Please help- CL Finance Default

[skyblue2]

Hi all, I'm hoping someone can help me who's perhaps had a similar problem...

 

I had a Debenhams store card which fell into arrears when I lost a contract at work. After 6 months I received a notice of assignment from Howard Cohen, telling me the debt had been sold to CL Finance.

 

I contacted CL finance who told me unless I paid off the full £2400 (most of which was charges) within 7 days, they'd register a CCJ against my name. Not being able to afford this, I agreed to pay it off in 4 installments @ £607.00 per month- I have so far one month in.

 

When I checked my credit report with Experian, there's a red default written next to the CL Finance account, stating it was 8 payments in arrears. I called CL finance querying this and stating I was never made aware a default would be registered and I was never 8 payments in arrears. I offered to pay off the remaining £1800 in full immediately if they'd agree to remove the default.

 

CL Finance said there was no way they could help, because it was Santander (Debenhams) who registered the default, not them. So I called Santander. They tell me it's CL Finance who registered it and they'd done no such thing as they sold the debt on, meaning my account with them was cleared.

 

This is all really distressing me, because without locating the party responsible for the default notice, I can't look into getting it removed. I have considered telling CL Finance I'm withholding all future payments until it's removed or explained, but I fear this will matter worse.

 

Does anyone have any advice as to how I can get this removed? With something so damaging as this on my file I may as well have paid it off over years without struggling to pay £600 pm and not even getting any answers.

 

All advice gratefully appreciated

[consumeredge]

Assigning A Debt

Forget at the moment CL Finance's notice of assignment

Santander were required to have served you with notice that the account had been sold to whoever on such and such a day, the amount being £x based on the outstanding balance on such an such a day.

Failure to do so you are entiltled to continue paying the original creditor and CL Finance can swivel!

Law of Property Act 1925

136 Assignment of Legal things in action.

(1) Any absolute assignment by writing under the hand of the assignor (not purporting to be by way of charge only) of any debt or other legal thing in action, of which express notice in writing has been given to the debtor, trustee or other person from whom the assignor would have been entitled to claim such debt or thing in action, is effectual in law (subject to equities having priority over the right of the assignee) to pass and transfer from the date of such notice

Write to Santander and ask when the account was sold, how much and to who? also ask them for an explanation why they did not send you notice of this event and a copy of the comms log.

I would write to cohen and state without having been served the correct notice by the original creditor you will make all future payments henceforth to Santander until notified by the original creditor who the true owner of the account is.

Once you recieve the information from Santander you will be able to positively identify who entered the default on your credit file, and then make plans to have the default removed from your file.

[skyblue2]

Thank you so much! This is a really helpful piece of advice

I'll let you know how I get on.

 

Very best wishes

[dx100uk]

urm......

 

if you have a notice of assignment, then thats is all that is required.

the OC, is not required to inform you, as such, legally that they have sold it.

 

now the 'default' that will be the 6 non payments you made, it will automatically get shown as '8', defaulted, by the CRA system.

 

pers, i'd very wary of paying this off, you will be wasting a heap of money and get no guarantee of a clear CRA file.

 

have you cca'ed these jokers yet?

 

if not do so.

 

then look at reclaiming all the unlawful fees & p'haps missold PPI. [must be +£1k i bet]

 

then look to offer a very low figure for F&F with the clause that they remove ALL reference to the CC from CRA files.

 

if they wont do that, then you might as well offer £1 PCM till you die, as your CRA file will never be clear.

 

dx

[skyblue2]

Yes, that's how I feel. I'm at a loss as to why I'm paying off colossal monthly payments with no benefit to me. I have written them a letter incorporating both your pieces of advice. I am truly grateful and will post their response up if and when I get it.

 

Knowing my luck I'll have a CCJ land on my doorstep now!!

[dx100uk]

cca them

 

dx

[Davetherave12]

Skyblue2, remember what the question is you asked, when your up to your neck in litigation as suggested by dx having already offered F&F settlement of £1800, initially offered payments of £607 per month and have made payment under those terms, they will hang you!

The question you asked was how to positively identify the party responsible for placing the red default against the CL Finance account?

[skyblue2]

Do you know how I can identify the party responsible? I have asked experian but received no reply. I have now written to CL Finance offering F&F settlement of the full £1800 still owing but only if default is removed. I have notified them all further payments will be withheld from them until I receive a response and identify who is responsible for the default.

[dx100uk]

the 'default' will be the automatic result your late/non payment over 6mts and theose would have been registered by the oc during their normal reoprting process.

 

"a notice of assignment from Howard Cohen, telling me the debt had been sold to CL Finance."

 

that makes no sense.

 

please explain.

 

i am trying to work out who owns the debt now.

 

 

dx

[skyblue2]

I know, it makes no sense to me either! Howard Cohen are a solicitors acting for CL Finance (also known as The Lewis Group). CL Finance now own the debt but you have to liaise with them through Howard Cohen.

 

I received the Notice Of Assignment through Howard Cohen. I did not receive a notice of assignment through Santander.

 

Ultimately, I want the default removed and have realised it's pointless paying £600pm if this is not going to happen, when I could just pay £1pm until I die (within reason).

 

Now that I have written to them notifying them I'm not paying until I identify the default, I need to be careful they don't register a CCJ to recover the remaining £1800. I have offered to pay the full remaining sum immediately on removal of the default, but received no response.

[skyblue2]

I've just checked my report again. The santander account is showing as settled and the CL Finance account showing as 'default' with a remaining balance of £1800. Does this mean they (CL Finance) have the power to remove it upon settlement negotiation?

[consumeredge]

Start with a current copy of your Experian credit report. If you don't have one, order online for immediate access. If you're reviewing your credit report online, you can access the dispute process while viewing your report. If you have a paper copy of your report, access the online dispute process and enter your report number.

 

 

You must have your Experian credit report number to request a dispute.

1. Once online, view your report section by section. Click on a particular item to see more details. If you see something that you believe is inaccurate, click on the blue Dispute this item button.
   
2. Select a specific reason why you feel the information is inaccurate. Enter any additional facts that further explain your reason and click on the Submit button. Be sure to read the Tell me more about dispute reasons section for tips on how to dispute credit information. Make sure you provide your email address to receive notification when the results of your investigation are ready to be viewed.
   
   
3. A notice is immediately sent to the source of the information. Generaly within 30 days, the source must verify your account data. Information verified as accurate cannot be removed from your credit report. Experian will notify you when the results of your dispute investigation are ready to be viewed and will provide you with a link to the results online. This is the fastest way to get the results
   
4. If you received your credit report from a company other than Experian, ask the source for instructions on how to dispute the credit report.
   

[skyblue2]

I have just had this back on email from CL Finance;

 

Dear ***,

 

We acknowledge receipt of your e-mail.

 

The agreement made on 29th June 2010 to pay £607.56 per month for four months was to avoid a County Court Judgement against you and not to prevent a default on your credit file.

 

Once the four payments have been made, the default will remain on your credit file for six years.

 

Should you be unable to maintain the agreed payments, we require details of your income and expenditure together with an offer of repayment.

However, you will then have a County Court Judgement registered against you also.

 

Please advise how you wish to proceed.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Miss Shauna Lumb

The Lewis Group

[skyblue2]

Dear ***,

 

Many thanks for your prompt response and for acknowledgment of my email.

 

I do not wish for a CCJ to be registered against my name. The default is something which is causing me severe personal distress and further financial hardship. I am now certain that the default is registered under and by CL Finance, not Santander.

 

I fully appreciate you are required to inform credit reference agencies of one's ability to repay future loans and credit agreements, however I am prepared to offer the FULL amount outstanding as an IMMEDIATE F&F payment in order to remedy the default and have it removed from my file. This is because I am now in a more financially stable situation than I was at the time the account fell into arrears.

 

Furthermore, I have been advised the default is just as detrimental to my account as a CCJ and therefore I am putting myself through unnecessary hardship if it is to remain on my file after prompt clearance of the account.

 

I trust you will assess my request for negotiation and really hope you can be of assistance.

 

Regards***

[skyblue2]

Dear ***,

 

We acknowledge receipt of your e-mail.

 

Unfortunately, immediate payment of your balance will not remove the default from your credit file and we are unable to negotiate this.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

***

The Lewis Group

[consumeredge]

Recap....

 

When I checked my credit report with experian, there's a red default written next to the CL Finance account, stating it was 8 payments in arrears. I called CL finance querying this and stating I was never made aware a default would be registered and I was never 8 payments in arrears. I offered to pay off the remaining £1800 in full immediately if they'd agree to remove the default.

 

CL Finance said there was no way they could help, because it was Santander (Debenhams) who registered the default, not them. So I called Santander..........

 

You have good grounds to dispute with experian, the dispute is that CL Finance have stated to experian you were/are 8 payments in arrears with CL Finance, Thats false information supplied by CL Finance.

 

If you google how to remove a experian default there is more good advice that will give you confidence to take this on, a point I would be thinking is that they acknowledged the mutual agreement to pay the total £2,400 by 4 payments, how would they explain 8 late or missing payments?

[consumeredge]

You need to write to santander asking exactly when the account was sold to the Lewis Group, I'd advise you ask a solicitor to write the letter for you, its from that point till the 29th of June that will fill in the missing gap they allege you have failed to make 8 payments in.

 

What date did the letter say the account was sold? solicitor would use that to clarify with santander.

[skyblue2]

Thanks consumeredge you're very helpful

 

I will try your route...

[dx100uk]

right firstly this 'threat' of a ccj is a load of bull and should be reported to the fos / fsa /oft etc etc.

 

you did not make 8 late payments you made 6 '8' is the automatic default marker that the cra system puts on.

 

cl finance will have the past markers shown as them, because that it what happens when the debt is sold, the debt is renamed to the new owbner, they inherit anything tht has already been put on.

 

santander is your dartboard.

 

dx

[skyblue2]

Well well well. Called Santander asking for information on date of my last payment to them and date account was sold on. They tell me they no longer have my records and I have to ask CL Finance. CL Finance insist (and justifiably so) that they do not have any of my payment history with Santander, they only hold payment history from the date they bought the account.

 

It would seem then that the payment history is lost by Santander!

 

So how can they uphold the default?

 

I think I may be onto something but need to know how to go about it. Dx ... u there?

[Durkin]

CL are refusing to remove the default that is annihilating your credit reputation. Sue them for £5K in the small claim court. Quote Durkin v DSG & HFC.

[skyblue2]

Tell me more Durkin...did you successfully sue over a similar case? If so well done and I'd love some further info/advice as I've never come across such a disorganised and unreasonable company in my life!

[skyblue2]

I've just read your case notes...the laptop case yes? What a time you had!

[Durkin]

I've just read your case notes...the laptop case yes? What a time you had!

 

The case is being continued to the Supreme Court but it is clear that £8K is available to anyone who has had their credit reputation annihilated by a wrongful default. The small claims court only allows £5K and to venture beyond this is very stressful. I'd imagine that if you sue for £5K, quoting my case, CL would remove the default very quickly. If they don't, then you should get a handy £5K from them and the default removed. It has to be worth a go. Good luck.

[skyblue2]

Thank you. And good luck with the Supreme Court! I'll be looking out for you.