Discovered 5 yrs+ old CCJ during remortgage and Lowell

ss540

Hello all, I am really after some advices/recommendations of what I should do with a recently discovered CCJ.

Basically I took out a mortgage 2 years ago, all went straight forward without any issues. Until recently I'm looking at remortgage options my broker told me that the lender found out I had a CCJ in 2013 for GBP 1050 so my remortgage application was rejected. I had no idea of this CCJ and as a matter of fact I was not in UK 3 years before or after when the CCJ was registered. And it was not recorded with all credit company but only one, I think that's why I was able to mortgage last time.

Then today I received a txt message from a company called Lowell asking me to contact them with a case number. I did a quick search and it is a well known debt company, this is making me very nerves when I read about all the endless calls, visits etc. Now I don't know the best way to approach/deal with this. But I think the first thing I would like to know if who claimed this CCJ to me and why. I am not familiar with laws and my/the debt company's rights, but clearly my information was given/sold to the debt company (or else how they were not in touch for the last few years and is able to get my phone number when I'm looking for remortgage)? I really don't want to deal with them directly myself, so can I appoint someone to handle it for me? If it is true that I own them money I'll settle it. Should I go to these online debt advisor or find a local solicitor? Obviously I would like to keep the cost down too but I am not sure how good the free advisors are, and will my privacy protected? Any advices and recommendations would be much appreciated!

Just_Di

ss540 wrote: »

found out I had a CCJ in 2013 for GBP 1050 so my remortgage application was rejected.

If you had a CCJ in 2013 then all trace of that on your CRA file should be removed next year - six years from the date of the CCJ. Do you know what month in 2013?

When that has happens you should be able to get your remortgage (unless you have any other defaults etc registered).

If the Judgment Creditor (the Claimant) has not sought to enforce the CCJ for six years (such as bailiffs, Charging Order, Attachment of Earnings etc) then they would have to make an Application to the court before they can do that which may not be successful.

If you're only a few months away from having a clean credit file and a reason to contest enforcement then it may make sense to lie low at the moment.

Di

ss540

Hi Di,

Many thanks for your reply. I checked again my credit report and it was May 2013.
I am still able to remortgage with my current lender as they are using the credit company that didn't have the CCJ recorded.
But I am also very concerned about Lowell contacting me, they 've sent me txt msg and left voice msg asking me to call back, only gave me a case number but no other details but I can only assume whoever think I owned them money has sold this debt to Lowell? Can the debt be sold on multiple times? If not I'd think it;s Lowell who registered the CCJ against me back in 2013?

sourcrates

Hi,


Lowell are just a debt purchasing company, no more, no less, debts get sold on all the time, its a very common practice, look on your credit report, it should show you the court where the judgement was registered, ring them or email them, and ask for details of the CCJ, then at least you will know what it is for.

You do not need any 3rd party to deal with this for you, that would be a waste of money, Lowell are only at the texting/calling stage in the collection/enforcement process, there is a long way to go yet.

There will be a succession of letters, ranging from asking you to make contact, to threats of further enforcement action, just keep an eye on what they send you, if an escalation seems immanent, and cannot be avoided, then you will have to make arrangements with them, but if you can drag this out till after the 6 year mark next may, chances are Lowell will drop the whole thing as they would have to go back before a judge and explain why they have not enforced this judgement in the previous 6 years, in order to progress this any further.

Just_Di

ss540 wrote: »

I checked again my credit report and it was May 2013.

. . . . I am also very concerned about Lowell contacting me, they 've sent me txt msg and left voice msg asking me to call back, only gave me a case number but no other details but I can only assume whoever think I owned them money has sold this debt to Lowell? Can the debt be sold on multiple times? If not I'd think it;s Lowell who registered the CCJ against me back in 2013?

If Lowell got a CCJ against you in 2013 I'd be surprised if they would leave it nearly six years to chase you for the money by way of enforcement, especially since you're a homeowner so if the CCJ is for over £1k they would be able to register a Charging Order (or Restriction) on your property.

So it's probably been purchased from the original Judgment Creditor.

When you applied for your mortgage (which was rejected) that application would have flagged up on your CRA for all to see. This can often trigger the resurrection of dormant debts.

Lowell have recently bought a portfolio of 'stale' CCJs so it could be this debt (the one a lender saw on your CRA file) or could it be a different one from your past?

At the moment you say that Lowell are only calling your mobile and sending texts. I would wait until they write to you when things may become clearer.

Your aim would be to get to May 2013 without acknowledging the debt/CCJ so if they try to enforce it they'd need to seek permission from the court which is not that easy to get. If it's another debt which could be close to Statute Barred then contacting them sooner than necessary is perhaps unwise.

Once you engage with them they may decide to attempt immediate enforcement action on the CCJ when/if they realise that they're running out of time to do that.

They'll write to you soon enough if you don't respond to their voicemails or texts. Have you moved house since May 2013 so they know where you currently live? I assume that can be seen on your CR file anyway if they do search it.

Di

fatbelly

When they write to you, see if they mention that court reference you can see on your credit report.

It's still possible that it's something different. It's also possible that Lowell don't know there is a ccj on it.

Sourcrates is right - for now, just ask the court what it is. My favoured method is to email them and ask for the particulars of claim.

No need to contact the claimant yet, and contacting the court won't alert them that you are looking at this.

ss540

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,


Lowell are just a debt purchasing company, no more, no less, debts get sold on all the time, its a very common practice, look on your credit report, it should show you the court where the judgement was registered, ring them or email them, and ask for details of the CCJ, then at least you will know what it is for.

You do not need any 3rd party to deal with this for you, that would be a waste of money, Lowell are only at the texting/calling stage in the collection/enforcement process, there is a long way to go yet.

There will be a succession of letters, ranging from asking you to make contact, to threats of further enforcement action, just keep an eye on what they send you, if an escalation seems immanent, and cannot be avoided, then you will have to make arrangements with them, but if you can drag this out till after the 6 year mark next may, chances are Lowell will drop the whole thing as they would have to go back before a judge and explain why they have not enforced this judgement in the previous 6 years, in order to progress this any further.

Thanks for the advice, I was thinking of having 3rd party to deal with it as I did not want to be called endlessly and worst thing is to have people knocking on the door. But it seem like there's a long way and from below inputs I still have time and can at least look into this without responding to Lowell. I will try to contact the court and find out what it is before decide what to do.

ss540

Just_Di wrote: »

If Lowell got a CCJ against you in 2013 I'd be surprised if they would leave it nearly six years to chase you for the money by way of enforcement, especially since you're a homeowner so if the CCJ is for over £1k they would be able to register a Charging Order (or Restriction) on your property.

So it's probably been purchased from the original Judgment Creditor.

When you applied for your mortgage (which was rejected) that application would have flagged up on your CRA for all to see. This can often trigger the resurrection of dormant debts.

Lowell have recently bought a portfolio of 'stale' CCJs so it could be this debt (the one a lender saw on your CRA file) or could it be a different one from your past?

At the moment you say that Lowell are only calling your mobile and sending texts. I would wait until they write to you when things may become clearer.

Your aim would be to get to May 2013 without acknowledging the debt/CCJ so if they try to enforce it they'd need to seek permission from the court which is not that easy to get. If it's another debt which could be close to Statute Barred then contacting them sooner than necessary is perhaps unwise.

Once you engage with them they may decide to attempt immediate enforcement action on the CCJ when/if they realise that they're running out of time to do that.

They'll write to you soon enough if you don't respond to their voicemails or texts. Have you moved house since May 2013 so they know where you currently live? I assume that can be seen on your CR file anyway if they do search it.

Di

I was not in UK back then so that's why unaware of the CCJ.
So debt companies can search for people's credit report without their consent? are they also have updates from credit company if anything changed on one's credit report who they are actually want to know? How do they access to people's info such as address/contact numbers etc, just wondering as I thought this also forms part of privacy info?

ss540

fatbelly wrote: »

When they write to you, see if they mention that court reference you can see on your credit report.

It's still possible that it's something different. It's also possible that Lowell don't know there is a ccj on it.

Sourcrates is right - for now, just ask the court what it is. My favoured method is to email them and ask for the particulars of claim.

No need to contact the claimant yet, and contacting the court won't alert them that you are looking at this.

Thank you! This is really useful information, I was afraid the court will then directly re-open a case if I contact them, or notify the debt company such request. If not I will get in touch and find out what it is about.

MEM62

ss540 wrote: »

So debt companies can search for people's credit report without their consent?

You gave your consent in the initial credit agreement. Also, the CCJ is a matter of public record. Not many debts would be collected if the debtor's permission was needed for them to be traced / pursued would they? Data protection is not protection from debts.

You first step is to contact the court and see what this is for. Once you have the background report back for guidance in respect of a strategy to deal with it. Are you sure that it is even yours?