Order of Sale advice please

CStar75

I would appreciate any help please....My husband has a historic debt with a high street bank on a business overdraft he was forced to personal guarantee by his business account manager (I question his conduct as he knew the business was in difficulty and my husband was vulnerable at the time trying to make ends meet!) The business was forced into liquidation but the debt with the bank has to stand due to the personal guarantee. Long story short, we can't afford to pay it off in full or raise finance against our property with adverse credit and they will not accept monthly payments so a charging order was issued and now the threat of an order of sale. The debt is in his name only and we both have secondary school age children. We can't afford to live in the area in a different home either buying or renting and our mortgage is relatively cheap. I feel very strongly about remaining in the area and not changing the children's school due to the detrimental effects on their well-being and disrupting their education. Our house also has a short lease so borrowing money against a home that potentially has less equity than Zoopla suggests is a problem for lenders. Can I stop the claim for the order of sale - can anyone offer any suggestions or recommendations moving forward please as I have less than 14 days to reply to the courts paperwork? Thank you.

sourcrates

An order for sale is very rare, so rare in fact numbers are no longer calculated.
If the debt is his, and the property is jointly owned, then the most the creditor can obtain is a restriction.

Your circumstances are always taken into consideration by the court.

I would suggest contacting National Debtline on Monday, run your situation past them.

CStar75

I cannot tell you how relieved I am to read your post and thank you so much for replying so quickly. It's been an extremely stressful time for us for sometime now and I long for the day when life becomes less of a worry. I will certainly speak to National Debline on Monday. The thing I can't quite get my head round is the 1st and 3rd charge on the home is the same high street bank and the 1st charge (the mortgage) has the largest proportion of the share (apart from us) but it's the 3rd charge forcing the issue. I have written to their head office complaints team to see if common sense will prevail and consolidate both accounts into one to pay each month through the mortgage payments. Whether this approach works, remains to be seen. Thank you once again.

sourcrates

Are you both named on the mortgage ?

If so, it’s just a restriction, and not a full charging order.

I am by no means a legal expert, so as suggested, speak to ND on Monday, threats are easy to make, and are used to the creditors advantage, they do not always follow through.

CStar75

We are both named on the mortgage and the creditor solicitor is asking to conduct the sale, clearly to their own advantage, to recover the debts from my husband's share of the equity. Exhausting but we will continue to fight seeking helpline from ND. Kind regards.

D_M_E

This thread may be of help, since it's a restriction, not a charging order

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1839539/charging-order-the-myth&page=192#topofpage

Have you tried looking at the property details on Land Registry - costs £3 to download a copy of what they hold - and see what it says on there?

Have you sought your own legal advice on the matter?

fatbelly

Sourcrates is correct on this. It's bullying behaviour by the bank and, although they can ask for an order for sale, it is almost certain to fail once it reaches a judge.

Debt camel has written about this here

https://debtcamel.co.uk/charging-order-sale/

CStar75

No legal advice as yet from my perspective as the paperwork only came through yesterday. Sadly we don't have pots of cash or credit to pay for it hence the reason we are in the mess we are in. I will speak to National Debtline tomorrow to see if they can help me fill in the paperwork. Thank you so much for your feedback, it is so good to know there are members willing to help people in vulnerable situations.

CStar75

Just wondered if you could help with the documents I can apply for on Land Registry as there doesn't appear to be anything for £3, unless I'm looking in the wrong place. Thanks.

fatbelly

You want the title register

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

it's £3

CStar75

Thanks for the link. I bought the document and there are only 2 charges on there, our main mortgage and a secured loan and we pay both back each month. No mention of the 3rd creditor who has submitted the documentation to court whatsoever.