Ok- that should cover my situation then. Many thanks!

Well that was quick! Many thanks for these replies....A few questions. Does the fact that the house is in Scotland make any difference in the eyes of the law? Scots Law differs in many areas but not sure about property. Would you reccomend getting in touch with the Estate Agent to enlighten them of their "precarious" situation? I will need to check through my old paperwork for the first evaluation from the Estate Agents in 2010. Since then they have also gone bust so cannot approach them for the paperwork. would the evaluators that carried out the evaluation work in 2010 still have a record of this? hope so because it cost about 500 pounds. worthy of mention - the original house for sale web adverts from 2010/2011 are still available to be viewed on the internet. They show the same house in detail along with "offers over" 170K- is that of assistance to my argument? Many thanks.

Hello All, The usual story of not being able to keep up NR mortgage payments since the big bang. We put our house up for sale to try and pay NR back but there were no takers. The house was advertised with a local west coast estate agent for one year. Last summer we decided to move out and sent the keys back to NR. Repossesed now by NR. Now the property is being remarketed by another "local" regional estate agent. The main grief is the price difference. Our property was valued at 185K in July 2010. Now in January 2012 the asking price is offers over 77k. It also states in the advert from the estate agent that the home evaluations is only 85K. The property has been well maintained and was a new build in 2003 (Farmhouse conversion) so surely this is not possible - a differerence in value of 100K in the space of 14 months? We are legally responsible for the short fall but does the NR not have a legal obligation to get the maximum value for the property? Are the Estate agents being complicit in this to get a quick deal, and can we take any actions against NR and /or the Estate Agents to rectifiy this price difference? Many thanks.....

bump...

Hello -I have put in the details of the court reference, the pursuant, and my name. nothing comes up. However there is a open decree awarded against me in favour of the RBS (2008) and this does not show either -so still puzzled...

Hello -this will only show small claims decrees? Am I right? (the website listed above) I am dealing with a larger claim of 12K which is disputed. Where would a granted decree show up for that amount? Thanks!

Hello All, The date of the court hearing has now passed but due to a recent operation on my knee I was not able to attend. I have not received any paperwork updates from the court or from the Clydesdale. If they have been succesfull in their court case where would I be able to check if they have an open decree against me? Many thanks

Hi Ida - what are the consequences of NOT paying the Council Tax? I have open decrees and defaults coming out of my ears so I am not easily phased - however we are planning to travel occassionaly back and forth of course as family are still in Scotland but do NOT want to get arrested at the passport control on re-entry! any ideas on that? As far as I am concerned NR are now in charge. Many thanks!

Hello -we had substantial arrears in the mortgage and after several months of letters,threats etc from NR. We had already put the house up for sale last summer and there was very little interest in it. So after a year of no sale, all these things combined we decided to call it a day. No job, little income, downward spiral etc -so we posted recorded delivery the keys back to them after moving out. We did not sign any handover documents etc. So we have no access to the house, we have sent all the sets of keys back to them. This was in July 2011 -do they automatically take ownership at that point? Many thanks!

Hello -the property is completely empty, the power and phones are disconnected. There is not a scrap of furniture in the house. all rooms are bare of any habitation. Cheers

Hello all, posted previously regarding considering moving out of our house and returning keys to NR. Well we did this and the keys were returned to NR in July. I informed the Council Tax people who asked us to take photographic evidence that the house was empty (done) and this has been submitted to their office in July. Now we have received a letter from the local Council Tax office stating we owe them money as we are still (in their opinion) responsible for the house, irrespective of returning the keys, therefore responsible for the council Tax. Where do we stand in regards to this point? We do not live in the UK anymore. Many thanks,

Hi M1_ done exactly as you have said. Now I will await the paperwork to arrive here and then it is on and upwards. Thanks for the guidance here it is very useful.... Cheers, David

Many thanks....

Hi Brig, There lies the problem. I would need to source a Scottish lawyer, go through the case with them and then there are costs to defend an action that should not even be heard. I am not planning to travel to the UK to defend this in person either. Basically I need to submit enough evidence to the court that convinces the sheriff to stop the proceedings dead. I really do not want to be sucked into paying lawyers for something that is cut and dried as this. Is there a "free" consultation in Scotland that I can approach? I am going to submit the defence paperwork, pay the 80 pounds and also submit a statement of the facts. Hopefully that should at least trigger an attempt by the court to investigate further the fact that they do not have jurisdiction to sit on this one. If anyone can suggest a better route I am all ears....... Cheers; David

Phoned the Clydesdale lawyers who stated that as the Sheriff officers had already served the papers the court action would continue. So therefore I must defend it. Do I state in a written explanation to to the court that as I have lived abroad for the past 11 months they do not have jurisdiction or do I just submit the Form for defence and include the 80 pounds payment? Would I provide proof of French residence at this point or wait until this is called for? As the Clydesdale cannot win this one, what are the consequences for them when the case is thrown out? Thanks, David

Hi- ok I will phone the lawyers this morning and see which way they go. Wil keep you updated. Many thanks, David

Ok - getting the hang of this. Can you describe the flow of actions to be taken? Do I still complete the court papers to defend the action and send off with the 80 pounds payment or do I go straight to the Clydesdale lawyers for this joint motion of dismissal? If the latter, how do I convince them I am not a UK resident? If the former, what would the court need to see as proof? Thanks.....

Hello- how does a joint motion to dismiss actually work? The word "joint" implies a level of cooperation between myself and the Clydesdale lawyers and this seems strange in the circumstances..... Thanks, David

OK now I understand. My standpoint is that I should not be forced into a position of defence in a court that has no jurisdiction to hear any argument for or against the action raised by the Clydesdales bank. This would only waste court time and I would have several hundred pounds cost on lawyers consultancy fees to defend a case that has no place in a Scottish court. I need to find the mechanism that more or less triggers the court to say we cannot sit on this case as we have no jurisdiction to hear it- all this prior to spending cash. I don't mind spending the 80 pounds, but really baulk at getting lawyers involved at a greater expense. PS - I have lived abroad for the past 11 months. Many thanks, David

Hello and thanks for the input. When you say "any half decent lawyer should be able to win" that confuses me. can you clarify that sentence? I dont want them to win if you get my drift; I want them to cancel the action based on the fact there is no jursidiction in the Scottish court to hear the case. Would I need to contact the Clydesdale lawyers and attempt to convince them to drop the action, or is this something that happens through the court? Many thanks for the suport here.... Cheers, David

Many thanks!

Hello All, An update on what the Scottish court has said: Dear Sir, With regards to your email, if you wish to defend this action you should send a notice ot intention to defend as you are challenging the jurisdiction, The fee for this is £80. we do not serve the writ on you it is the pursuers solicitor who does this, so I have no paperwork here. Hope this helps Now it seems strange to apply to defend the action in a Scottish court who has no jurisdiction to sit in judgement. Not to mention a waste of 80 pounds (not the point though) Any advice on this advice? Many thanks, David

big gulp there. Thank God you are on our side! I will get in touch with the court and get an update posted as to the next step and I owe you big time here. If u r ever in the neighbourhood drinks on me...U at least knoww where it is!

By the way is there an IP blocker? Just curious....(more than!)

Oh my God....if u can they all can! Well never mind about reveavling home addresses, its all up for grabs....!