Clarification with CCJ!

curly_jefferson

Hi, just wondering if anyone could spare a moment to clarify a few things.

So in July 2012 I moved in to a house with 3 other people on a joint tenancy agreement. We were all working decent jobs and could afford the rent. After a few months I fell in to a deep depression and without going in to too much detail I was told by health professionals to leave my significantly stressful job. After leaving my job I could not afford the rent and now a CCJ acknowledgement notice has been issued against all 4 of us for £2125.

Now what I want to know is on the form 9NA (I think?) I have agreed to face up to the full amount, essentially absolving my other 3 friends of the debt (I have dragged them all down with me so it is only fair). I am just wondering if the courts will allow only me to face it?

The letting company and landlady seem adament there is no way out for them and we are all liable, though the court papers suggest otherwise.

Cheers guys.

(Sorry about the unruly, long post, im relatively new to forums!)

tlc678910

I'm sorry I'm no help answering your question but I just wanted to show my support. Severe stress is very frightening. I hope your housemates are understanding - you are clearly trying to take ownership of the debt if you can. I hope you are starting to feel better in yourself.

curly_jefferson

Thank you tlc678910!

Thats a real nice thing to say, made me feel good to know there are people out there willing to lend me support!

Thanks very much!

fatbelly

The ccj will be issued against all 4 of you and will show the total amount owed to the landlord.

It's called 'joint and several liability' and can be a difficult concept to grasp. You are not absolving the others of their liability as all four of you are liable for the whole amount.

It means that the landlord can go after whichever party they think gives them the best chance of collecting their money. Payplan take a stab at explaining it here:

https://www.payplan.com/advice/law/joint-and-several-liability/

The important thing for you is to deal with all your debts as a whole. So a few questions for starters:

1. It would be unusual to get a ccj against an existing tenant. Can you confirm that you do not live there now. Are you in rented accommodation elsewhere?

2. Are you now on benefits and if so what is the realistic likelihood of getting a job in the next 12 months.

3. Do you have ANY other debts? Any outstanding water, gas, electricity, Council Tax bill? Any overdraft, credit card, loan etc. If you added them all up how much would you owe?

curly_jefferson

Thank you fatbelly!

In answer to your questions:

1. I do not live at that address any more nor do any of the previous tenants. I live back home with my mum for now

2.Im not on any benefits but I will be in work very soon (a couple of interviews this week actually)

3. I have an overdraft of £2000 that needs to be paid of within the next 3 years and council tax of over £1000, so my debt is around £5000 right now.

Just so its clear for me; even though my other housemates have filled in the form saying they are not willing to pay and I have agreed to take it all on, are they still at risk of being issued with a CCJ?

Thanks!

longtermplanner

curly_jefferson wrote: »

Just so its clear for me; even though my other housemates have filled in the form saying they are not willing to pay and I have agreed to take it all on, are they still at risk of being issued with a CCJ?

Yes. The only way for you to take on the whole debt is for you to pay it all off.

However, if you make an acceptable offer of payment towards the debt, the landlady will probably consider that it's not worthwhile to chase the others as the money is rolling in each month from you. Until you are in work, you can't really make an offer, but if you can get a job and live cheaply at your mum's, then if you could make an offer of say £250 a month they are likely to jump at it.

Obviously I don't know if you could afford this much, especially given your other debts. The council tax arrears in particular are a priority debt and you should agree a repayment on this one first.

curly_jefferson

Thank you everyone for your help!