Qick one-bailiff enforcement of a L/O commercial premises.

[MARTIN3030]

Just had a call from friend of mine-he runs a social club under lease.

Says theres a notice of attendance been posted on 23rd demanding 3k for business rates,which says no arrangement must be paid in 24 hours.

Warrant is in his name with club details.

He tells me that the landlords have put the club into recievership a couple of weeks ago but its still trading.

Says he had no notices of any enforcement action prior to this-and has actually been clearing arrears from previous.

Is he able to apply to have the warrant set aside,on the basis that the club is in recievership,and that he had no knowledge of the L/O ?

Given that its weekend and no court open until Monday-can he prepare the application for the S/A and are they obliged to take notice if they return before Monday ?

[ploddertom]

This may give a guide:

http://www.bromley.gov.uk/business/rates/insolvency_guide.htm

 

There is no set aside possible for Council Tax or NNDR.

 

PT

[MARTIN3030]

Ah ok thanks PT

Yes I always forget-its Mags Court for these as opposed to a CC.

[MARTIN3030]

More on this.

Seems a L/O was granted last August.

He maintains he has been making payments,which would appear to be the case since the L/O was for £3700

and the bailifs are demanding 3k now so looks like he has paid maybe 800 since then.

The main lease is in the name of another company,and he is sub letting.

According to him,the agreement shows that all the fixtures and fittings in the club belong to the other company and not my friend.

The only assets belonging to him are the beer and spirit stock.

From my readings of these sorts of action with business rates arrears,it is usual for the bailiff to demand at least half of the warrant amount before agreeing to any repayment arrangement.

This usually also requires a wpo.

Given that he is not able to agree to any levy on the FFs since they are not his,what does he need to be doing ?

Will a Stat dec need to be done ?

He says he is wanting to have an arrangement in place,but is reluctant to call the number of the guy who left the notice,because it says full amount due immediate,and no arrangements can be made.

I have told him this is usual.

Any thoughts ?

[ploddertom]

More on this.

Seems a L/O was granted last August.

He maintains he has been making payments,which would appear to be the case since the L/O was for £3700

and the bailifs are demanding 3k now so looks like he has paid maybe 800 since then. Does he know how much he has paid?

The main lease is in the name of another company,and he is sub letting. Whose name is the LO in?

According to him,the agreement shows that all the fixtures and fittings in the club belong to the other company and not my friend.

The only assets belonging to him are the beer and spirit stock.

From my readings of these sorts of action with business rates arrears,it is usual for the bailiff to demand at least half of the warrant amount before agreeing to any repayment arrangement.

This usually also requires a wpo.

Given that he is not able to agree to any levy on the FFs since they are not his,what does he need to be doing ?

Will a Stat dec need to be done ? Whoever owns all the F&F needs to do a Stat Dec in order to prevent their removal.

He says he is wanting to have an arrangement in place,but is reluctant to call the number of the guy who left the notice,because it says full amount due immediate,and no arrangements can be made. If he has the A/C No he can always pay the Council direct using their website or automated phone line - he may have to budget for Bailiff fees incurred.

I have told him this is usual.

Any thoughts ?

 

Has he written off to the bailiffs for a breakdown of their charges. It is quite a common occurrence for Bailiffs to inflate fees for NNDR as most businesses are used to being ripped off for different things and very rarely question any fees so charged. The charges for NNDR are broadly similar to those of Council Tax. here's the usual sample for him to adapt to his own use, send initially by email followed up with a copy in the post:

 

"From:

My Name

My Address

 

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

 

Ref: Account No: 123456

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

 

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

 

This is not a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

 

I require this information within 14 days.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Ripped off customer"

 

He should also ring the Council and ask:

a - how many LO's are there

b - who is the named person/company - if not him they may refuse to give details

c - the date the LO was obtained

d - how much is still outstanding

e - when it was passed for enforcement.

 

PT

[MARTIN3030]

Great thanks PT.

L/O is in his name personally with club address.

I have prepared the stat dec for him to give to other guy.

Had already done other letters for Council and Bailiff as above.

Ta.

[ploddertom]

His biggest problem will be to prevent the Bailiff gaining access. Regardless of what is done temporarily he will seize and may even remove any goods he can until such time the Stat Dec is put in place - get him to treat this as urgent. When he has it he will need a few extra copies and should ASAP forward one to the Bailiff company via email + copy in post, send one to Council asking for it to be put on the file for reference and also some to hand for "callers", there may be chance it could be more that those seeking NNDR, depends on how "honest" those that sought receivership are. When he gets the details of fees back from the Bailiff ask him to post them here.

 

PT

 

PT

[Thegreenpimpernel]

One thing to bear in mind while you are planning your next move, is that the bailiff / council can move on to the next entity in the hierarchy of liability if they have no joy with your friend.

 

If they decide your friend cannot / will not be paying, they can go after the Ltd company who hold the original tenancy. Unfortunately in this case, they seem to own the assets.

 

If, as we often suspect, the bailiff reads this forum, it might be worth deleting the part where you reveal the ltd company as being potentially liable for the rates. If they put two and two together after getting the stat. dec. your friend could find the destiny of the assets completely out of his hands.

 

a)On the other hand, how much are these assets realistically worth?

 

b)Do the directors of the ltd company care for its continued existence?

 

c)Is the landlord (as in the owner of the building) willing to put the lease in your friends name (behind a Ltd company if he has any sense)?

 

If the answers are:

 

a) Not a lot. (less than the NNDR)

 

b) No.

 

c) Yes.

 

Your friend could try and negotiate a shrewd survival strategy where the assets get sold to his new ltd company, which becomes the new tenant. Then the existing Ltd company becomes a 'lightning rod' and goes down taking the rates liability with it.

 

Your friend would have to watch out for a lingering personal liability, but he has that problem now. This way at least his business and its assets would be safe.

[MARTIN3030]

Thanks.

He has informed me today that he did make it a limited company last September.

I have seen his agreement it states there that fixtures and fittings remain the property of the main leaseholder and cannot be sold hired or moved.

He said he can pay £250 a week-but obv if he calls the bailiff then he will want to do a WP.

If he is informed that the gear does not belong to him then he could well levy on his car.

Its good that the weekend is over I think he is planning to keep the place locked up for a few days until he gets things sorted.

Thanks for all input.

I have done him a letter to hand in to the Council office tomorrow and ask for a reciept.

Also have done a letter for the Bailiff HO asking for the breakdown etc,and advising that the Council have been notified.

Will keep this updated.