Charging Order and Force of Sale

sxw

I had a charging order hearing yesterday for my Northern Rock Loan, my husband had one in December and the order was granted with a condition that no force of sale could take place unless he defaulted. With regards my loan for a similar amount, the Order was also granted but the Judge was reluctant to add a condition even though the Solicitor acting for NRock had no objection, instead he added wording along the lines of "upon confirmation by the Application that no further action will be taken as long as instalments are mainted by the Defendant but with liberty to review at any time". I am taking this as NRock have the right to proceed to force the sale of the property should they wish to. I have concerns as I have not been treated very well by NRock in the past - I have had phone calls at work even messages left when my voicemail says I am out of the office and which my boss picked up - despite requesting they do not call my work number. They have threatened to make me bankrupt and have sent postcards implying baliffs will be sent. I have never missed an instalment and have been co-operative. I suggested a voluntary charging order to avoid court time and costs but they wouldn't agree. The Solicitor for NRock was even surprised by the Judges order, he seemed to think that it was because my instalments are quite low under the budget from CCCS, but surely if this was the case the Judge could have asked for these to be increased? I am in a catch 22 in this respect as I am with CCCS they will not accept me asking to make a higher payment to NRock, but if a Judge ordered it they would have to.

Is there anything you think I can do to try to stop NRock forcing the sale of my home.?

craftingqueen_2

As long as you keep up all your payments to NR there should'nt be a problem. We had a charging order from Nationwide yesterday, and the judge told OH that there would'nt be a forced sale as long as the payments were made. We also had the judge make a note on the file that a forced sale could'nt be made as we have children.
Ours also is a a low payment, but OH was told we can pay more off if and when we can afford it.

CQ

xtessx

Hello

We have two charging orders both of which have been in force a year. We pay £10 a month on each by standing order and have had no problems at all. However have just got redemption figures from both and the one for Prudential have nearly added £3,000 interest on! (original charging order was for £7,002.53) This is something to be aware of. The good news, craftingqueen, is that the other one (for Nationwide) did not have any interest added on redemption statement.

Tess xx

sxw

craftingqueen wrote: »

As long as you keep up all your payments to NR there should'nt be a problem. We had a charging order from Nationwide yesterday, and the judge told OH that there would'nt be a forced sale as long as the payments were made. We also had the judge make a note on the file that a forced sale could'nt be made as we have children.
Ours also is a a low payment, but OH was told we can pay more off if and when we can afford it.

CQ

Thanks for this - I did ask the Judge to add the condition but he was reluctant and put the wishy washy note to the order that seems to imply that NRock can go for sale if they see fit regardless. Are you saying that a Judge would not grant them the force of sale as long as I have met all payments? I have considered trying to pay them a bit more just to show that I am doing all that I can and being more than reasonable....

lesleyh13

hello all, im really new to all this, i am also going to court on monday at nottingham for the same thing, i had advice from the national debtline and they said i should ask for conditions, same as you, not to go for force of sale because my kids are 14 and 16 and to ask if i can pay instalments maybe by attatchment of earnings, i really dont mind, but when ive been reading on this forum im actually quite scared now. i was also told that the interest should be froze? i am going alone cos i am too scared to tell hubby its gone to the court, he thinks the order is just going to be done without anyone being there but ive been told i really should go, i am not taking any solicitor either, plainly cos i carnt afford it, any advice anyone xxxx

mummum2

That's scary, good luck with court, hope it comes out in your favour!

I also have loan with NR and 9 months into my DMP (outstanding balance £18,073) paying £201.73 per month they have frozen interest till Septemeber '08. Not looking forward to September as it might be my turn for a CO, which I'm really scared of for some reason.

Do you guys think you got these CO's becasue the percentage of your payments were too low?

lesleyh13

hi there, my bill was an overdraft from 2000, which went to court because i was struggling and i got a £1 a month agrrement, but i defaulted last year cos me dad got sick and my head was a shed, so they applied again, and because i was stupid and panicked i filled the incomings and outgoings form in wrong, and the judge orderd £323 a month whic i couldnt afford, so i asked for a redetermination, hence the charging order... thanks for replying, good luck with yours, i carnt get back on pc til morning now but i will keep me eyes open for you xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

sxw

mummum2 wrote: »

That's scary, good luck with court, hope it comes out in your favour!

I also have loan with NR and 9 months into my DMP (outstanding balance £18,073) paying £201.73 per month they have frozen interest till Septemeber '08. Not looking forward to September as it might be my turn for a CO, which I'm really scared of for some reason.

Do you guys think you got these CO's becasue the percentage of your payments were too low?

Basically yes - I had a £7k loan and am paying back £18.25 which was calculated by CCCS which I do agree seems a small amount in comparison to my other creditors but CCCS said they base it on the amount of loan and the original repayments. However, NROck from the start of our DMP (about 2 years ago) always said they would go for security on the house and they did. As mentioned in my post my husband's CO hearing with a different Judge but same court granted the CO with condition not to force sale. That is why I am so confused as to why mine wasn't - seems to be a bit of a mockery. Anyway, don't be scared of the proceedings, it is quite informal really and not like anything you see on tv, remember these are just people like you and me. I think my outcome is quite rare - even the Solicitor for NRock was quite surprised. NRock or your lender will probably have a respresentative there (a local solicitor who they pay to attend on their behalf), they are actually quite helpful and may well talk you through the process before seeing the Judge and chat about the outcome afterwards if you have any questions - obviously they can't advise you but will answer any questions. I just wish I had spoken up a bit more at my hearing but I am not sure of the protocol of these things and got the impression that you can't just voice your opinion. Of course I have thought of lots of things I should've said after the event - like ask why he wouldn't add the condition but isn't that always the case. My suggestion to you is make a list of what you want to say so you don't forget.

sxw

lesleyh13 wrote: »

hello all, im really new to all this, i am also going to court on monday at nottingham for the same thing, i had advice from the national debtline and they said i should ask for conditions, same as you, not to go for force of sale because my kids are 14 and 16 and to ask if i can pay instalments maybe by attatchment of earnings, i really dont mind, but when ive been reading on this forum im actually quite scared now. i was also told that the interest should be froze? i am going alone cos i am too scared to tell hubby its gone to the court, he thinks the order is just going to be done without anyone being there but ive been told i really should go, i am not taking any solicitor either, plainly cos i carnt afford it, any advice anyone xxxx

Lesley if you have children and it went that far (which I doubt) the Court will not agree to a force of sale because of the children. My problem is I don't have any, one of the reasons being I have never been in a position to afford them!

mummum2

At no stage yet, have NR stated anything about a CO, it's just me reading this site and others have taken it iton my head that they will go for a CO. I'm praying that it does not happen, but like you stated, if it does I will just have to deal with it and hopefully the judge will see that the amount I'm paying NR along with my other creditors is a 'big' enough amount and truly I can't do anymore than that!

Do they add any court fees/interest onto what you already have outstanding when they go for a CO?

MM2xxxx

sxw

they do add court fees but they are a set amout about £240, that was why I was annoyed that they wouldnt accept a voluntary charging order to avoid these costs being added. If you do have to go to court then ask them to freeze interest as I am not sure it is automatically done. I don't mean to frighten you but it is better to expect the worse and it not happen than have a shock. Our proceedings started during the start of the problems with NRock I think they wanted to secure all their unsecured debts to make their books look better if they were to be taken over. Now it has died down a bit and us as taxpayers are the so called stakeholders then they may have changed their tack and are not going down that route anymore. After all the government has suggested to lenders to be more symphathetic to people like us so it would be contradictory for them to push people to this....