DMP & Charging order

pirates

Hi

I have a DMP that has been in place for 3years. One of my creditors has recently ordered a ccj against me to repay in full, this is to enable them to place a charging order against my property.

The property is in negative equity and likely to be for some time, the creditor are happy that I still pay the minimum balance through the dmp, but I am failing to see the long term benefit for them. It also means that should I be in a position to offer a full and final settelement in th efuture they are less likely to accept it because they have security against the property (in their eyes).

I am concerned that other creditors may also follow suit, registering several CCJ's against me for this purpose.

Is there any course of action I can take to prevent the charging order?

Information on the internet suggests specialist advice.

thanks for any help

Sparklyfairy

Hi there, Unfortunately charging order are very hard to defend. Having said that, I still think you should attend the hearing & state your side. Judge's tend to see that you owe £x & are willing to pay £y which will take several years to pay off & they grant the co.

You can ALWAYS negotiate a F & F - even on a charging order. You obviously must state that with your agreed final payment will be made with understanding that all charging order references will removed from the Land Regsitry's databases & is completely satisfied. Get everything in writing to cover yourself.

I have a co (Nov 2010) & have a dmp with several other creditors & if it's any consolation, no other creditor I have has applied for any further action - charging order or otherwise - so it's usually only the extremely greedy ones who go down the co route..

You could always get specialist advice or take a look at the CAG forums for some more in depth help. Tell me, is your debt a sole debt on a jointly owned house? If so, take a look at this thread.

Hope this helps you out & try not to stress too much about it all. X

National_Debtline

Hello there,

As Sparklyfairy has already mentioned Charging Orders are difficult to prevent once a CCJ has bewen obtained. In fact the law is about to change to make them even easier to obtain. As enforcement mechanisms go they are not necessarily that intrusive. If you do decide to try and object to the charge you should write a letter outlining your objections and send a copy to both the court and the creditor at least 7 days prior to the hearing; also ensure that you attend the hearing. The fact that the property is already in negative equity is a worthwhile objection to raise.

If the charge is made 'final' then you could ask the judge at the hearing to place a condition on the charge which states that the creditor is not allowed to try and take further action whilst you keep up with the instalment that you are paying. For the record, Orders for Sale are very rare indeed - but having a condition just gives you an extra layer of protection for piece of mind.

If you would like further information we have a great fact sheet covering Charging orders which you can find here:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=15_charging_orders_in_the_county_court

Best wishes,

National Debtline.

pirates

Thanks for the advice, it has just thrown me right back to the nightmare of when I was sorting this all out.

I will try and apply to the courts to prevent or at least put a restriction on it.

HappyMJ

It wouldn't make any difference. In reality only the creditor with a first charge i.e the mortgage provider can request a sale. The first charge holder gets the money first and any left over goes to the creditor with the second charge. As you are in negative equity they won't get anything and will be wasting their time and money trying to enforce a sale. Once they have the charge I'd stop paying them anything at all. When the property is eventually sold they'll get their money.

Sparklyfairy

HappyMJ wrote: »

When the property is eventually sold they'll get their money.

Good point, but they might not get anything at all if it's in neg equity. Something I'd def make loud & clear to the judge & creditor's solicitor when at your hearing.

Gimpsdad

Not paying them anything may be dangerous.

Charging orders can be subject to statutory interest, currently 8%pa, so not paying them if they are subject to statutory interest is inevitably, in the end, going to be counter productive.

pirates

Ultimately, I don't want any more evilbeings chasing me later on, so I will keep paying no matter what.

Had a good chat with cccs who are going to get one of their court experts to chat with me regarding the form I need to complete to get the date changed (and the court).

I have managed to increase my monthly payment, thereby halving my debt free date now 9.9 years instead of 18!!!

Since this all began, I have made some drastic life & lifestyle changes to try and put me in as good a position to pay back this debt, it's just annoying that creditors can't see that and just keep on pushing!!

And they don't make it simple, to find out about the ccj took four calls to four different companies. :mad:

Gareth19

Before I became debt free (which was only recently) I was faced with a threat of a charging order. I did a lot of research on the web and I was also faced with the same negative information that they were almost impossible to defend against etc etc.
I therefore went to the hearing with little hope but still however in the mood to put my point across. I was very fortunate that I had a nice understanding judge who said he didn't know what the other side was even thinking of as there was no justification for such a charging order and promptly dismissed the case forthwith.
Just goes to show, although the cards may be stacked against you just never know until the day what may transpire. Stand your ground!

Sparklyfairy

Well done, Gareth. I suppose the key point here is "understanding judge." I defended - or rather tried to defend - and my dj was utterly useless & granted mine regardless.

No charging order from a CCA based debt is legally allowed to claim 8% statutory interest after the charging order has been granted...

Also, just be aware that the CCCS, although helpful, are funded by all the major banks - so their advice will no doubt be to admit all liability & accept the co. Just keep that in mind..