Desperate for some advice/help?

Littlejenny

Hi,

I am posting on behalf of a friend and need some good advice for her desperately. I hope someone will read through this and help. She is married with a baby and after losing her job last year, she got into problems paying a credit union loan. The credit union took her to court (she had never been in debt in her life before and didn't even realise this was happening until she got a CCJ from the court). Anyway, to cut a long story short, she agreed to pay £175 a month instead of the usual £250 off the £7000 loan, until she was in a position to increase the payments, even though this would leave her with practically nothing to live on. Despite this, she has not missed a payment since the agreement was made in January.

Then last week she suddenly received a letter from the court's solicitors stating that a charging order had been placed on her house and that they were going to force her to sell the property to pay off the credit union debt in full. Her husband also got the same letter as the mortgage is in joint names. I am not exaggerating when I say that i feared for her life that day! She was distraught! A massive row ensued with her husband because he thought she had been lying to him and had missed the payments and she actually took the baby and went missing for a few hours! She rang me sobbing down the phone. I assured her husband that the payments hadn't been missed so he rang the credit union to see what was going on. Apparently they had "forgotten" to tell the court that an agreement had been set up and that she had been making regular monthly payments and had not missed one. The credit union apologised to her husband and rang the court solicitors to let them know there had been a mistake.

Now, today they have both just received letters from the land registry informing them that a charge has indeed been placed on the property!

My questions are: how do we go about complaining about the credit union in question? Initially when this all came about in January the credit union actually telephoned her repeatedly and were VERY abusive and threatening. The man that was dealing with the case was particularly horrible to her, shouting down the phone and threatening her with all sorts of action, actually threatening to take the house, and she ended up having to be treated by her doctor for stress and depression because of it. Now this just puts the top hat on things and I wonder has he done it on purpose?

Also, what do we do to sort out this charging order situation? I'm worried for her future credit rating and that maybe one day, if she ever IS lucky enough to be in a position to be able to move house, she won't ever get another mortgage because of it.

Please could you let me know how I can help my friend and what she can do to rectify things? She cannot afford to go to a solicitor for help as she honestly is living on the breadline these days. She did have a really good professional job and lost this through no fault of her own. It's so hard to watch her struggle. She has taken on another job at this point but is earning a fraction of what she used to earn (she was earning in excess of £35,000 and now earns around £10,000 pa). ANY help or advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm not proud in practically begging for help here for her. She is very dear to me and it's heartbreaking watching her go through this hell. She is an absolute wreck and on the verge of a divorce also because of what has happened. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Jenny

[Deleted User]

How much is left to pay on the loan?

Littlejenny

Hi Bob,

I've just been checking with her and sorry but I made a mistake when I said the loan was for £7000. It was actually originally for £13,000 but she now owes just over £7000 but she says they're still charging interest on it. She took out the original loan in 2007 but topped it up about two years ago to buy a new car, not realising she would lose her job (she's since sold the car to use the money to live on and drives around in an old wreck now)

terryw

I am not doubting your sincerity, but I fear that you are not getting the full story from your friend.

1. Regarding "The credit union took her to court (she had never been in debt in her life before and didn't even realise this was happening until she got a CCJ from the court)."

There would have been lots of letters before the CCJ including a summons

2. Regarding "Then last week she suddenly received a letter from the court's solicitors stating that a charging order had been placed on her house"

The court do not have solicitors, but assuming that this was from the Credit Union's solicitors then there would have been a hearing to which she was invited to attend.

Please have another word with your friends.

On the possible bright side have a look at this thread if the husband is not a party to the CCJ but a joint owner of the property:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1839539

With a CCJ in force, her credit rating will be adversely affected. If there are grounds then she could apply for the CCJ to be set aside.

[Deleted User]

INAL, but I can't imagine a court evicting a mother and baby, over a £7,000 debt, least of all, one that is being paid off, albeit at a reduced rate.

Littlejenny

Thanks Terry. It's probably me that has got the story wrong tbh. When I said CCJ I actually meant a summons (sorry this is all like a different language to me). She had been speaking to the credit union to try sort out the debt but they were being difficult so she sought the advice of a debt advisor at the CAB who did a letter for her offering to pay a lower amount but the credit union disregarded the CAB and suddenly just took her to court. They didn't warn her, she just received the summons. If it is the case that the letter did come from the credit unions solicitors as you say Terry, then that is even worse, and proves to me that they have done this on purpose. My friends husband had to get the credit union to ring the solicitors and confirm that an agreement to pay HAD been reached and had been upheld for the time from the agreement was made. Only then did the solicitors believe him. I have seen the letter and I didn't see any mention of a hearing but then I could be wrong as I just skimmed it. Thank you for the link, it's very helpful. Her husband is definitely not involved in the CCJ but is joint owner of the house. The house is in negative equity too btw

Littlejenny

Bob, I said the same thing but it's all the trauma going through all this that's hard for her. Don't get me wrong, she accepts that she took out the loan and she is determined to pay off what she owes eventually. She really is just scrimping by to be able to pay the amount she is paying each month. She's a good person, she just lost her job at the wrong time and the baby coming along compounded things for her. It's just sad that what should be a lovely time for her with a young baby is just so stressful. I feel that the credit union are being awkward on purpose and wondered if there was somewhere i could write to, to complain about their treatment of her?

Littlejenny

PS .... what does INAL mean?

Littlejenny

Terry, I'm so sorry you were right! The letter says there is going to be a hearing (in November)! This all just seems to get worse! If she'd not been paying each month then I'd understand but I know for a fact that every one of those payments have been going through on time, every single month (I know because I'm helping her pay it and it's going out of my own bank account)

terryw

The more that I think about this the more that I feel that you are not getting the full story.

Credit Unions are geared towards:

The credit union is a not-for-profit community co-operative which often lends money to people who banks class as too high risk. Obtaining a CCJ and Charging Order (or more likely a restriction in this case) would only be done as a last resort, as the court and legal costs would affect the Credit Union for many years to come.

Here is the link to the MSE article:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-unions

They do not normally lend out large amounts - £3000 or so is the usual maximum.

Many Credit Unions have had to close because of bad debt. Do a quick google and you can confirm this. They are not like the banks or payday loans........they depend upon the integrity of the members and charge reasonable rates from the, generally, poorer members of society . One non-payer affects all the other local members.

This then begs the question - why did your friend ("she was earning in excess of £35,000 and now earns around £10,000 pa") go to a Credit Union rather than a mainstream lending organisation?.

There is, of course, no reason for the Credit Union to be abusive. If you really think that this is the case, then a written complaint would be in order.

Best wishes in resolving this.

terryw

Littlejenny wrote: »

Terry, I'm so sorry you were right! The letter says there is going to be a hearing (in November)! This all just seems to get worse! If she'd not been paying each month then I'd understand but I know for a fact that every one of those payments have been going through on time, every single month (I know because I'm helping her pay it and it's going out of my own bank account)

Ok. It looks as though an interim charging order has been granted and the hearing to finalize it is in November. Your friends SHOULD attend to give any reasons why it should not be granted. Seek some legal advice on this. The rate of interest on CCJs (if applied for is likely to be higher than the Credit Union's.

Posts are crossing,

IANAL = I am not a lawyer (me as well!)