Help ! visit from 2 seperate bailiffs for community fees owed in Spain

[ruby1]

Hi help needed please!

 

I have received a visit from the Sheriffs Office (baiilff company) regarding community fees owing on a property in Spain (currently going through repossession).I have never refused to pay the fees and was actually making arrangements to clear the fees owed even though I was struggling financially, and started paying to a company called Community Fees (oddly enough), who are looking after the debt on behalf of the community in Spain.

In March I was shocked to find that I had been sent court papers claiming that Kettlewell Solutions (another name for Community Fees) were persuing my debt through the court. I immediately contacted Kettlewell to ask why I had received these papers as I had started to pay, to which I was told that the proceedings would be halted as I was, a) paying up, and b) disputing the amount. Kettlewell told me that they would find out exactly what was owed so that I could budget for this ( turned out to be around 600 euros ).

 

On hearing this, I didnt respond to the court papers within the timescales (30 days I think to defend), as they had assured me that the court proceedings would be halted. It was then again to my surprise that my wife should call me at work to say that a man from a company called The Bailiff Company (another original name!) had called to the house and asked her to give me a letter. In the letter it said that I had received a CCJ and now had to pay to them and not Kettlewell (Community Fees). I called this guy and explained my situation and informed him that if I did have a CCJ then I would lose my job in the finance industry, to which he told me to call Kettlewell, which I did.

 

I spoke to the MD of Kettlewell and again explained my situation, and he said that looking at my records that I should never have been issued with the court papers and he would get the CCJ set aside. He sent me a document to sign saying that this summons was issued in error and that both parties were going to settle this between us and asked for the judgement to be set aside, he also told me that as soon as it was returned to him he would get it to the courts straight away, so all was well...so I thought.

 

Next thing to happen, a company called The Sheriffs Office, in my hallway, just let themselves in as the door was not locked!! This time I was told that I had a CCJ against me via the high court and I had to pay them £2000 or they would begin to remove my stuff! I explained that this case was being set aside and Kettlewell could confirm this. They said that this warrant was instigated by the community's solicitor, but once I had shown them the document signed by myself and Kettlewell agreeing to get the judgement set aside, they were confused! They e-mailed the doc to their head office and were told to walk away, to which they did. I called Kettlewell and told him what had happened and he said that too many people were getting involved in the recovery of the debts for the community fees and said that he would sort out my case with the solicitor. I asked him for an update on the CCJ and he said that he had not heard as yet but would let me know when he does.

 

I called the solicitor in Spain and asked him why I had been visited by another bailiff company, turns out that he did not know about my dealings with Kettlewell as they had not informed him! He agreed to call off the Sheriffs Office on the terms of me paying up, and this being agreed by the community. I e-mailed him all of the correspondence that had happened and he said that he would forward this on to the community and then let me know their response. I called him today and he still had not heard from the community as yet, I told him that my fees are nearly payed up, then he said that I would also have court costs AND the bailiffs fees to pay!! Surely this cant be true, if so then anybody in Spain could send out the bailiffs to people in the UK and then charge them for their time!

 

I have paid for a search to find the registration of this CCJ but cant find it anywhere, does anyone know where I could find it? Also does anybody know of a good solicitor who could help as I dont want a return visit from the bailiffs, I certainly dont trust these people to be telling me the truth

PLEASE HELP!

Edited July 17, 2012 by ruby1

[ploddertom]

Where was the CCJ awarded?

 

Can I also suggest you edit your original post into paragraphs - it is very hard to read as it is.

[ruby1]

Hi ploddertom

thanks for your reply,

sorry about the punctuation, I'm not sure where the CCJ was awarded but the court documents came from York county court, I have only been told by the bailiffs and Community Fees that the CCJ was awarded

 

thanks

[ploddertom]

Do you have the Judgment & is it stamped York. I'm not an expert on whether the Court actually has jurisdiction or not but will ask someone to have a look for you.

 

If the Judgment is recent it may not show on the CRA files yet but instead you should have look at Registry Trust to see if they have a record. To deal with the HCEO you need to apply for a Stay of Execution which if granted will halt all further enforcement & fees. This is applied for on Form N244 from HMCTS website, the cost of the application is £80 but if on certain Benefits or low wage may be waived, if so you will also need Form EX160a. The grounds for applying for the Stay are:

a - you cannot afford the fees charged

b - there is confusion from the Claimant about the:

i - issue of proceedings

ii - they appear to have no knowledge of applying for a Writ of Fi Fa

iii - they have offered to apply to set aside this Judgment

[cerberusalert]

Have you checked online with http://www.trustonline.org.uk/ to see if this CCJ actually exists? If it doesn't they cannot take any enforcement action.

[ruby1]

Hi ploddertom,

the document from the court was a European Order For Payment, the document signed by myself and Kettlewell was a consent order which states that the judgement against myself dated 22March 2012, is to be set aside, this was dated 13th April 2012. I searched the Registry Trust on 30th May and it came back as nothing registered.

 

I have not received anything more from the courts and the Sheriffs Office bailiffs did not leave me with any documentation

 

thanks

[ruby1]

Hi cerberusalert,

I did search the Registry Trust in May ( using the same link as you posted ), will I need to do this again because of the date?

thanks

[cerberusalert]

I'm afraid they can enforce an EPO http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part78 due to reciprocal agreements between EU member states. They would have first obtained the judgment in Spain & then asked a UK court for permission to enforce.

[ruby1]

does this mean that the CCJ is in force in Spain, the UK or both?

[cerberusalert]

There shouldn't be any record of this on your UK credit file as it's not a UK debt, however it will appear on your Spanish credit file.

[cerberusalert]

does this mean that the CCJ is in force in Spain, the UK or both?

 

They would have obtained the judgment in Spain & then applied for a EPO here, so it can be enforced in both states of the EU.

[ruby1]

this is a little worrying as my job wont allow for any CCJ's registered against me, there has been a consent order drawn up by Kettlewell (Community Fees) to have this removed but I dont know how valid this is, I also have a letter of apology from them stating that this judgement was obtained erroneously, do you have any idea's of what action I could take?

many thanks to all

[cerberusalert]

If the judgment was obtained in Spain then you would have to apply to a Spanish court to have it set aside, there is nothing a UK court can do about it.

 

Does your employer check your Spanish credit rating? As I said it should not appear on your UK credit file as it's not a UK debt.

[ruby1]

I dont think they would check my Spanish file but I'm not sure

[cerberusalert]

Unless you do work in Spain I can't see them having any reason to.

 

there has been a consent order drawn up by Kettlewell (Community Fees) to have this removed but I dont know how valid this is, I also have a letter of apology from them stating that this judgement was obtained erroneously

As it is their error they should be contacting the Spanish court, but you would need to as well to ensure the judgment has been set aside.

 

Once this is done it will be removed from your Spanish credit file.

[ruby1]

the debt in question is almost payed now and we have never refused to pay them, it seems that cross wires and bad communication has resulted in this judgement being registered against me, I suppose that to have it removed through the Spanish courts would be a long painful process, costly too, I still dont know how much I will be charged for the court costs etc.

[cerberusalert]

I can't comment on the cost in Spain but in the UK an application would cost £90 if it had happened here.

[ruby1]

thanks very much for your help, I guess I can try to get some answers from Kettlewell and the community solicitor as to how they will assist in this, seeing as this was an "erroneous error" as it was put! I am more worried about another bailiff visit more than the judgement itself, the communication is shocking to say the least so I wont rule that out at the moment.

 

thanks again to all for your help

[ploddertom]

Please note that until you apply for a Stay of Execution or the other side instruct the HCEO to desist he will keep attending as that is what the Writ commands him to do.