Having a charge put on your house

gemstar_2

Hi there
I am seeking advice for a friend, though I have a feeling that they have been a little ecenomic with the truth- I figured you guys could help to unravel it!

The story : About 8 years ago took out a credit card whem living in rented accommodation (sp?).

Something somwhere went wrong with repayments (haven't fully established what.....)

About 5/6 years ago got a mortgage.

Now he is telling me that this cc has a charge on the property and they are taking him to court to try and force sale of the house for the outstanding balance...

He claims that outstanding balance is only aprox £1500.

Sooooooooooo............... question is would they really force sale of house for £1500 (I am wondering if it is actually more that what he is saying!) and also if you have a credit card that you took out before the purchase of a house, how can a charge be put on the house in the frst place?

Now, as I said I have a feeling that there is more to this story than is being told.

Anyone have any ideas??

fermi

It does seem a little unlikely for £1500, but I suppose you never know.

My understanding of it is:

The creditor would need to have obtained a County Court Judgement for the debt.

The judgement would then have needed to be "forthwith" (payable immediately) or the creditor would have to apply to have an instalment order varied to a "forthwith" one. Or alternatively they would have to have defaulted on the instalments.

Then the creditor would need to apply for an interim and then final charging order to secure the debt on the property.
And then would have to apply to the court for a sale order, which in itself is not easy.

So, FAR from a simple process.

See this link: Factsheet | Charging orders in the county court

money_maker_3

Hi, I'm not completely sure, but as I work in mortgages I know a bit about it. CC debt is not a secured debt and therefore the house cannot be used to cover it, I would assume from what the have told you is that the CC has been added to the mortgage or that the CC and mortgage are with the same company as that can work slightly differently. If however they are being told to sell the house, then this must have been going on for a very long time and they would have missed all payment arrangements that were set up by the CC company.

Tell your friend to contact CAB as they are the best people to negotiate with the company in question to come to a compromise.

Sorry this isn't much help, and tell your friends good luck

RAS

gemstar

Are the CC taking him to court - he has paperwork from the court?

or has he had a letter from the CC company or more likely a DCA to whom the debt has been sold in which they suggest that they will put a charg eon the house etc. Even worse, a phone call in which they have threatened to do this and force the sale of the house.

We encounter a huge number of people on here who have been threatened with charges on the house, bankruptcy, bailiffs, repossession etc by DCAs who rely on the debtor not knowing the law. We also see a few people who creditors have successfully applied for a charge, but that has to be paid when the house is sold not now.

if the CC was taken out about 8 years ago and he stopped paying before the mortgage was taken out, then it is quite likely that this debt is statute barred, or about to become statute barred and the DCa ia desparate to get him to start repaying or acknowledge the debt in writing before the 6 years is up. They will threaten all sorts to get him to pay.

Can you get him on here and we might be able to sort him out. In the meantime, do not talk to the DCa or CC and he must not write to them under any circumstances until he has advice from someone other than the people threatening him.

RAS

Independent and free advice is available from these charities.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

fermi

RAS wrote: »

Independent and free advice is available from these charities.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

Yep. And in my signature.

If they already have the charging order and are going for a sale order, they need some expert help ASAP.

If these are only threats at the moment without a Judgement in place then they need to get some independent advice that will allow them to work out what is an idle threat by the creditors and what is not.

gemstar_2

RAS wrote: »

gemstar

Are the CC taking him to court - he has paperwork from the court?

or has he had a letter from the CC company or more likely a DCA to whom the debt has been sold in which they suggest that they will put a charg eon the house etc. Even worse, a phone call in which they have threatened to do this and force the sale of the house.

We encounter a huge number of people on here who have been threatened with charges on the house, bankruptcy, bailiffs, repossession etc by DCAs who rely on the debtor not knowing the law. We also see a few people who creditors have successfully applied for a charge, but that has to be paid when the house is sold not now.

if the CC was taken out about 8 years ago and he stopped paying before the mortgage was taken out, then it is quite likely that this debt is statute barred, or about to become statute barred and the DCa ia desparate to get him to start repaying or acknowledge the debt in writing before the 6 years is up. They will threaten all sorts to get him to pay.

Can you get him on here and we might be able to sort him out. In the meantime, do not talk to the DCa or CC and he must not write to them under any circumstances until he has advice from someone other than the people threatening him.

Thanks for all the replies, not fully sure who is taking him to court or any details about last payments on the card but he assures me they are real papers from the court and not just a threat from a DCA......

RAS

Then he really does need to get himself some urgent help.

He can ring CCCS until 8pm, not sure when ND close for the evening.

Also he might be able to get some help by ringing the court tomorrow. There is an organisation called Community Legal Services that provides free advice to people facing court hearing with no solicitor.

fermi

RAS wrote: »

Also he might be able to get some help by ringing the court tomorrow. There is an organisation called Community Legal Services that provides free advice to people facing court hearing with no solicitor.

You must have been reading my mind RAS. I was already looking for the bookmark. Their name has changed now though.

Link: Community Legal Advice

EDIT: National Debtline are open till 9pm.

RAS

I remembered debt doctor or someone trying to persuade an OP that she needed to contact them about the situation re her CT arrears, but could not remember which forum it was on. just that she had been given the number by the court officer.

off topic - where is the thread on getting links in signatures?

gemstar_2

Thanks for all your help guys!
I will pass on the info.
Hope he listens!
x x x