Bailiffs help

kaya

fisherking wrote: »

Still confused.
Not my debt, everything of value in my house is mine.
if they turn up trying to remove my property and I'm here, can I stop them ( I will anyway, they are not taking my things).
Am I right in thinking these ARE County court bailiffs or High Court Enforcement Officers?
I believe that they are still not allowed to take goods from anyone other than the person who owes the debt.
What paper work would they need in order to force their way into my house, and what would it look like?

if they have previousley entered the property to list goods then they are allowed to force entry to remove the goods they listed, they must make peacefull entry to list goods though and can not force their way in. If you can legally prove the goods are not yours they can not take them but otherwise they are fair game. What you can do is write out an affadavit stating that the goods in the house belong to someone other than the debtor(i.e you can get your wife or lodger and "give" them the goods ) , the affadavit must be signed by the person who you "give" your goods to or who owns them and the signiture witnessed by a solicitor or commisioner for oaths, an affadavit once sworn is a legal document and should they attempt to subvert it in any way the bailiff or enforcement officer will be guilty of theft and prosecuted, they know this only too well.
The only other time a bailiff can force entry is if its a commercial debt and commercial premisis. a simple reciept written out for a motor vehicle stating that you have sold it on to whoever is sufficient to stop them taking it, the logbook states clearly that it is "the registered keeper" and not the owner whereas the reciept proves ownership
I had a large debt that was in dispute and handed the bailiffs an affadavit signed by my wife stating everything in the house belongs to her, that was ten years ago and i haven't heard a peep out of them since. also their own code of conduct states they must not harass "vulnerable" people which includes poor or ill people , if you are on benefits or disabled you fall into this catagory, inform them you will file a form 4 against them if they continue to harass you after showing them proof you are on benefits or ill and that usualy does the trick, put it in writing to their office as well as handing them a copy. If a form 4 is filed against them their licence to operate as a bailiff is revoked until such time as they appear in front of a magistrate to explain themselves which means they will be on the doors at the local pub or minicabbing instead of bailiff duties, they also know all about this and usualy it stops them dead in their tracks as well

fisherking

I love black adder lol

I think the way to go may to get a Statutory Declaration For Goods Belonging to Someone Else. I will look into getting it signed by a solicitor.
Just not sure what to write on it, since I can't spend the next 2 days trying to write down everything in my house (I do have to go to work), and they would take anything I missed off the declaration.
So I will have to see if I can simplify it to all contents in the house with the exception of a few items belonging to my daughter (and list a few item, clothes and makeup).

MrsTinks

For reference it would have been a lot easier if you'd started a new thread as people are advising on two very separate cases here So some of the advise is crossed over

fisherking

Before I phone a local solicitor, can anyone help with the wording so it is all ready for me to sign and him to witness it.
Don't want him to have to change anything, since he will charge me as much as the bailiffs for his time.

Just to clarify: The house is mine, in my name.
The debt is not mine, it is my daughters.
Everything apart from a few clothes and makeup, belong to me.
I have a car, my daughter does not.
Being a man into gadgets, I do have a LOT of electronic items.
In other words my daughter has a lot of clothes, as they do, and a mobile phone. how could I best sum this up on a Statutory Declaration For Goods Belonging to Someone Else form ready for a solicitor to witness and sign ?

fisherking

I'm sorry about the cross over, spent hours reading through advice till late at night. then wasn't sure where to post it.

National_Debtline

Hi fisherking

It sounds like your daughter will have had a fine made in a magistrates court. Bailiffs enforcing a magistrates court fine do have the right to force entry into a property if they have reason to believe the debtor may own items inside.

In practice we don’t hear about magistrates court bailiffs actually forcing entry very often at all, even when they know the debtor owns the property and the items inside are likely to be owned by them. As long as you don’t make it easy for the bailiffs and don’t let them in your home I would be surprised if they did actually use a locksmith. More likely they want to pressurise you into paying the debt off quickly, which of course you aren’t obliged to do at all.

If you can provide a statutory declaration to confirm that the items inside your home don't belong to your daughter it could help convince the bailiffs to stop collecting there. In practice most people don’t have receipts for a vast majority of the items in their home. If a bailiff did remove an item that belongs to you there is a process to follow where ultimately the court can review your claim that the item belongs to you.

There is some information on proof of ownership here:

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/action-your-creditor-can-take/bailiffs/your-belongings-and-bailiffs/what-goods-can-a-bailiff-take/proving-who-owns-the-items-bailiffs/

James
@natdebtline

fisherking

Thanks for advice here, this is what I did in the end. I will post the document here in case it helps anyone else.
I will delete names and address.. This was then given to a solicitor who charged £5 for the declaration. I will now photocopy a lot of copies then send them, and email them to the marston company. They will then have no reason to take anything from my house and if they do this will be treated as theft!.

STATUTORY DECLARATION!


To: Whom it may concern.!

I:!Mr me

Of: here

Do solemnly and sincerely declare that:!
I live at the above property , I have my daughter (Her name) at present living with me.

The purpose of this Statutory Declaration is to confirm that all items in the property, including the car parked out the front, , and items in the sheds are all owned by me and were acquired from my own funds. With the exception of a few personal items of daughter ( for example, clothes, mobile phone, makeup)

And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835 and section 5 of the perjury act 1911.

signature:!

Date :

Declared at:!