debt relief order

kes123

Hi everyone not sure if this is the right place to put this or not.
I am owed money from someone who I thought was a close friend. They said that they would pay me back when they sold there house. Its been almost 2 years and nothing.
By the way the house is owned with no mortgage.

approx 6 months ago this person entered into a debt relief order, and lied about the fact that they owned a property. This is obviously fraud, but that is there business not mine.

My questions are what would happen if this was found out, also I am thinking of taking this person to court to try and have a charge put on it.
I am worried because if I do other things might get found out, for instance that they had been claiming housing benefit for another house for about 9 years. Also during that time they had sold two other house they owned and spent the money.
my worry is that if all this comes out then by the time everyone else had been paid, ie banks, credit cards, DHSS then there would be nothing left for me to get paid.
I have tried talking to the person but now they have changed all there numbers and are trying to move.
Advice would be appreciated.

radio-jo

This sounds very unlikely, i'm sure the official receiver would check to see if a DRO applicant was listed as the owner of property in Britain? If they have lied then their DRO will be cancelled.

Either way I would advise you to speak to a solicitor. Or you could always take them to the small claims court, depending on how much you are owed.

kes123

they owe 15000 to much for small claims. they basically wont pay me because in 6 months time the dro will go through and wipe off 15k, the amount they owe me. not sure why the owned house did not come up, but the DHSS missed it as well

wba31

firslty, in my personal opinion, people like this should be reported. I am very much a person of justice, and there are all sorts of people who dont get a DRO for minor things, car worth too much, or before then pension rule changed they had a small pension etc, so personally if you believe this person owns a house, i feel you should notify the IS, same with benefit fraud etc etc.

You stand to lose an awful lot if this isnt reported. If you are listed as a creditor, when the DRO finishes the debt between you and them will be written off. you cannot persue them through the court at the moment because if you are listed on the DRO, you are not allowed to do that.

If you are not listed as a creditor on the DRO then you can persue the debt, and the debt with you will not be written off at the end of the 12 months, only the debts on the DRO will be. however 6 months is a long time to wait, personally, i would make a call to the DRO Unit and let them do their investigations. In some cases they wont automatically do any checks unless something seems to be not right...

kes123

they def own the house, I lent them the money to fit new doors, batroom, kitchen, plastering etc.
i am not listed on the dro. i can't report them to DHSS because 9 years of benefit fraud which would have to be paid back with the 15k they owe the bank, i doubt there would be anything left.
in court also it may be difficult to proove, they would just deny they owe the money.

if i contact dro, will they inform the creditors, and could they force a sale now they know she has assets to the value of around 65k

Tixy

If its a couple then maybe the house is just owned by their partner and only one is in a DRO.
If they have not yet sold that house then maybe they still don't think they need to pay you back yet as they said they would repay you when they sold their house.?
What paperwork do you have regarding the money you lent them? what does the agreement say?

fatbelly

I do think it's possible that someone could falsely declare themselves not to be a property owner and get a DRO. The only routine check is against the Experian report and, if there's no mortgage (as the op said), then a homeowner's credit file would look the same as a tenant's.

However, a quick search at the Land Registry (costs 4 quid) would reveal the owner(s) of the property and a quick search at the Insolvency Service (free) would reveal if that person was in a DRO.

It's a serious matter if it's true. DRO revoked obviously. Possible criminal action. The Intermediary would also face some tough questions so I hope this wasn't one of yours or mine, WBA!

kes123

Hi i have now spoke to the DRO they were very helpful.
they said that I could add myself to the creditors list. invoke the DRO itself by giving details of the person and the property owned.
they could then if I wished inform the other creditors that the order had been revoked and why.
no one else like DHSS need be told and the the other creditors would act, possibly going for bankrupsy. This would force the sale and because i was now on the creditors list. if there is enough left over which there would be then i would get paid

kes123

would the person show on the insolvency registar if the 1 year period had not passed yet from when they started the DRO application

radio-jo

If it was me i'd report them to the OR for insolvency fraud. Sure, it may well mean you won't get any of your money back as they'll have to repay the DHSS fraud money (although people usually repay that sort of thing in installments rather than in a lump sum?) but as it stands currently you're not going to get your money repaid, and these people sound like scumbags who deserve everything they get.

fatbelly

kes123 wrote: »

would the person show on the insolvency registar if the 1 year period had not passed yet from when they started the DRO application

Yes, shows for 15 months from when the DRO is approved. Then it is removed.

The DRO can be revoked retrospectively if information comes to light even after the 12/15 months that would mean that the DRO should never have been granted.