CCJ Advice

gothsontour

Hello all, looking for some advice on a CCJ we recently found out about (hopefully this is in the right part of the forums for this, please let me know if it would be better elsewhere!).

In a nutshell, we discovered in Feb that a CCJ had been taken out against my other half for debt accrued on the ground rent on a flat he owns in his home town (where he lived before we got married, moved out in 2009, now rents it out). He's been paying the ground rent on time ever since but it went up at some point over the years and as the info and bills were sent to the flat and not our address we've never picked up on it. So we've accrued debt as the amount he's paid each month is less than the new total.

The fault for this lies with us for not updating address details or double checking our arrangements for forwarding post. The only reason we discovered the CCJ from Dec was on a credit score check in Feb.

So now we find ourselves in a bit of a mess! Not sure whether to go through the process of trying to get the CCJ removed (either using a CCJ specialist solicitor or doing it ourselves) or just to accept the CCJ and pay the debt off immediately (plus the huge admin fee of £1,000+) to avoid any more issues. Initial contact with the solicitor acting for the leaseholder doesn't seem to be very productive, they won't agree at this stage to set it aside. We can pay a solicitor to try and get it removed but this is another £1,000 and the result isn't guaranteed, and they've said it'll take around 6-months.

Anyone else with a CCJ or experience with this kind of thing - how badly is it likely to affect us over the next 6 years? We've spoken to our mortgage broker about remortgaging when our current deal ends next year and they don't seem worried and have advised we should be fine staying with our current provider. We don't really have any other finance or credit card debts. But how much will it affect things like car insurance? Or anything else I haven't considered?

Apologies for the wordy post but any advice would be very gratefully received!

RAS

You'll be fine renewing your mortgage with your current provider. They don't do additional credit checks, you just pick the deal that suits you best.

You just go on-line. Do not used a mortgage broker.

Also go through your budget and make sure that you can save a decent emergency fund. You will need that if there's extra works on the flat. And you need to make absolutely sure you get any Section 20 notices.

sourcrates

Only one way to remove a CCJ, despite what anyone else may tell you, and that`s by obtaining a successful set aside application, which you can submit yourself using .Gov resources for just the statutory fee which I believe is now around £300, you don`t need a solicitor to do this.

To be successful you must meet two criteria:

The criteria for setting aside a judgment under CPR 13.2 and CPR 13.3 include:

• Wrongly Entered Judgment: If the judgment was wrongly entered due to not satisfying certain conditions in CPR 12.3 (1) and 12.3 (3), or if the claim was satisfied before judgment was entered. 
• Real Prospects of Défense: If the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim, or if there is a good reason for the court to believe that the judgment should be set aside or varied. 
• Timeliness of Application: The court must consider whether the person seeking to set aside the judgment made an application to do so promptly. 
  These criteria provide a framework for determining when a default judgment can be set aside, ensuring that justice is served and that the rights of all parties are protected.

If you don`t meet the criteria, you won`t be successful.

What date was judgement entered, as it will be automatically removed after 6 years paid or not.

Re-mortgages can be obtained with court judgements on your credit file, you just need a good broker, you won`t get the best rates, but you should still be able to get some deal or other.

eddddy

gothsontour said

So now we find ourselves in a bit of a mess! Not sure whether to go through the process of trying to get the CCJ removed (either using a CCJ specialist solicitor or doing it ourselves) or just to accept the CCJ and pay the debt off immediately (plus the huge admin fee of £1,000+) to avoid any more issues.

Whatever route you follow, because this is a leasehold related debt, you should probably pay the full CCJ amount asap.

If you want, you can pay it under protest, and challenge it later.

If you don't pay it in full, the freeholder can probably do the following (using the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and other legislation)…

• The freeholder might instruct solicitors, debt collectors etc in connection with recovering the debt. The Act mentioned above allows the freeholder to pass the cost onto you as Leasehold Administration fees. (That could add thousands more to your bill.)

• The freeholder might contact your mortgage lender for the flat (if you have one). As there is a CCJ, the mortgage lender will almost certainly pay the full amount and add it to your mortgage. But your mortgage lender might treat this as a 'black mark' on your mortgage record

• The freeholder might start the legal process to forfeit your lease. That would mean the lease on your flat would end - and you would get no compensation. You would lose the full value of the flat.

(Forfeiting your lease would require a court case. You could go to court and agree to pay the debt, which would cancel the forfeiture. But by that time, the freeholder's legal costs might be huge - and you'd have to pay them.

But if the court papers went to the flat address, and you didn't receive them, the court case and forfeiture might go ahead without your knowledge.)