Hello. First post to the forum and well, what a mess. I think I've posted this in the right forum as there is no mortgage involved in this. When I found myself in the incredible situation I'm in, which I will expand on in a moment, I had a look on various help forums to see what information I could find on what happens when a property sale fails to complete after contracts have been exchanged. I found lots of posts along the lines of "in 20 years of conveyancing/being an EA I have never seem this happen" etc. So... Let's see what the experts here make of this. It's quite a lot to get through, but I suspect the devil is I the detail. Around Feb this year I was selling my house due to separating from my partner who wanted her share of the house. The only way to finance this was to sell and downsize so reluctantly I did what I had to do. My estate agent, ill call them SW, found me a buyer, an offer was accepted. After looking around, I found a park home property that I liked which I could buy outright with my proceeds and the thought of being mortgage free rather appealed. I then discovered that you were supposed to be fifty to live in this residential park, and I was just about to turn 49. I should stress at this point, I have not viewed any property, spoken to anyone or made any offers, I was simply aware of the property and the rule. The next thing I did was to office at the front of the park to enquire about how flexible this rule actually was. I spoke to a lady in the office who thought it probably was flexible but she said I needed to speak to someone with more authority than her. So I made an appointment to come back a couple of days later and on a scorching hot day, i spoke to a gentleman we will refer to as Brian. Brian introduced himself to me as the park manager. We discussed my age and the fact I was interested in the two properties that were for sale, and he told me the age limit was arbitrary and was there to make sure that no young people with children etc moved in, and having met me he was perfectly happy. A few days later, I went to the vendors estate agent, ill call them FS and explained that I was interested in the properties, that I was aware of the age limit, that I had been to the site and spoken to Brian the manager and he was happy. Estate agent FS arranged a viewing of the two properties and said he would confirm the age issue. I went to view both properties about a week later one very dark rainy evening and a few days later went back to FS and made an offer. Unfortunately, my first choice was then at this point taken off the market due to illness, so I made an offer on the second property. FS subsequently informed me the offer had been accepted by the owner, Ill call the owner Mr I from here on, and that he (FS) was now happy with the age issue. In May, when I was expecting to exchange i was suddenly informed out of the blue by FS that Mr I was looking at a different property and the whole process had to be started again at his end. I found out through a third party that Mr I has done this before. I made it clear that I was unhappy with this as I was part of a chain. Mr I switched again back to the original property, but for reasons unknown to me other than it was something to do with his ongoing purchase related to the fact he had switched twice, it was still taking an age. It was now June My own buyers were becoming impatient and threatening to pull out if we had not completed by the end of June, and not wanting to lose my purchaser, I put everything I own into storage, put my dog with a dog sitter and planned to move onto a friend's sofa for a few weeks. My completion came and went at the end of June, so I said goodbye to my home and I began to sofa surf. All the paperwork for my purchase was in place at my end, everything was signed and ready and all of my money from the sale of my house plus the difference which I had borrowed from my family was in the solicitors client account. We were still waiting for Mr I. In the first week of July I was informed that we would be ready to exchange contracts the following day. The following day it never happened and I was told that it was due to some important documentation that had been forgotten by the vendors solicitor. Exchange was now a few weeks away again... In the last week of July we finally exchanged contracts and set a completion on Thursday the 4th of August. I was getting excited, looking forward to a new home in a new community and getting my dog back. What happened next is well... Words fail me.. Luckily I have recently installed an app on my phone that records all incoming and outgoing phone calls. Every single one of the following phone calls is recorded in its entirety. Wed 3rd August. 6pm: I receive an email from my solicitor stating that the vendors solicitor had found out I have a dog and a car, do they have my permission to pass on my personal details. This seems odd to me. I am allowed to have a dog and a car, I don't know why this is an issue and everyone has had all my information, in writing, on all forms since day one. Amazingly the lady who sent me the email is still in the office, I manage to contact her and give my permission. I kind of detect from the way she is talking to me there is something she is not telling me. Thursday 4th August, 10.34am: I receive an email from my solicitor stating they have confirmation to proceed, they have a final completion statement from the other side. There is an outstanding payment of just over £150 for the months ground lease which I need to pay as the lease is being transferred to my name. I transfer the money, I ring them to confirm and thank them. Thursday 4th August 1pm: I go to the estate agent to see if they have heard anything and to hopefully collect the keys. They have heard nothing and can't hand the keys over yet. Thursday 4th August 1.30pm: I get a phone call from my solicitor telling me the park owners have put a stop on completion. I am advised to go to the residential park and speak to Brian the manager. On arrival at the park I ring Brian the manager and get through to someone else who tells me Brian has resigned. Over the course of the next few hours I end up speaking to my solicitor numerous times and a gentleman ill call Mark, who is a South England regional manager for the company who owns the residential park who from this point forward is the official spokesman and point of contact for the park owners. In these conversations, which have all been recorded, I learn the following catalogue of errors and points of information as I understand them. - Brian the manager and Mr I, who was desperate to sell his property as its been on the market for a considerable time, are one and the same person. - Brian I, was not a manager, he was a gardener who had no authority at all. He has misrepresented his position to me to assist selling his property. - The lady in the office was another resident who has never been employed by the park owners and should not at any point have been I the office. - The email I received the previous evening was a result of the fact that Brian I, or more correctly his solicitors, were legally bound by the lease agreement to inform the park owners of the sale and the park owners would then process my information and application along to take over the lease and move into the property. This process legally takes a minimum of 21 working days so should have been done at the very least a month beforehand. What had in fact happened was Brian I's solicitor never have the park owners this notice or any information about me until just before close of business on the 3rd of August. Less than 24 hours before we completed. - Both my solicitor, and the vendors solicitor should not have exchanged contracts without this vital step of the lease purchase/transfer being carried out. - Both my solicitor and the vendors solicitor are at fault for ignoring the fact that the age limit for the sale is not arbitrary, is stated on the lease documents and the fact that I am only 49, not fifty. - The park owners are not prepared to be flexible on the age limit, I am 7 months too young. Mark the area manager makes it very clear to me that, and I quote, "if this has anything to do with me, I will not allow this to happen because you are too young and it is wrong". - I am not going to get the keys, the sale is not going to complete the park owners are going to take their full 21 working days to process my application, after which they will accept or decline. - I am told that no money has changed hands officially, but it has been transferred and the vendors solicitors actually have all my money in their account. (£143000) - There has been a suggestion that Brian I's solicitor is going to sue me... After a very sleepless night, as soon as the offices open im on the phone to my solicitor. My solicitors is a very very large company and over the last 8 months my purchase has been dealt with at different stages by at least four separate people and now I find its been passed to a gentleman called Nick who I am told is a senior partner. Friday the 5th 9am: I'm on the phone to Nick. He tells me (and again all my calls are recorded) and I quote, "that I have been shafted by Brian" I and I have a massive strong case for legal misrepresentation but leave it with him to see what he can salvage. The park owners are exercising their legal right to take 21 days because contracts should not have exchanged without this. The vendors solicitor still currently holds all my money and he is going to see if he can get it back, however there is a huge question mark over this because there is a possibility the sale could be forced through and I would then own a property to which I have no right of entry, but then I can sue for costs... This nightmare just keeps on giving. After a very sleepless weekend, on Monday morning I went to the CAB who advised me that my best course of action was to go and ask for my money back and then if it wasn't forth coming make a complaint to the independent ombudsmen. Around 11.30 Monday 8th august, I walked into my solicitors and asked to speak to Nick. He took me into an interview room and we discussed the situation. I put my phone on the table and the whole following conversation was recorded. He kept pursuing the point that I have a case against Brian I for misrepresentation and against his solicitor for not following due process and only giving the park owners the lease application the day before completion and then exchanging without this process complete. I chose at this point in the conversation not to point out that surely both parties are equally as guilty for exchanging contracts before due process was complete? I should stress that at this point I have not yet asked for my money back, but I was about to. However before I do, and without any prompting, Nick tells me that late on Friday he asked the vendors solicitor for my money back, and they instantly returned it by bacs payment and that it will be returned to me in full on Tuesday. I asked him about the fees for his company that I thought I was arguably being unfairly charged thousands of pounds given the series of mistakes, and he offered me fifty % of all fees back. As I was trying to clarify exactly what this included, he said "you know what? I'm a nice guy, all costs, 100% will be waived and refunded. We should have the money back tomorrow as its coming by bacs, and we can pay it straight into your account." He then told me that I have dodged a bullet because if he was the vendors solicitor he would have forced the completion through as an associated purchase because he had the money, so I was very l lucky to have had such a lucky escape and the vendors solicitor had chosen to refund my money. He also told me that now I've been given all my money and all my costs back, i have the option to walk away from this now. If I do, Brian I may try to sue me but it's unlikely because 1. he basically doesn't have a leg to stand on due to his misrepresentation and 2. The exchange of contracts should never have taken place given the incomplete documentation and so these contracts wouldnt stand up in a court of law. Tuesday the 9th mid morning I've an email and a subsequent recorded phone call confirming my money has been returned and all of it, including all refunded solicitors fees have been paid to me via bacs so will be in my account by Friday. Tuesday 9th 12.00 I've just had a phone call from Mark the residential park area manager saying to me that he's found out some further information on me and wanted me to confirm whether I own a certain type of commercial vehicle (a taxi), I confirmed I do. And he's found out that I own 7 motorbikes and would I confirm this. I don't. I own two. One is a road touring bike, the other is a restoration project and I confirm this to him. He's told me that in addition to clearly breaking the rule on age, I'm also breaking the rule on not being allowed commercial vehicles, I haven't told them I own a motorcycle, Im not allowed to own a motorcycle, apparently I'm only allowed 1 vehicle, I have 4 (1 taxi, 1 private car and 2 bikes) and the more he looks into me the more rules I'm breaking. I find this odd because at no point have I been made aware of the fact that I'm not allowed to have a taxi. My job has always been a taxi driver and its never been a secret. At no point have I seen any rule that says I'm not allowed to own a motorcycle and no one has ever asked me if I own one. I find it interesting that he's obviously looking into me and my affairs from some unknown source, and finding out half truths. It would be interesting to know where on earth he got the idea that I own 7 motorbikes, or actually even why he's looking into things like this anyway. Tuesday 9th August 4.45 I phoned my solicitor to double check my money has been transferred i am told that that the bacs payment was changed and I am told "Well, there was a bit of a fuss in the office about getting this money to you. I don't know what you've done, but whatever it is you've done it right. Your money is coming into your account tomorrow morning by TT and we are refunding literally everything including waiving all transfer fees" I then her and ask "so where does this now leave me. Can I just now walk away from this farce and am I free to start looking for a new home?" She answers "yes you can. Enjoy." So as a final summary, after the catalogue of cock ups: The vendors solicitor has refunded all my money in full without question. My solicitor has refunded 100% of all fees without question. Both of these things suggest to me that they know they have done something wrong and I can almost hear them in the office trying to get rid of me. It's looking fairly certain that my application for the lease on this property isn't going to be accepted, I've already broken the age rule, the no taxis rule, the no motorbikes rule and the number of vehicles rule and I haven't even completed yet. But bearing in mind that so far I've been lied to and misled by the vendor, messed around by the vendor with his switching of properties, had the completion blocked by the park owners who have made it pretty clear that my 11th hour application is going to fail and given that all my money and fees have been refunded from the solicitors on both sides and I still homeless, I'm ready to just walk away from this mess. In fact I think my mind is made up So if anyone has made it through this far, there are a number of lessons to learn. Always get things I writing. Don't complete on a sale without a purchase. And if anyone has any advice for me, I'm all ears because I'm worried this isn't over yet.

Hi I would be grateful for advice on this. I sold my house two years ago with a number of interim charging orders on it and purchased a new property. My solicitor advised creditors after the sale. So far, so good. I had a payment plan £32.50 per month in place with one of the creditors HFC - Mortimer Clarke - MCE Portfolio 12 months ago they stopped taking payments and I didn't think anything of it this week they have been in contact asking for an updated income/expenditure statement. When I called them to ask what this was about they were a bit put out that I had moved without paying them back, or providing a new address. The debt is from a CCJ in 2007 from HFC for £8,400 and as I am in a new relationship I need to sort this out asap. I asked about a full and final offer but all they would offer was £6,700 which I can't afford. Any ideas about what they could do if I just ignore them? Can they apply for a new interim charging order? or attachment f earnings, for example? I don't really want to get into a review of my finances as this had nothing to do with my family (wife and young daughter) and I don't want a negative impact on our family finances. Thanks

We have recently moved in to a property that is treated as two for Council Tax purposes: a main house and a "granny flat". The previous owners used it that way, but we regard it as a single property and will be using the granny flat as overflow bedrooms for when we have large numbers staying. It is not practical to try to rent out the granny flat for reasons of privacy. Under the council tax rules if both of us are registered in one property and the other is shown as empty, we will pay a 50% premium on the empty property. If we register at one property each we get a discount for single occupancy. Do we have a right to do this?

Hello all, can a CCJ be used to force a sale of a property? A relative of mine has just found out that Lowell have applied for a CCJ, it's for around £250. She has sent in the Acknowledgement of Service, but we aren't to sure what to do next. Can they apply for a charging order on her property? Thanks

Hi, I'm afraid I have to go into a bit of slightly irrelevant history before I get to the point, so please bear with me! I own a freehold property that I bought in 2005 and currently rent out. I discovered two months after the property purchase completed, that although my property is freehold, there is a management company involved and a covenant in the Land Registry deeds. The management company refused to agree to the register of the title in my name, until I signed the covenant, so I had no option but to sign it. Around two years after I bought the house, the management company started to try and charge an annual maintenance fee, which I have disputed in full since they first contacted me, on two grounds - firstly that I signed the covenant under duress (although I am aware that is a case of 'caveat emptor' and it may be deemed that I should have been aware of what was in the deeds). The second ground is that the management company have not provided me with any tender documents or invoices for any work carried, despite repeated requests, and the management company's fees represent more than 50% of their annual expenditure. Despite the fact that I have disputed their invoices in writing on numerous occasions, they have passed the debt on to a third party, Property Debt Collection Ltd, who have disregarded, or failed to understand the nature of my dispute, and it is they who have now served the Notice in the thread title. They claim in the accompanying letter that they will commence possession proceedings if the amount remains unpaid; have added a £650 preparation fee to the outstanding sum (disproportionate for a two page Notice, surely?); and refer to an estate rentcharge, which I don't believe this is. They also state in the Notice that they intend to enter the property and take the income thereof. I have tried to research this Section of the Act online, but I am struggling to find out firstly whether this is even the correct Notice as the charges are estate management charges and not a rentcharge, or whether thay can take any action such as their threat to enter without a Court order? I have read of a charge being added to the mortgage under Section 123(4) but I don't want my mortgage company to pay a disputed debt. I would actually be happy to go to court as I would like the opportunity to put my defence! I should also comment that I work in residential lettings, so I am relatively familiar woth most legislation, but this is a new one on me! Any advice would be gratefully received.

HI, I wonder if anyone could advise me. I'm dealing with a very tricky situation with the local authority in which my husband and i leased a pub. To cut a long story short my husband passed away and i ended up giving back the pub to the brewery. I am now sorting out all of the residual debts left behind (mainly from the brewery) one of which appears to be council tax for the property we leased. I pay council tax on my own home which my husband and i shared. We never lived at the pub as we didn't want to and becaus the living accommodation was very poor and not big enough for our family. The pub was unoccupied other than the customres obviously. They had not applied SBRR which i have now sorted and got down to £800 for the year but they are saying i owe £1100 in council tax - surely i can't be liable to pay for council tax on a property i have never resided in - i thought business rates was what that was for, it doesn't seem fair If anyone could tell me legally whether this is correct i'd be much obliged, obviously iff it is it will just be another amount i will have to try and find every month on top of my own Shell

Hi, Hope someone can give some advice or ideas on how to proceed. We bought an ex-farm last summer directly from the council. The property was advertised with a covenant on the attached paddock but not on the barns. We got an email to say we could run our business from the barns and didn't question anything else until we signed the contract - which the solicitor didn't give us time to look through and just said it was all boring stuff and no need to read through - end of the day, wants to go home?? Didn't think twice as we thought we had all the info. Fast forward to November and the Land Registry paperwork comes through with details of covenants on all the barns and outbuildings, which we knew nothing about! I know we should have been firmer and looked through the contract but we trusted the solicitor and thought the sales particulars given by the estate agent was complete. We've spoken to neighbours who have had a similar issue and have been told by the council that they want 5k to remove the covenants! Can we argue that we were not made aware that the covenant was still in place at time of signing and our solicitor never made us aware, and that the covenants were never on the sales particulars? The solicitor claims that the email from the council saying we can run the business from the barn is enough, but if we want to convert one of the barns into a holiday home in future, will we be stuffed? Solicitor is shying away from the issue and I could do with some advice on who to approach and how to proceed the get this sorted with as little cost as possible. Thanks.

Hi, Some advice please. I live in a small cul de sac where we each have 2 parking spaces and also two visitors spaces which are jointly owned by all of us. One of the visitors spaces is at the far end next to a neighbours garden and the neighbours there have always used it as their own private space. They are aware it is a visitors space (because they have told me they are aware) and the deeds state this. No one has ever complained as we like them and didn't want to cause any problems. Also, most of the residents are tenants so unaware of the fact it is a visitors space, it is only those of us who own the properties who are aware. Now though, they have decided to make vehicular access to their garden across this visitors space and put vehicle gates in across the far end of it. They have not asked anyone if they agree. If they then park in their garden, and someone parks in the visitor space they will be blocked in which is tough luck. but, really, no-one will park there as by putting gates in they are inferring it is their private driveway. If the space needs maintenance then I am as responsible as they are even though I cant ever use it. When I asked what they would do if someone blocked them in they just said that no one has ever parked there before (probably because they couldn't) I cant put a bollard up as they own the same amount of the visitors space as I do. I am concerned long term they they are taking ownership of shared property which could de-value property. Any thoughts or suggestions please? Im annoyed as they are the ones in the wrong and yet I feel awkward about addressing it!

Basically me and my brother have been renting together a few years, made financial sense and we get on well. It is through an agent. He has since had a child(hes not with the mother but they get on) and he has been on the housing association list for a while as he wants to be able to have his son staying over etc. He's over every weekend anyway but stays at my dads. Last week he was accepted for a 2 bedroom flat with the housing association and is going to accept it so will wish to leave shortly. This leaves me in a tricky situation as I would like to stay here, it is his name on the tennancy and he obviously cant stay on it. The reason we went with his name was that I had a lot of recentish adverse credit + was self employed(this was over 5 years ago). I am still self employed and still have some adverse credit but its at the back end of the 6 years, some have already dropped off. The only recent things I have are an ee account which is spotless for 3 years. I believe they probably didnt even check me in any way. I do deal with the agents as much as my brother though if not more + pay half of the rent from my bank. Does anyone know what might happen in such a situation?,we are I believe here till October ie they charge £100 or so renewal fee(excessive I know). I know I can afford to keep the place on my own but again with the knowledge of how agents work I have a feeling I might have to go through all the application etc again. More £££, risk of credit fail and dificulty proving income again. Part of me thinks surely they could swap the names in the knowledge weve always paid without issue and in 5 years only had a washing machine repaired, bathroom floor replaced(due to damp) and a toilet flusher so we are low maintenance. I do know the landlord as he is a friend of my dads if that makes any difference. I presume its in their interest to keep me in as long as the rents flowing, + they still have the deposit + rent advance. I was thinking of maybe saying see where we are in October when the "renewal" comes up. Any views would be appreicated.

Hi All Is there a difference between a court hearing for Possession and / or Repossession its probs a silly question and I know the answer but I ask because I have just recieved some paperwork re my court appearence on Monday 6th Dec, hence the title O M G. Mr Very Worried at the momment however I am sure that will change in the next few hrs.

Hi, I had a few questions on loan agreements. I was considering lending a large sum of money by virtue of a loan agreement (commercial purposes). However, I am unsure as to its enforceability and I am concerned about this. I was considering putting a clause under enforceability that enters into a secured loan agreement of property. My question is that how do I enforce this clause if for example, the borrower ends up selling the property without me knowing. Will just mentioning the secured loan in the agreement be sufficient or do I have to take other steps?

I have a portfolio of a few properties and submit self assessment for UK property income. I have a leased car which I use mostly but not exclusively for business (visiting properties / maintenance etc.). Can I claim the cost of lease (proportion that I use for business) & fuel under box 29 (Other Expenses) in the self assessment form?

A recent house purchase left me very surprised when I discovered that our conveyancing solicitor was freely giving info about the progress of the sale to the vendors estate agent, including our mortgage status etc. I wondered if any Caggers could let me know what the legal staus of this is? Does the estate agent have any right to our information? Should the solicitor be freely giving information to the agent? Shouldn't the solicitor just stick to discussing things with the vendors solicitor?

Hello, can anyone guide me through the steps I would need to take in order to transfer ownership of property worth 100k to a family member whereby no money changes hands please? Is it simple to do without the need for Lawyers etc ? I have looked on the Land Registry website but there are lots of forms to download on there and I'm unsure of exactly which ones I would need. Are there other forms on top of Land Registry forms to fill in? Many Thanks

Around a year or two ago the an underground ditch drain pipe started to leak and come up after some heavy rain, my parents who were living here at the time called the council to get it fixed. The council then dug up the drain but left it as an open ditch on our land, without asking us first... (we would have said no) The council refuse to correct the damage done, and say we must pay to repair it ourselves or pay them to do it. We never asked them to dig up the ditch. They did that on there own accord. Do we have any legal backing to force them to correct the damage done? And can this work be classed as criminal damage as it was done without our blessing?

Hi, I am currently splitting up from my partner who I have a child with and we are not married. I personally have a mortgage on the property which we are living in and it is in my name. While living in the property for the last 5 years I paid the mortgage and my other half paid the bills such as electric, gas etc. My partner also has a property of their own which I have no interest in. Currently we are trying to work out how to move forwards, she is telling me I should sell the house as she wants 50% of the sale of the property. Where do I stand here? How long can she live in my property for or can I ask her to move out?

Hi My wife and I recently made, and had accepted, an offer to buy a property. The first line of the particulars said "A most spacious five bedroom detached family home with approximately 3,000 sq ft of living accommodation..." There was a plan of the property later in the particulars but no dimensions on it. There were dimensions on a room by room basis included as part of the description of individual rooms. I had a full survey done. That states "The overall internal floor area extends to around 2085 sq ft". We have withdrawn from the sale principally because the property is a lot smaller than we thought. At a minimum I would like to recover my lost survey fee. The selling agents are members of the Property Ombudsman Scheme. Worth going to them? Or straight to small claims court? I have some experience of the small claims court and am comfortable bringing claim on my own, and I am thinking probably is worth going straight to court. What is basis of the claim? This looks like a clear breach of Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations but can I claim my losses under those regs or is it best to go under general law of misrepresentation? On this - I was induced to enter into a contract with the surveyor by the misleading particulars - is that what I need to establish to succeed ? Put another way does it matter that I did not have any contract with the estate agents themselves? Any thoughts gratefully received. Many thanks

I have been told that I don’t need to pay business rates and I would like to find out whether it is in fact the case. I have a shop with empty living accommodation above. I have to pay 150% council tax for the domestic part as no-one lives in it along with standard business rates. The rateable value is approx. £3000. Someone else with a similar property he said that he had been advised that refunds don't apply to semi-commercial properties. Does anyone have any firm knowledge of this and can advise on what would be involved in obtaining any refund? I'd like to be armed with some facts when I approach the local council about it.

I have a query relating to a situation my partner finds herself in. This is happening in Scotland if it makes a difference. A little background first to let you know why we find ourselves in this position: My partner rents a house at the moment and the tenancy is managed by a letting agency. She has lived in the property for around 6 years, slightly more, and in January this year renewed her tenancy for a further 6 months. She did this knowing we were about to begin looking for our first home together, however we both felt it was a good idea to give ourselves some time without having to worry about a roof over her head. At the time of renewing she inquired with the letting agency whether a shorter-term lease might be available but was told 6 months was the minimum they would offer. She agreed to that, however she was told that at any time she could pay them £180 to readvertise the house. If they found another suitable tenant the tenancy would transfer and she would no longer be liable for the remaining rental period. We thought that seemed a bit steep but agreed. Move forward a month and we have quite unexpectedly found a house we love, we've bought it and get the keys in a few weeks time. As a consequence my partner popped into the letting agency, paid the £180 and they readvertised the house. Within a day they found someone who wanted the house and paid a holding deposit. As far as we know they haven't signed any formal agreement yet, however the letting agency are no longer advertising the house. I'm finally getting to my question you'll be delighted to hear. We checked with the letting agency about what would happen if this new tenant pulled out. We were more than a little shocked to hear that they plan to hold my partner liable for the rent up to the end of the 6 month period. That probably seems quite reasonable, except that she paid her £180, they readvertised for less than 24 hours and found a new tenant. Can they really take her money, essentially not readvertise the house, yet continue to hold her liable?

Hi all, I took out a loan with welcome finance in January 2007 which is secured on my house for £13k. I split up with my partner (whos name is also on the loan) in 2008 and since this have been stuggling financially with debt. I am currently working full time plus a part time job at nights and the weekends, however i am only just managing to survive financially. I have succeeded in getting my mortgage up to date with no arrears, and the smaller debt my ex left i have dealt with using a debt management program but i just cant afford the payments on the WF loan (£270 per month). I have missed a lot of payments on this loan and they have now passed it onto a debt collection agency (although i have yet to hear from the agency). The balance on the loan is now £15000 including charges. I started reading about unfair credit agreements and wrote to them to request a copy of my agreement, which i received although it was quite illegible as it had been printed from a computer. Should this be a route i could take and if so what am i looking for in the agreement? If not what other options are available? can you get trust deeds to include secured debt? i could probably afford to make small payments each month but i would be over 100 by the time it go paid off!!! I cant see any changes in my financial situation for the forseeable future, im already working all i can and its taking its toll!! I cant see any way out of this at the moment, there is no equity in the house, as its sitting at a loss. On top of this Ive had health problems and my doctor wants me to give up my second job. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hello I would like to get some advice please. Me and my partner are both are on IVA and on year 2. 2.5 years ago we decided to rent out a property and our contract expires end of March 2016 , idealy we would like to move out of the flat asap to a house as its small and a lot of condensation the letting agency advised us of 2 months notice period – which was fine (last date 31st April). The letting agency found someone to move in end of March (what we originally wanted) and asked if we can leave early- which we accepted. Now the problem we are having is every property that we express interest seems to go quick or the letting agency are awkward in terms of timings for viewings another challenge we have is the checks that the lettings do me and my partner are on IVA this will flag up and they may require a guarantor, which unfortunately we don’t have bcause a lot of our family’s are on benefits and elderly. We are looking at private landlords and not a lot are coming by because some are too big or too small. Both of us work, I work full time and she works part time (no kids), combined wage of nearly 30k a year and I fear that by end of March we may become homeless. I spoke to SHELTER on Sunday to discuss this and they weren’t as helpful as I thought as they kept stating that I should not have accepted the early leave until I found a place, but what they couldn’t understand is that I will be in same position by April anyway and no landlord would be willing to wait for 2 months, so my search for new property would fall in to April anyway. Because I have got factors which I got no control over, where do I stand. I guess im looking for someone to offer me advise to speak to Council maybe? Please help

I am trying to get a hold of the lease hold information of a property. I want to know what they have to pay in ground rent, what rules they have to follow, what they can and cannot do as terms of the leasehold. Another forum told me to send an OC2 form to the land registry. But I dont see anything about a lease on what was sent back. Is the following documents the right ones they should of sent me?

Hi My son was walking through sainsburys car park smoking a roll up and absently mindedly dropped it on the floor (he knows he's a very naughty boy etc) then from no where pops up a woman in uniform armed with a camera telling him he'd been filmed littering which is an offence and he is to be fined £60 to be paid within 11 days or it goes up to £80 or court Whilst I agree littering is bad. ..nothing worse then takeaway wrappers blowing all over the place or having to tip toe through dog dirt in the park but I've never had in issue with cigarette butts.. ..but yes..litter is litter & he did a naughty thing ...my issue is not with that, on reading the government guidelines for these 'litter enforcement officers' it seems to state that a person should be given the opportunity to pick up their litter. ..but I suppose thats the up to the officer and on reading they get some kinda commission for their fines, unlikely they'll be letting people off... .so my other issue is the car park is private property shared with sainsburys, homebase, argos & McMucks. ..NOT council land.. .the gov website also states that they are not permitted to issue fines on private property, even if used by the public without permission off the landowner. I contacted sainsburys to enquire why they have allowed their customers to be intimidated, humiliated by uniformed people claiming to be council workers loitering outside their store entrance armed with CCTV filming their customers!! Disgusting:-x!!! However, sainsburys HO don't seem too happy about it either and they contacted my local store who have assured me that they had no idea of what was happening in their car park and they are looking into it for me. ...now I'm wondering if this fine inflicted on my son (a student and forever skint) will stick ...of course i want to get him out of paying it. ..I have done the online appeal thing to raise my concerns with the council on his behalf. ..has anyone had success arguing the toss about fines on private land??? Thanks

Hello folks. I'm hoping for some advice on tenancy agreements please? Sorry for the long read, but I think I need to be as clear as I can. My son is at Uni and he and 9 friends decided they wanted to share a house. Being young and foolish, they all got pressured into signing the tenancy agreement, as they were assured they would lose it if they didn't sign quickly. None of them clearly understood the agreement and all of them required guarantors. I am currently guarantor for my son in his present, single accommodation, absolutely no problems there, but when I read the new tenancy agreement for the proposed new house, I raised numerous concerns and refused to sign as guarantor. Like many such, it is a joint and several tenancy agreement, but how any guarantor would ever sign one of those is a mystery to me. I am perfectly happy to take responsibility for my son's rent and actions, he's a great kid, but I would never agree to take joint responsibility for 9 total strangers. The guarantor agreement also stipulated a joint and several responsibility. I also noticed a number of clauses, in the main tenancy agreement, that caused me concern, and looking at the OFT site, there is a large section there, on this very subject, that seemed to bear that out, if I am understanding correctly? EG. There is a clause that insists (Not advises) that each tenant must take out insurance to cover contents and accidental damage to the property. There is a somewhat hidden clause, by way of a reference to a paragraph in a chapter of the 1988 Housing Act, that, once I'd managed to hunt it down, gives the landlord the right to give 2 months notice to the tenants to quit the property, but there is no such option for the tenants to do the same. There are 2 conflicting access clauses, one that states the tenants are entitled to peace and quiet and to not be disturbed by the landlord, and further down states that the landlord/agents can demand access at any reasonable time of day. There are others that I think are dubious too, but I'm rambling enough as it is, so those are the main ones. It appears to me as if the landlord has added amendments to a standard agreement to suit his needs. None of the other guarantors agreed to sign either, and based on that, all of the tenants decided it was a bad move, and wish to pull out, but they have already signed the agreement and the landlord is trying to force them to fulfill that agreement. I realise that they were foolish to sign the agreement in the first place, and that they should have ensured that they, or someone they could trust, had thoroughly read and understood it first, but are they now stuffed and liable? My thought is that the agreement is unfair and could be challenged if it comes to that, but how many unfair clauses would it take for the contract to be deemed unfair? We have spoken to the landlord to try and come to an amicable agreement, but he is now saying he cannot find anyone who will pay full rent (So much for the queue of potential tenants that forced a quick signature initially!!) and the signed tenants would have to make up the shortfall in the rent from the proposed replacement tenants in order to be released from the agreement. I'm also wondering, if it did go to court, would the students be eligible for legal aid in a civil case, as none of them are employed, but living on their loans. I hope someone can advise, and apologies again for the length of this question. Thanks for reading, those of you who have struggled to the end of this.

Hello Many thanks for reading this- kindly appreciated. I jointly own a property with my ex-husband. We had a NRAM together mortgage with the unsecured loan, I went into IVA once we split up and he is now solely responsible for the remainder of the unsecured debt. As he ignored paying towards this debt (any debts really!) NRAM took him to Court and the following restriction has been entered in the proprietorship register in the Land Registry document: "No disposition of the registered estate is to be registered without a certificate signed by the applicant for registration or his conveyancer that written notice of the disposition was given to NRAM being the person with the benefit of interim charging order on the beneficial interest of Mr... (my ex-husband) made by the [name of court] on [date] [Court reference…]." I put the property on the market after being assured by my conveyancer that the restriction can be easily removed. Close to the exchange of contracts my solicitor suggested that she can't give undertaking to my buyer that the restriction will be removed as NRAM are not willing to remove the charge - please see the correspondence received from NRAM attached. The deal fell through partly because of this and partly because my ex stopped corresponding and signing paperwork. He is not corresponding with NRAM either. I will have to go back to Court to ask the Court to sign property sale documents on my ex's behalf I gather... My question is whether I can sell the property? How can this restriction be removed? Is there any recommendations for the conveyancing solicitors who are experts in this matter and are prepared to give the undertaking so I can sell and move on with my life? Or is there any other solution to this please? I would so much appreciate some help with this please. Thank you. NRAM letter.pdf