him as they asked her today if she could give them a forwarding address for him. She has done this before but he may have given them his parents address - he is now married and living in his wife's property.
She has a court date of this Thursday.
She does not think it is fair or reasonable to be expected to pay this as the house basically got taken away from her, with no means of access or claim to it. Meanwhile, it appears that he won't be held liable.
Does she need to go to court, what can she do?
She was out of work for 8 months last year, having been made redundant from her previous job, but she is now working. She's on antidepressants owing to how things have panned out for her, and has just been off work for 3 weeks due to this flu bug.
Can anyone give her any advice on what she can and should do? Should she resubmit all the documentation re the eviction notice her ex had served on her?
Thank you
To clarify, she was "evicted" from the property in December 2008 - the Council are demanding council tax from May 2009 to June 2010 when the new owners moved in. She had no right of access from December 2008.
The Council have told her that there is no point in her turning up tomorrow as she won't get to speak, although the direct.gov website says differently.
Would the Court be sympathetic enough to accept half? She lived there for two years on her own and always paid her Council Tax. It was only once she'd been evicted that she stopped paying.
She was claiming Job Seekers Allowance for some of the period the Council are chasing her for but didn't claim benefits for council tax as she believed she had no claim to the property, as a) she'd been evicted by her ex and b) she'd had to declare herself bankrupt because of the arrears/size of the mortgage and The Official Receiver had taken over her share of the property. We understand that any debts incurred during/after bankruptcy aren't covered, but council tax wasn't considered on a property that was no longer hers.
Sorry, I know it's all a bit longwinded!:o
She urgently needs some advice please.
She previously owned a house with her ex. He moved out, she tried to get a mortgage to buy him out, she had everything in place but he dragged his heels so it fell through for her.
He stopped paying his share of the mortgage, so they fell into arrears.
2 years later he got a court order to make her vacate the house so he could sell it. His solicitor demanded she hand in her set of keys for him. He gained access and changed the locks, from this point she was unable to access the house.
In Feb 09 she was forced to go bankrupt because of her ex., and the debts associated with the property.
She os now being chased by the council for the council tax from May 2009 to June 2010.
She has explained her case but all she gets told is that she is joint and severally liable for the debt.
She does not know if they are chasing him as they asked her today if she could give them a forwarding address for him. She has done this before but he may have given them his parents address - he is now married and living in his wife's property.
She has a court date of this Thursday.
She does not think it is fair or reasonable to be expected to pay this as the house basically got taken away from her, with no means of access or claim to it. Meanwhile, it appears that he won't be held liable.
Does she need to go to court, what can she do?
She was out of work for 8 months last year, having been made redundant from her previous job, but she is now working. She's on antidepressants owing to how things have panned out for her, and has just been off work for 3 weeks due to this flu bug.
Can anyone give her any advice on what she can and should do? Should she resubmit all the documentation re the eviction notice her ex had served on her?
Thank you
To clarify, she was "evicted" from the property in December 2008 - the Council are demanding council tax from May 2009 to June 2010 when the new owners moved in. She had no right of access from December 2008.
The Council have told her that there is no point in her turning up tomorrow as she won't get to speak, although the direct.gov website says differently.
Would the Court be sympathetic enough to accept half? She lived there for two years on her own and always paid her Council Tax. It was only once she'd been evicted that she stopped paying.
She was claiming Job Seekers Allowance for some of the period the Council are chasing her for but didn't claim benefits for council tax as she believed she had no claim to the property, as a) she'd been evicted by her ex and b) she'd had to declare herself bankrupt because of the arrears/size of the mortgage and The Official Receiver had taken over her share of the property. We understand that any debts incurred during/after bankruptcy aren't covered, but council tax wasn't considered on a property that was no longer hers.
Sorry, I know it's all a bit longwinded!:o
0
Comments
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She is liable for the whole debt, they won't accept half. However do the council know she was made bankrupt? inform the council she is bankrupt and tell them to phone the trustee. It is illegal to contact a client direct once bankruptcy has been established. The trustee should be able to include the arrears on her bunkrupcy file.0
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She is liable for the whole debt, they won't accept half. However do the council know she was made bankrupt? inform the council she is bankrupt and tell them to phone the trustee. It is illegal to contact a client direct once bankruptcy has been established. The trustee should be able to include the arrears on her bunkrupcy file.
Only for the arrears that pre-date the bankruptcy.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0 -
Ah, sorry bit of a mix up with the dates. I see now the council tax is well after the bankruptcy.0
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You can tell a lot about a woman by her hands..........for instance, if they are placed around your throat, she's probably slightly upset.
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She needs advice.
The worst that will happen is they make her bankrupt again.
The house issue should have been dealt with some time ago.0
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