DCA wish toplace a charge on my property

[Stressed150]

Hi guys

 

Just wanted advice on the following, (sorry its abit long winded)

 

I currently owe £20,000 to HFC which has been passed on to DLC Hillesden Securities..... I have been making token payments towards this debt for approximately two years, in the beginning I was paying aorund £20, which I know is not alot, however, this was all I could afford, I recieved a telephone call from the DCA a few months ago in which they stated that due to the size of my debt they have been conducting credit searches against my name (without my permission) and have discovered that I own a property...... (I never witheld this information from them in the first place!), they have since 'bullied' me into paying £100 per month, even though I cannot afford this, I maintained this for two months, buyt lapsed again this month, I told them I could not afford to pay this amount to which they stated, they will be passing my account to their litigation department and will be looking at having a charge placed on my property....even though there is no equity in it!!!

 

Can they actully do this, even though the property has no equity?

[debt4get]

yes but first they have to obtain a ccj in the courts and we are a long way from this scenario at the moment, they are trying to frighten you into paying as much as they can possible screw out of you. firstly I would send them a cca request to see if they actually have a legal right to collect on this debt. use the letter templates

[debt4get]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

this is the link to the letter templates, also do not ever speak to these clowns over the phone always communicate with them only be letter, that way there is a paper trail if court action ever comes about

[flyingdoc]

The other thought is that obtaining a charge against your house would at this stage do them no good at all.

 

If you were to go bankrupt and the house was sold then the mortgage company gets first call on any money (which since you are in negative equity will be less than owed) and then they would get what was left (nothing)

 

Dont let them use this to bully you - pay what you can afford and tell them to get stuffed for the rest (if as noted above the debts are legally enforceable)

[abbacus]

Don't talk to these DCAs on the phone. They will try and scare you with rubbish like this.

[Stressed150]

Thank you for the advice guys.... will definitely use the temaplate to request CCA.....

[veryweary]

An HFC advisor told me recently they are months behind in paperwork administration so it could take them a long time to find your agreement if at all.

 

Don't let them threaten you into making payments you can't afford. You're a long way off from them being able to get a charging order and I'm sure the CAG experts (sorry I'm not one of them!!) will give you all the help you need to to defend if the situation arises in the future.

 

There' was a thread on here last week about the OFT wanting people to contact them about DCA's using charge orders unreasonably against people in debt. If I find it I'll try and post you a link.

[palomino]

I thought that the OFT were looking for instances of DCAs using Statutory Demands unreasonably?

[Stressed150]

Thank you for ur advice very weary... i am now in the process of negotiating full and final settlement as a friend has offered to help me out, but I'm still not going to go down without an fight and have requested CCA's from crediotrs including HFC....whom, when I telephoned to get an address did not even know what a CCA was!!

[42man]

Did they ever provide a default notice too ? was it correct ?

[lilly white]

When you say passed on where you inform from your creditor

 

IF NOT IT IS A SIMPLE ASSIGNMENT THEY ARE ACTING ON BEHALF OF THE BANK

IT WILL BE UNDER COMMOM LAW CANT SUE IN THIER OWN RIGHT

 

SO THEY CAN SAY WHAT THEY LIKE,

 

CHARGING ORDERS YA RIGHT.

 

PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT SPEAK TO THESE PEOPLE ON THE PHONE

 

AGAIN HOUSE GOLDEN RULE DO NOT SPEAK TO THESE PEOPLE ON THE PHONE

[veryweary]

I thought that the OFT were looking for instances of DCAs using Statutory Demands unreasonably?

 

The thread was called 'Charging Orders please complain' posted by Lilly White. sorry don't know how to post a link.

[Stressed150]

Yes a default notcie was served, however, I'm not too sure what you mean by if it was correct? I assumed once a notice was served, that was that... do they hav guidelines for this too?

 

Lilly White, they have actually purchased the debt from the original lender..

[lickthewallfatboy]

I assumed once a notice was served, that was that... do they hav guidelines for this too?

 

 

yes.....ohhhh yes indeedy!

[babybear39]

Can you scan and post the DN (minus personal details) so we can check it's legit for you.

[twofoot]

Don't be making a F&F at this stage you are a long way off that and what's more they wouldn't accept much less.

[Stressed150]

I will be posting both the CCA which I have, and also will look for and if need be request the default notice and upload that as well.... hopefully tonight as I need to get them scanned..

[diamondgirl]

You can complain to the OFT however the last date for Charging Orders complains was the end of March but you can still write to them and complain the more the merrier. DG:)

[veryweary]

stressed150, you're in good hands with some of the very experienced CAG members advising you. Follow their advice with the CCA and DN and you'll be fine.

They helped me last year when a DCA wanted a charging order, and nearly a year later the DCA has been rapped by the OFT , the account is still in dispute and HFC haven't been able to produce more than an application form which doesn't even say what I'm applying for. And the Default Notice is also invalid:D.

 

.And don't forget DCA's buy debts for sometimes as little as 8p to 20p in the pound.

 

Good Luck:)

[Stressed150]

Thanks for the words of support DG and Very Weary....... 8p and 20p?!! I'm shocked! I knew it was a relatively small amount that DCA's purchase debts for, however, 20p for a 5k loan or even a 20k loans beggers belief!!! It makes me mad how much they make out of us when we are in such a difficult situation, yet the banks seem to always win, regardless of if they get their money back or not..

[Stressed150]

BTW was due to put my CCA and DN up here, however, I made a silly mistake and left my signature on there...! So will defitiely have it on here by tommorrow, and ur opinions will be very much appreciated..

[lilly white]

just for info

 

OK ANY QUESTION HAPPY TO ANSWER

 

DCA will say anything on the phone just to get you to pay more,if you are

 

paying the debt a judge would not be very inpressed please just sent email

 

anD file it away we might just need it in the future as proof,

 

IN GENERAL OFT ARE GETTING THERE ACT TOGETHER

 

Resource base Legal powers Consumer Credit Act Charging orders

Charging orders

The OFT has a duty to protect the interests of consumers by ensuring the fitness of those holding or applying for consumer credit licences. The OFT also has a duty to monitor social and commercial developments relating to the provision of credit and related activities.

 

The OFT is monitoring the use of 'charging orders' as a method of enforcing judgment debts, where the debts originally arose under regulated consumer credit agreements. This is due, in particular, to a significant rise in the numbers of charging orders being applied for and granted over the past few years.

 

In 2005, 49,213 orders were granted, rising to 67,087 in 2006 and 97,027 in 2007. Many of these charging orders will relate to judgment debts not connected to credit agreements and the OFT's interest in this matter is limited to those charging orders that are applied for and granted as a result of regulated consumer credit agreements.

 

What is a charging order?

 

A charging order is one of a number of enforcement methods available to creditors to ensure that judgment debts are satisfied. A charging order can only be applied for where a court judgment has already determined that a debtor owes money to the creditor, and payment under that judgment is not forthcoming. The original debt may have arisen under a consumer credit agreement. However, as noted above, charging orders can also be used to enforce the payment of monies after a judgment in other types of action.

 

Once a charging order is obtained a 'charge' can be placed on the asset specified in the order. This will usually be the debtor's property. When the debtor decides to sell the property the amount due is repaid out of the proceeds. Charging orders do not require debtors to sell their property. However, the creditor can make a further application to the court requesting that an order should be granted to enable the property to be sold sooner to repay the debt. This is called an 'order for sale'. It appears that this currently happens in a very small proportion of cases.

 

Request for information

 

The OFT is continuing to monitor the use of charging orders in the consumer credit sector and the appropriateness of use in certain circumstances and has written to a number of creditors seeking further information to feed into this review.

 

In addition, the OFT continues to welcome views and information on the manner in which charging orders are used in debt enforcement where the original debt arose under an agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. If you have information that would inform our work in this area, please write to:

 

Charging orders

Room 2N

Office of Fair Trading

Fleetbank House

2-6 Salisbury Square

London EC4Y 8JX.

 

Email: [email protected].g ov.uk

Fax: 020 7211 8465

 

Submissions should reach us by 30 March 2009.

[The GodMother]

BTW Stressed 150

 

I just wanted to say that IF the matter does go to court then the saying u cant get blood outta a stone comes to mind.

 

The judge will not have u pay what u cant afford so i would explain that u were being forced to pay them at a rate u could bearly afford threw being bullied.

[Stressed150]

Thank you once again lilly white and Godmother.... I do feel that the DCA were using the charging order as a way of intimidatingme into making higher payments, when I spoke to the DCA a few weeks ago, they told me they had been conducting credit searches against my name due to the size of my debt.... these credit searches were carried out without my permission.... does anyone have advice as to what I can do wioth regards to this matter as well? I will pursue the Information Commisioner route, but I want to give them a taste of their own medicine, so the more hassle

they get the better...... anyway, once I advised them that my property has no equity in it they soon backed down, but still wanted me to continue making a higher payment towards the loan then I had previously been making even though I was employed a year ago, and am no longer employed...!! Further still what do u make of this conversation I had with the DCA

 

Me: Where/whom would I write to inj order to obtain a copy of my CCA?

 

DCA: Whats a Consumer Credit Agreement?

 

Me: (Shocked) It's an agreement I signed when I took out the loan

 

DCA: Oh, u want the application form?

 

Me: No, I want the CCA

 

DCA: What your quoting is actually a regulation, not something that we would hold

 

Me: I'm not quoting a regulation, I want a copy of my CCA

 

DCA: I will have to get in contact with the original lender and request this, so it may take up to a month or maybe even longer

 

Me: No, it shouldn't take more then 12 days, this is the time limit given to you by regulation

 

DCA: The time frame u are quoting is not the law/regulation it is a guideline....

 

At this point I put the phon down!

[lilly white]

GOOD MORNING

 

well as we have said do not speak to these people on the phone.

 

THE PLAN

 

GET YOUR CCA OFF THAY HAVE 12 PLUS 2 DAYS IF NO REPLY ACCOUNT IN DISPUTE.

 

POST ON HERE TAKE OFF ALL PERSONNEL DETAILS WE WILL GO FROM THERE

 

ALSO PLEASE PAY THEM WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD

 

JUST ONE LAST LINE WE WILL NOT BE BULLY,

 

PLEASE NO ENJOY THE REST OF THE DAY