Liability Order Settled.

[Mike295]

After having settled my LO to the council for council tax arrears, fully in one payment, is there any way of checking to see if the courts have been notified that the LO is now satisfied. I have asked the council for a letter for Liability Order Discharge but was told they dont do this, the best they can do is to send me a statement showing i no longer owe any arearrs on last years coucil tax charge.

[hallowitch]

can you tell us the date of the liability order

can you tell use the date you paid it in full

 

 

the best they can do is to send me a statement showing i no longer owe any arrears on last years council tax

 

thats all you need just keep it safe

[Mike295]

Im not sure of the date of the LO, to be honest the first i realised i had arearrs was when the bailiff tricked his way into my house on 5/5/11. I phoned the council the very next day & paid in full, i requested a receipt but when it arrived it was a bit scrappy, small writing & only showed they were in receipt of the money i paid to them. I was hoping more for a receipt showing my balance was now nil & that i no longer had a LO against me.

Thanks for your reply Hallowitch, i've another receipt on its way to me which i will keep safe if i need it for the future.

[hallowitch]

I'm not sure of the date of the LO, to be honest the first i realised i had arrears was when the bailiff tricked his way into my house on 5/5/11.

not good letting the bailiff in to your home i assume her levied on goods

why didn't you know you had arrears, is it for another property (did you inform the council you had moved )

 

I phoned the council the very next day & paid in full, i requested a receipt but when it arrived it was a bit scrappy, small writing & only showed they were in receipt of the money i paid to them. I was hoping more for a receipt showing my balance was now nil & that i no longer had a LO against me.

Thanks for your reply Hallowitch, I've another receipt on its way to me which i will keep safe if i need it for the future.

 

you may/will have lawful bailiff fees

 

amount of liability order

 

what goods are written on the notice of seizure

what figures are written on the wpa did you sign it

[outlawla]

After having settled my LO to the council for council tax arrears, fully in one payment, is there any way of checking to see if the courts have been notified that the LO is now satisfied. I have asked the council for a letter for Liability Order Discharge but was told they dont do this, the best they can do is to send me a statement showing i no longer owe any arearrs on last years coucil tax charge.

 

Short of blurting out my opinion that the council's court procedure is a sham, consider these points to help establish why your council will not verify the court's discharge of your liability:

 

– Where did your Summons document originate? Magistrate's court OR Council offices.

 

If council offices, did the opening paragraph begin something like this:

 

Complaint has been made before me, the undersigned Clerk to the Justices, by The Executive Director Business Services of.......

 

 

– Was there a signature of the Clerk to the Justices on the Summons? If so was it doctored onto the document?

 

– Were you required to attend the court hearing?

 

– Did you ever receive any document relating to a liability order?

[brassnecked]

Outlawa, so some councils are "creating" their own LOs without even a magistrates rubber stamp? If so and with no proper paperwork issued to debtor, the "LO" surely is unenforceable, and the council, and their bailiffs are engaged in possibly fraudulent activity.

[Mike295]

you may/will have lawful bailiff fees

 

amount of liability order

 

what goods are written on the notice of seizure

what figures are written on the wpa did you sign it

 

There were additional bailiff fees & LO fee which i paid to the council along with my arrears all in one go.

I have started a thread on my bailiff visit/arrears, but started this as a seperate thread as i done a search & could not find much soley regarding LO's & assumed a thread on this could be helpful to all, maybe i should of posted in my original thread, apologies for that.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?304341-Bailiff-called-amp-my-wife-let-him-in!

 

Regarding paperwork, i have had nothing sent to me from the council regarding my arrears, as said previously i was only aware when a bailiff arrived while i was at work & he caught my wife returning from the school run, said he was from the council & just followed her into my house. When i queried the council for no paperwork being sent, they just said it had been sent & basicly that was good enough for them.

[outlawla]

Brassnecked,

 

I have seen with my own eyes today, a summons document with the return address on the envelope being that of the council concerned with the signature of the Clerk to the Justices somehow doctored onto the document; it states on the summons not to contact the court but the council.

 

Further to this the council concerned have stated on a FOI reply that a proportion of funds generated through summons fees is to "cover monies paid to Her Majesty's Court Services for the use of their facilities". Maybe we could hire the courts and pretend to be Magistrates? I don't think we'd get away with it like the councils.

 

I've found the following legislation that more or less says that councils should not be pretending to be Magistrates:

 

 

Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980

Part II

Civil Jurisdiction and Procedure

 

Jurisdiction to issue summons and deal with complaints

 

 

51 Issue of summons on complaint

Where a complaint relating to a person is made to a justice of the peace, the justice of the peace may issue a summons to the person requiring him to appear before a magistrates' court to answer to the complaint.

 

 

 

The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

PART VI

Enforcement

 

Application for liability order

 

34. —

 

(2) The application is to be instituted by making complaint to a justice of the peace, and requesting the issue of a summons directed to that person to appear before the court to show why he has not paid the sum which is outstanding.

 

 

 

 

Administration of Justice Act 1970

Part V

Miscellaneous Provisions

 

 

40 Punishment for unlawful harassment of debtors.

 

(1) A person commits an offence if, with the object of coercing another person to pay money claimed from the other as a debt due under a contract, he—

 

(d) utters a document falsely represented by him to have some official character or purporting to have some official character which he knows it has not.

[brassnecked]

Wonder what tomtubby would make of this? It is looking like the councils are perverting the course of justice, by removing access to due process in the magistrates court. It is worse than the rubber stamping of CCJs for utilities at the Northampton Bulk Clearing centre

[Vicki202]

Hi mike can you please tell us if this bailiff levied on goods and if so what she levied on and if it was owned by yourself ?

[Mike295]

Hi mike can you please tell us if this bailiff levied on goods and if so what she levied on and if it was owned by yourself ?

 

The bailiff levied on a 40" flat screen tv, a dvd player, a leather sofa (on finance), 4 gas lift bar stools & a washing machine. All belong to me apart from the sofa which is on finance in my wifes name.

[brassnecked]

The bailiff levied on a 40" flat screen tv, a dvd player, a leather sofa (on finance), 4 gas lift bar stools & a washing machine. All belong to me apart from the sofa which is on finance in my wifes name.

 

Looks like the levy may have been invalid, due to the sofa on finance, which wasn't yours

[hallowitch]

Looks like the levy may have been invalid, due to the sofa on finance, which wasn't yours

 

just because there is an item or 2 (in this case leather sofa (on finance), washing machine.) on the levy that shouldn't be there is does not automatically make the levy invalid

 

PS I'm not saying this levy is lawful

[brassnecked]

Yes there would be other things that may invalidate, The value of the goods at auction needs to be sufficient to pay all the fees, and cost of removal and auction, plus a proportion of the debt, is that the case? and the other items besides the invalid items may not have been of sufficient value to satisfy that test As OP has paid the liability and the fees there is now 6 years to check the fees and ask for any wrongful fees to be refunded?

Edited May 15, 2011 by brassnecked