help me court reply

[gmcdonald]

i have just recieved a letter from my local county court dated 10 august. Upon the courts own motion. The court has made this order of its own initiative without a hearing. if i object to the order, i must make an applicatiion to have it set aside, varied or stayed within 7 days of recieving letter, IT IS ORDERED THAT Upon reading the court file and without notice that . 1. the hearing on 1 st nov is vacated. 2. the case be pending the final resolution ( being the judgement in the action or of the finale court, which ever is the later) OF THE CASE BROUGHT BY THE O.F.T. IN RESPECT OF THE MATTER OF BANK CHARGES.3. The defendant shall within 21 days after the final decision in the case referred to above file at court and serve on the claimant.(a) a case summary of not more than 500 words setting out the effect of the final decision in the said case on this action and (b)their proposed directions in this action. 4. Upon receipt of the documents set out in paragraph 3 above the file shall be referred to a district judge to consider further directions. 5. There be permission to either party applt to vary this order provided that such application is filed within 21 daYS AFTER THE SERVICE OF THIS ON THE PARTY SO APPLYING dated 10 august 2007. can any one explain what this means. and what i do next. one worried person.

[juicyd]

It means the court has decided to stay your case without being asked to by the bank. Sorry - how disappointing. You now have 21 days to apply to the court for the stay to be lifted and your case to be heard. There is a witness statement in the sticky about stays in the general forum, which you should print out (amending as appropriate), sign and submit with an N244 Application Notice (print this from Her Majesty's Courts Service - Home) and a cheque for £35. That's if you want to lift the Stay - you can always wait till the test case has been heard. it would be really helpful if you could say which is your local court too please.

[gmcdonald]

The court is poole county court Dorset, just my luck. thanks for your help. what does stay actually mean

[juicyd]

A Stay means that effectively, the proceedings are frozen - no steps in the action can be taken by either side until the stay has been lifted, and only a judge can lift it. Usually, Courts are not very keen to order long stays like this and I think it's awful that they are doing so without even being asked by the banks. It might be worth mentioning to the court in your application that other courts are not ordering blanket stays of bank claims and if your court will lift the stay, they could transfer your claim to another court near you which is prepared to hear it (and not so sympathetic to the banks)! If it will cause you financial hardship not to recover your court fee and costs for a year or two - highlight that in your application(examples would be are you struggling with debt at the moment or are you on benefits). Give it a go, you can ask when completing the Notice of Application for a decision without a hearing ie the judge would read your statement based on the one in the thread called 'stays - info and guidance' and make a decision on that.

[gmcdonald]

Why me i ask myself, i thought this was going to be easy, finacially i am not on benefits, and i can be patient for the money, thats if i ever get it. It is being heard in my local county court which is only few miles away.it says in letter if i object the order i must make an application to have it set aside varied or stated within 7 days. Iam really one thick person, could u explain what this mean, really gratefull for your help.

[juicyd]

7 days! Gosh I was anticipating 21 days for you (see my first post). Anyway i am ahead of you, what it means is that you must do what I have suggested in post 2. Write your cheque for £35 payable to HMCS, download the N244 form and complete it saying you wish to apply for an Order that the stay be lifted. Tick the box saying you want your application to he heard without a hearing. On page 2, tick the box saying you attach a witness statement. Then go to the witness statement from the sticky I mentioned in the general forum and amend it as you think necessary for your particular circumstances. Stick the whole lot in an envelope to the court. Wait to hear whether the judge likes the arguments and is prepared to let you have your day (they will make an order and send it to you by post either way). Having said that, if you can be patient for the money you might be better off waiting rather than give yourself the hassle. I do really sympathise. 7 days is not much time especially when there is a fee to find. Many's the times I do not have £35 to my name so it is bad that they have not given you longer to decide what you want to do and get your application together. Do they think people do not have othe stuff to do than rush around downloading forms and compiling statements. It's a disgrace.