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Recovering Legal costs after court action
James_N
Posts: 1,090 Forumite
This is a complicated one so I wil give just the basic details.
Martin's recent poll regarding squatters caused me to think again after five years about the incident where a "squatter" took me and my partner to court, and lost.
This was a bad time for us and cost us around three thousand pounds to defend ourselves. At the time, the solicitor asked if we wished to pursue for costs, but advised that as a "man of straw" the judgement would be in our favour but the money / remedy unobtainable. We did not pursue this.
A recent thread on the Ebay site, where several in this and other on-line communities cooperated with a member to expose a scammer using online information prompted me to re-open my enquiry into this man's wherabouts and activities.
And there he is. Online evidence with a NEW first name, same nutter (he mentions his ex-partner explicitly in a posting), an address, even a phone number. Local-ish to us still. Evidence gathered from six or so places in one lunchtime search. How much more could I gather if I knew how to structure the search?
My question: is it worth going after him for 1) the principle 2) pride 3) the basic court fees and costs (already awarded and clear) 4) extended costs (for which we would need to re-engage the solicitor to draw up and present into court).
One aspect seems to be now in our favour: he seems to now own a building / site / business. For which we can lodge a claim on the registration against our award, if he truely owns it.
Is this worth it? Should I do it. Can anyone who likes a detailed trail really help to pin more detail on this? Can anyone find his ex-partner, who disappeared owing me hundreds (separate but connected).
Martin's recent poll regarding squatters caused me to think again after five years about the incident where a "squatter" took me and my partner to court, and lost.
This was a bad time for us and cost us around three thousand pounds to defend ourselves. At the time, the solicitor asked if we wished to pursue for costs, but advised that as a "man of straw" the judgement would be in our favour but the money / remedy unobtainable. We did not pursue this.
A recent thread on the Ebay site, where several in this and other on-line communities cooperated with a member to expose a scammer using online information prompted me to re-open my enquiry into this man's wherabouts and activities.
And there he is. Online evidence with a NEW first name, same nutter (he mentions his ex-partner explicitly in a posting), an address, even a phone number. Local-ish to us still. Evidence gathered from six or so places in one lunchtime search. How much more could I gather if I knew how to structure the search?
My question: is it worth going after him for 1) the principle 2) pride 3) the basic court fees and costs (already awarded and clear) 4) extended costs (for which we would need to re-engage the solicitor to draw up and present into court).
One aspect seems to be now in our favour: he seems to now own a building / site / business. For which we can lodge a claim on the registration against our award, if he truely owns it.
Is this worth it? Should I do it. Can anyone who likes a detailed trail really help to pin more detail on this? Can anyone find his ex-partner, who disappeared owing me hundreds (separate but connected).
Under no circumstances may any part of my postings be used, quoted, repeated, transferred or published by any third party in ANY medium outside of this website without express written permission. Thank you.
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Comments
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Act now, because after 6 years these Debts become statue barred.0
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go for it - you can check on land registry if he owns the property you think he does - if you take him to court and judgment is granted to you - you can always put a Charge on his property so that when he sells it you get paid !! that might Really annoy him !!!
why can't you represent yourself ? you can do this in the small claims court (very informal) and take a friend in with you ....0 -
would defo pursue him - but make sure of your facts first as he might start hiding assets if he twigs what's coming!
Get advice from a solicitor just to double-check the legalities too.
Good Luck!0 -
name and shame, we love a good hunt.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0
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