Giving away assets ?

billchapman

Sigh....my mother (who is now in her 70's) has just received a phonecall from her younger sister telling a tale of woe.

She and her husband have racked up a load of debt and apparently the bailiffs are on the way. He wants to sign his car over to my mother and then loan the car back to them.

My mother is owed money by this bunch but there is no paper trail (and it was a long time ago) and they are suggesting that they write to my mother and say that she is now the owner of the car in lieu of the debt but will agree to loan it back to them.

I think this is a bit dubious and surely this loophole has been covered up.

Any idea what the legal position is ?

Debt_Free_Chick

Not sure why this was moved from the Debt Free Board ... anyway.

It does sound dubious ... deception? fraud? possibly.

Apart from that, there seems to be nothing in it for your mum. I know that sounds callous, but she is already owed money by them. Now they are asking her to take a car in repayment, which she doesn't get to keep anyway.

I think that's taking the !!!!!! - only family would do this.

For a definitive answer to your question, you could call the National Debtline as they might be able to advise, on 0808 808 4000.

And then pass the number on to your Auntie & Uncle.

Cheers

billchapman

Many thanks

Nicky_3

If this was a bankruptcy situation, the Official Receiver would get the car back anyway and the couple would probably have implications added to their bankruptcy order for deception. Whether or not the same applies to bailiffs, I'm not sure. One thing is sure, your mother is better off not getting involved. It's not her problem, and she can do without having people knocking on her door and giving her grief about a car which really has nothing to do with her.