11/12/2008: "Charging orders against your home!"

under no circumstances, should you allow a charging order request in a county court to go unchallenged!

the business trying to impose it on your house, will tell you anything to try and get it through unopposed, once its in place, they will not hesitate to enforce it fully, with the worse case scenario that they will attempt to force you to sell your house!

I fought one in the court today, on behalf of someone i know, who has been messed about by a national high street bank, reknown in the UK for its business.
after denying access to paying in details for 11 months, saying it would be brought before a court for 11 months, last year they served notice they were applying for a charging order, and the papers were served through the automated court set up in northampton.

the bank's solicitors did not reply to the court within the two week timescale, after i requested it be moved to a local court.
they then sent notification that a hearing would commence in january this year, they received the notification on christmas eve!
it went to court, via form filling, with a full explanation of what had gone on,how they had sent debt collectors out, denied access to vital paying in details (which is an offence) and misled the court regarding court costs and reasons for a part admission.

NOTE: partial admission was made, rather than counter claim for automated charges for hundreds of pounds, and the costs this would involve, a partial admittance for an amount that was minus all the admin charges and court costs was given

the bank agreed to this new total, the charges and court costs were wiped off - still the bank tried to intimidate them, by stating that if unopposed then no court costs would be sought - but gave a fantasy figure of thousands of pounds that would be claimed, if the charging order was opposed.

i opposed the charging order.

the judge read the defence and decided that a temporary judgement was given and that costs would not be awarded.
the judge ordered the case to be reviewed 6 months on.

today was the review. on arrival i met with the solicitor representing the bank, who came armed with instructions from them.
he was very amiable and polite as we chatted, and was surprised that i would be challenging the request for a charging order!
one thing he did give away, was that he would not look directly at me as he explained that the charging order was simply a way for his client to secure the debt as otherwise the defendant had no legal requirement to pay it off should they sell their house.
understandably, my friend was very worried.

when we all went in to meet with the judge, luckily he had re read through the case notes and previously submitted information.
the bank's solicitor opened by stating... and i quote:

"my client has instructed me to ask that the court allow a charging order to be applied on the property, and demand payment forthwith (in full) immeadiately. if the defendant cannot pay this amount then i have been instructed to actively seek sale of the asset to recover the debt in full!"

hows that for a slimey rat!
after months of saying it was just a formality, after telling us outside the court that it would never be actioned its just for security, their solicitor walked into the review and stated that they wanted the house sold to get the banks money!

luckily, i had a defence prepared and a five point plan of action to reason with the judge, for this to be stopped.
even more luckily, the judge had read the previous case notes and had the foresight to see just what the bank was upto... he made the simple payment judgement final, with no future review, and used the common sense approach to not give an order for any court costs, as they would set the debtor back months in their payments.
he denied the claim for a charging order, and insisted that times are hard for anyone in debt and creditors, it did not matter that the debt would take 106 years to pay off, it was unreasonable that the bank now came back to court to try and change an order to benefit themselves, not only over other creditors but also over the individual who sat before him.

he did state it was in the best interest of both parties to review circumstances in the future, and clear the debt off, which i thought was fair enough, as both parties wanted it cleared, but the court found that it was best to allow the debtor to pay it off in a time scale that was possible rather than selling a home to pay a debt which totalled less than most people would pay for a car.

common sense prevailed.

my message to you is simple - if you are facing a charging order request to a court, oppose it from day 1!
keep to the facts, list all the details with back up copies if necessary and seek help from day one.
a national bank will seek to enforce it once its in place and force you out of your home.

build yourself a defence against it, seek professional help and if in doubt ASK someone about it!
dont let it drag on in silence and accept it unopposed, i guess todays win in court was more down to luck than planning, i didnt need the defence i had built, imagine the outcome if i had just gone along to observe without a defence and one was needed to stop the charging order!

good luck