Help..Summary Judgement now going for Charging Order

shell7t8

Hi,

I wonder if someone could advise me..

I had an old debt with Lloyds bank being dealt with by Cabot. It was around 5 years old so when i got the letter in the post from the court saying they were applying for a ccj i responded with my defence saying that i believed it was statute barred and didn't have any idea what the debt related to - at the time that was true as they hadn't put lloyds down as the actual creditor and i had a lot of student debts at the time so wasn't sure.

They wrote back about 2 months later saying that they were trying to get a response from their client but it was taking a while to get the files.

This went on for almost 12 months during which time the CCJ application was on hold i believe. Just before the 12 months they wrote back saying their client couldn't find the file but would be prepared to settle out of court if i entered in to an arrangement with them.

I responded to them to agree but in the interim my letter to them crossed in the post with a huge pack of files from them via their client of all my old bank statements. They then said they were ontinuing to court and that they were also now seeking costs. They said i had missed the cut off time to respond so the offer was withdrawn. This could well be the case as i had just lost my husband so time wise i was probaby a week or so out to reply although i hadn't noted a deadline on their letter.

A court date was set and i wrote a letter and copies of all of the correspondence back and forth we had had. I couldn't attend as had a family funeral on the same day 100 miles away. I sent with the letter a copy of my financial statemetn including an income and expenditure form.

Shortly after i received a letter from the court telling me the stay had been lifted and that a summary judgement had been made. They also said i had to pay the other parties costs. I have no way of affording this as my only income is a small amount of tax credits and widowed parents allowance.

SHortly after this i receive another letter telling me an interim charging order has now been made and the full hearing for it will be 28 days later.

What happens now !!! Once a charging order is made to secure the debt cna they then ask a ridiculous amount per month from me knowing i can't afford it just so i have to give up my home? it is the only thing left my daugther and i have since losing my husband and i have fought hard to keep it over the last 2 years. I am just about getting back on top financially but will not be able to afford some unrealistic payment which is what i think they will request. How come the judge didn't take any notice of my I&E? There are already 3 other charges on my home from loans my husband took out without my knowledge so they are pretty much last in the queue and i'm already in negative equity.

Can anyone advise on my options..i have not had to deal with this kidn of thing before so dont really know what to do or where to start or what my options are

sourcrates

Hi,

Your best bet is to give National Debtline a ring, number is in my signiture below.

Obtaining a charging order does not mean you will be forced to sell, orders for sale are very rare, you can challenge the amount the court has set, if it's unaffordable.

ND will be able to advise you about this.

shell7t8

Thank you for the reply...

The court havn't set an amount for installments despite my having submitted my income and expenditure to both the creditor and the court themselves. How can they be so unfair!

sourcrates

shell7t8 wrote: »

Thank you for the reply...

The court havn't set an amount for installments despite my having submitted my income and expenditure to both the creditor and the court themselves. How can they be so unfair!

You should be able to put your side of things at the full hearing, so it's imperative you attend.

National_Debtline

Hi Shell7t8,


I can understand how this kind of situation can be stressful, especially when you have had bereavements to deal with as well (I am sorry to hear about your husband).


In terms of this debt, the creditor has got a CCJ which is quite often the case, if one side doesn't attend the hearing the court will normally rule in the other sides favour. Because the CCJ was awarded after October 2012 the creditor can go straight for a charging order whether you are up to date with the judgement or not.


You can try and object to the charge being made final but that is quite rarely successful. If a charging order is made final you can request conditions to be placed on the charge (sometimes done at the hearing but normally done on an N244 form). Conditions can be things such as, the creditor cannot apply for an order for sale as long as the instalments are up to date, and you can apply to vary the CCJ itself to instalments that are more affordable. We have got a factsheet about this that may help you, good luck


Laura
@natdebtline

shell7t8

Laura,

Thank you so much for your reply.

I havn't been given any chance to make an installment offer. THe original paperwork for the CCJ i submitted a defence so didn't submit any income details.

It then took 12 months to finally go to court and I sent in to the court a copy of my I&E advising that should the judgement be entered in to please would they consider my situation particularly my financial predicament.

I got a letter back from the court saying they had awared a summary judgement. Didn't have anything else on it apart from that and i had nothing through from the creditors at all until i had this letter telling me that they were applying for a charging order.

I'm not sure at what point any installment plan could be offered. If they go ahead and get the charging order and then write to me telling me to pay the full amount or lose my home what can i do? I dont see how i can fill in a form asking to vary the amount of the installment when one was never accepted...

National_Debtline

Hello again,


I would just like to clarify some of the information from earlier that I don't think I was particularly clear on.

National_Debtline wrote: »

You can try and object to the charge being made final but that is quite rarely successful. If a charging order is made final you can request conditions to be placed on the charge (sometimes done at the hearing but normally done on an N244 form). Conditions can be things such as, the creditor cannot apply for an order for sale as long as the instalments are up to date, and you can apply to vary the CCJ itself to instalments that are more affordable. We have got a factsheet about this that may help you, good luck

So, from your posts I understand that you have got a letter confirming you have an interim charging order and you have 28days to object to the final charging order being made. This would suggest that the creditor has applied for a charging order after the 6th April 2016, and if that is the case then you can do the following. You can submit your written objections before the final order is made and the case should then be transferred to your local court where there should be a hearing. Once you have received notice of this you can write to your local court (and the creditor) and outline what conditions you would like to be made on the 'potential' charging order. This is where you can suggest instalments and you should include a copy of your budget to show what you can afford.


There wouldn't be any reason for a court to refuse to grant conditions at a hearing and ask you to make a separate application later. But, just in the interest of covering everything, please be aware that you can still apply for conditions to be placed on a charge, even after the final order has been made, but in this case you would have to apply using an N244 (which can be charged at £255) so it is better to ask before this happens.



Laura
@natdebtline