chasing for money

freda11

In 2008 I won a tribunal case. My ex tried unsuccessfully to put a notice on my property to stop me from selling, it took 3 years but eventually I won. He wanted me to pay him £28k. There was never any agreement or discussion about this. I bought him out in 2005 all legal and above board. To prevent him from stopping me selling and any court costs etc plus all the hassle I reluctantly offered him £10k which he refused. The adjudicator on his summing up did say he preferred the applicants evidence that we did agree for me to pay him monies some time after me buying him out, but the only way the applicant (him) could claim would be a simple debt, unsecured in any way. I am now selling the house and the ex has got wind of this, so today I received a solicitor letter, not the same solicitors who acted for him before, saying that ifI pay £15k within 56 days Mr X would accept this and it would prevent going to court. They are saying (on word from ex as they sya they have not got any of the correspondance from the case from the other solicitors) that the finding of the adjudicator was that I agreed to pay the sum of £28k, which is rubbish. His solicitor at the time after I won the case sent a letter saying that to ease my consicounce I should pay him the £28k as that would be the right thing to do. I had 28 days to pay it, that was in Oct 2008 and I never heard a thing since! Its amazing that he left it 5 years and has only reared hi ugly head cos the house is on the market! I have tried ringing my solicitor but he is not in. Do I ignore the letter???

Gra76

Wait till your solicitor IS in and ask them how to proceed. I presume it's been going on so long a few more hours won't hurt.

freda11

I have a letter from him, signed by him saying he was selling me the house at a discount price of £XXX which is exactly what I did buy it for. At the tribunal he said he never signed this letter. Whether the adjudicator believed him or not I don't know.

ValHaller

What 'tribunal' and 'adjudicator' was this?

Was the property all registered at the Land Registry with the title in your name and no charges in favour of your ex? Did your ex get a Unilateral Notice against the property? - this may have alerted him.

AFAICS, provided the property is in your name and nothing registered against it, you can sell and your ex should not be able to stop that. The rest of it boils down to this 'Tribunal' and the weight of its rulings - but only in relation to the money from the property.

freda11

Hi it was the adjudicator at the land reg tribunal, ex tried to get a unilateral notice on to prevent me from selling until I gave him some money, but did not succeed. The property is registered at the Land Registry with the title in my name and no charges in favour ex.

Ulfar

In which case he lost never mind, sell your house and move on.

I wouldn't give him any money, get your solicitor to write to his new solicitor advising that this has already been the subject of a ruling and he lost.

From what you have said he is kite flying.

ValHaller

Ulfar wrote: »

In which case he lost never mind, sell your house and move on.

I wouldn't give him any money, get your solicitor to write to his new solicitor advising that this has already been the subject of a ruling and he lost.

From what you have said he is kite flying.

I agree with this for the most part, but I am a little bit cautious about this.

Essentially, all the Land Reg Tribunal said was that the debt, if there were one, could not be secured on the property. They did not rule - nor could they rule - on the validity of the alleged debt itself.

The debt can still be tested in the county court - provided it is not Statute Barred. An unsecured debt - or an allegation - is Statute Barred if the alleged debtor has not either paid towards the debt or acknowledged it in writing for 6 clear years. Once it is Statute Barred, the complete defence is that it is Statute Barred which will (if correctly claimed) will trump anything the claimant may argue.

If your offer of £10,000 was made within the last 6 years, you need to check out whether it was offered in writing - and if you did put it in writing, whether the offer was made 'without prejudice'. If the alleged debt is taken to court and it is not Statute Barred, you will have to fight it in the normal way.

freda11

Hi I don't think its statute barred as it was Aug 2008 when the adjudicator made his decision but the offer was made without prejudice, I felt under pressure to offer it him to save solicitor costs at the tribunal, I can't find the letter now but my solicitor put it that the offer is made not because I am obliged to pay him but basically to prevent the tribunal costs etc. I think the offer letter was 2007.

freda11

I have just found some paperwork. The lies he told at the tribunal, my goodness! Its amazing how much paperwork he 'never received' from my solicitor regarding the house transfer, amazingly though he did receive the cheque she sent him (this was because I was buying the house at the cost of the mortgage on the property at the time and it was £6k less than we thought). He thought this cheque was an interim payment as my sol had sent it on a compliment slip???? Amazing how I received my copy of the letter what accompanied the cheque! The money he was requesting at the tribunal was for a half of the equity of the value of the property at the time of transfer plus half of HIS credit card debts, which believe me was a few thousand pounds, at least £26,000. These card debts were run up by him alone, for his drinking and gamboling, they were in HIS name only. When he left in 2005 I discovered his online betting websites, he had spent thousands all on credit cards!
I can't find my offer letter but looking through correspondance I am confident it was before April 2007. He also sworn at the tribunal that I said I would pay him the monies owed when I received my inheritance from my late mother. I proved this is a lie as it was this inheritance which allowed me to purchase the property from him!
Also my lender at the time of the transfer required a letter from him stating he was selling me the property for £x. During the tribunal he said I had forged this letter. I was quite prepared to allow him to get it foresically tested but he did not feel that was necessary. So if he does try to take it to court I am confident that I could make a good case against him.

ValHaller

Is he still using his original solicitor?

freda11

No, he has gone to a new firm of solicitors.