Final charging order on jointly owned property

pamril1

My partner has received a letter stating that a final charging order is to be placed on our property.
Can they do this? We aren't married but have been living together for 4 years. The debt that this relates to was an unsecured loan which he thought was paid in 1998 (we have no proof as it was paid by dd from his old bank :mad: and have no old statements or even an account No). Can I really be punished for my partners old debts?

kel123_2

Hi Pamril and wlelcome and well done for taking this step

More information is needed like is there a ccj against the debt and whos it with etc Also you say it was paid off in 1998 has there been any communication between the company and your partener since then (this is inportant) has it could be statute barred and therefore unenforceable

Kel

pamril1

No there has been no correspondence other than this letter we did not know anything about it until now. It was an unsecured loan solely in his name and we havent been notified of a ccj so I can only assume there isn't one.

kel123_2

In the letter section and in other threads there is a Statute Barred letter. If you are sure that there has been no acceptance of the debt within the last 6 years (5 for Scotland) then send it. You do not have to pay this debt.

Good luck
Kel

RAS

Pamril

You need to search the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines to find the CCJ.

www.registry-trust.org.uk

not over cheap to search though.

Also contact CLA - see here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help for advice, as OH has been bearing head in sand.

Once you know the situation pm penguin83. She works in the courts and is very good.

RAS

Kels

If there is a CCJ outstanding then it is not statute barred. After 6 years, the creditor may need to go to court to get permission to pursue the debtor but CCJs are never time barred.

BUT - pamril - what exactly does the letter say and from whom did you recieve it?

Iit may be serious or it may be a DCA bluff. Just we have a lot of people here facing charging orders for unsecured debts at the mo.

pamril1

I deal with all of his financial matters and have done since we met 6 years ago so I can honestly say he never accepted anything so cheers kel for the info your a star.
My OH cant have hid this from me as I'm always in when the post comes(and he is out early to work) I open all post including his and deal with everything. I would definately have known about this before now had they sent letters.

pamril1

Its from a company called 1st credit. I have went over the letter again and it states that they have passed the account on to their solicitors with instructions to secure a ccj and enforce by this way a final charging order against the registered property

RAS

Hmm

First credit are well known here.

Please can you type out the exact wording of the sentence that mentions CCJs and charging orders? I will not be surprised if it goes something like

we are passing this to our legal department ... which may result in instruction to secure a ccj and enforce by this way a final charging order against the registered property.

In which case the operative word is may, but will not and cannot if you know the law.

pamril1

It states they have obtained office copy entries from the land registry etc "as a result are now passing the account on to solicitors with instructions to secure a ccj against you and to enforce by this way a final charging order registered against your property" then later it states "they will give serious consideration to applying to the court for an Order For Sale of your property" and a bit about solicitors fees and interest charged etc.
I'm really concerned about my families future having just had a baby its the last thing a really need right now.

RAS

Barstewards

Legally, this debt may still exist, but your BF is not legally obliged to pay it, unless he has paid towards it or acknowledged it in the last 6 years. There is no chance of them getting a CCJ and they could only get a charging order IF you failed to pay the CCJ that they cannot get.

Statute barred letter coming up and contact for the Trading Standards and OFT, to whom your BF needs to complain bitterly for the distress caused and for their attempt to take advantage of his lack of knowledge of the law.