Enforcing a CCJ against my landlord

[tomtubby]

It may also be possible that the county court bailiffs have received guidance from HMRC informing them that changes to the Freedom Bill on 1st October no longer allows them to clamp a car This is of course incorrect, but nonetheless it is possible.

It is for this reason that I have advised the op that additional information is required such as; roughly what would be the auction value of the car?

 

I would also suggest that an email is sent to the Bailiff Manager to ask that he provide precise reasons as to why the court bailiff is unable to seize the vehicle and what statutory regulation he is relying upon.

 

PS: I have noticed that the op has started another thread on this subject

[seanamarts]

PS: I have noticed that the op has started another thread on this subject

 

Now been merged TT

[old bill]

Bailiff Managers at county courts no longer exist and have been replaced by Enforcement Managers who are responsible for not only County Court Bailiffs, but Warrant Officers and certificated bailiffs under contract to HMCTS. They are normally based at magistrates courts and, in my experience, are helpful.

[id330uk]

As I have suggested in post 35, it really would be useful for you to speak with the bailiff on the phone.

 

It may also be the case that the bailiff does not consider that the car should be seized as it is not worth very much? How much roughly is the car worth?

 

This morning I phoned to the bailiff who told me that last week he has made a request to the DVLA for information concerning the ownership of this car. He told me that he is waiting a reply before seizing the car. He told me also that this will take about three weeks. He told me also that he has to do other kinds of check for example HP check etc... and that this will take also sometime. He confirms me again that he cannot clamp the car but he says that he can seize it

 

I would like to know how long it take to do DVLA check and others kind of checks about this car because the issue is whether or not the bailiff is telling me the true

[tomtubby]

All County Courts around the country use a company called Shercar Ltd to access DVLA records and the response should be almost instant. I would suggest that you call the Bailiff Manager again to advise him that you are aware of their contract with Shercar Ltd and ask him WHY there should be a 3 week delay.

 

Also, PLEASE can you address the query regarding the approx auction value of the car.

[id330uk]

Tomorrow morning I will try to speak again by phone with the bailiff and I will speak him about Shercar Ltd.

 

Concerning the value of the car at auction I have looked in the DVLA and according to the age of the car even if it is sold at a fraction of his value at auction this should cover the debt.

 

I would like to know if I pay the necessary fee and I sent a copy of the CCJ to the DVLA and I fill the appropriate form maybe the DVLA can confirm to me the ownership of the car. This could be maybe a solution

[seanamarts]

Concerning the value of the car at auction I have looked in the DVLA and according to the age of the car even if it is sold at a fraction of his value at auction this should cover the debt.

 

Its not just the debt that would need covering, but all fee's and charges, auction and storage cost's. If you can tell us the year and make of the car would be a great help.

 

How much is owing to you?

[id330uk]

Its not just the debt that would need covering, but all fee's and charges, auction and storage cost's. If you can tell us the year and make of the car would be a great help.

 

How much is owing to you?

 

I cannot give too much information because the identities can be revealed.

[id330uk]

I made an application for an order to obtain information and for a warrant of execution against my debtor.

 

The Bailiff knocked at the door of this debtor a first time and he opened the door and the bailiff served upon him a N39 form asking the debtor to attend a hearing for questioning about his finances. I think that the debtor was taken by surprise and was not expecting the bailiff to come and it is why he opened his door the first time the bailiff came. However the bailiff told me that on this occasion the debtor refused him entry of his house preventing him from executing the warrant of execution.

 

The bailiff has knocked at the door of this debtor more times but he has never opened his door again because the effect of surprise is gone and the debtor wants to prevent the enforcement of the CCJ that I have against him

 

I have heard that when the bailiff enters in the house of a debtor a first time he has the right of re-entry. Hence I would like to know if when the bailiff put his hand inside the house of this debtor to give him the N39 form if this is not equivalent of him having entered in the house of the debtor which would give me him the right to re-enter this house to execute the warrant of execution

 

The debtor has failed to attend the hearing for questioning even though the N39 form was served upon him. If the court issue a suspended committal order against this debtor and the debtor carries on refusing to open his door to prevent the bailiff from serving upon him the N79A form I would like to know if the bailiff has the right to force his way in the debtor's house to serve upon him the N79A form concerning the suspended committal order.

 

I would like to know also what is the law which deals with the bailiff’s right of entry of a debtor’s house to execute a warrant of execution and to serve a N79A form

[brassnecked]

The bailiff would have to actually step inside, physically, a mere foot in the door, or a note handed over the threshold without physical entry of the bailiff's whole body into the premises is NOT peaceful entry imho.

 

check this link for some info

 

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/freedomofinformation/technical/TechnicalManual/Ch13-24/Chapter13/part7/part_7.htm

 

As to forcing entry to arrest, well if it is county court, others will know more, but if there was a warrant for contempt, or something that involved a debtor being taken into custody, the bailiff should for their protection, and the protection of the Queen's peace bring a police officer with them imho.

[seanamarts]

Placing one hand into the property is not classed as a peaceful entry.

[wonkeydonkey]

Seanamarts has answered your question which of course is correct. You can make a further application to the Court to have suspension of committal removed, he will then be arrested and held in custody pending a further hearing to give his explanations?

 

Alternatively if you are pretty sure there are assets houseowner,car owner,business owner etc you could (if over £600) transfer the ccj up to the High Court for a writ of Fi'fa' and use HCEO to attend.? if you choose this route please be careful and remember, a glossy cover doesn't mean the magazine inside is worth reading.

 

WD

[id330uk]

What I would like to know is: if the court issues a suspended committal order against the debtor because he did not attend the hearing for questioning even though he was served with a N39A form and the debtor refuses several times to open his door to the bailiff to prevent him from serving upon him the N79A form containing the suspended committal order would the bailiff have the duty with the help of the Police if necessary to force his way into the debtor’s house to serve upon him the N79A form or to arrest him.

 

I would like to know if this happened would the bailiff have the right to take advantage that he is in the debtor’s house to execute thewarrant of execution.

 

I have already contacted a firm of High Court Enforcement Officers which asked me to pay upfront £140 on addition to the usual £60 fee. I would like to know also if this is right.

[ploddertom]

I think you trying to confuse yourself. Once you have obtained a CCJ against someone it is no guarantee you are going to get paid. There are various ways of enforcing against your debtor but again if he refuses to play ball there is not much you can do. Put quite simply he knows what you are trying to do and if the N79 cannot be served personally then there is no right of forced entry to do so.

 

Even if everything goes smoothly do you know if he has the means to pay? Does he have any assets that may be seized & sold? The chances are the fee the HCEO is looking for will be correct as you would be asking them to serve the Forms.

[id330uk]

If the debtor evades service of the N79A form containing the suspended committal order maybe the solution is to make an application to the Court for permission to do alternative service.

 

I thought that the HCOE charges to the debtor a percentage of the good taken and in case of failure to execute the warrant the only thing that the creditor can loses is the £60 fee.

 

I would like to know if I am right or wrong concerning these two points.

[wonkeydonkey]

id330uk said:

What I would like to know is:

 

if the court issues a suspended committal order against the debtor because he did not attend the hearing for questioning even though he was served with a N39A form and the debtor refuses several times to open his door to the bailiff to prevent him from serving upon him the N79A form containing the suspended committal order would the bailiff have the duty with the help of the Police if necessary to force his way into the debtor’s house to serve upon him the N79A form or to arrest him.  - If the committal suspension is removed then it will be the police who arrest him with the appropriate warrant in place.

 

I would like to know if this happened would the bailiff have the right to take advantage that he is in the debtor’s house to execute the warrant of execution. - The bailiff will not usually be in attendance during the arrest process.

 

I have already contacted a firm of High Court Enforcement Officers which asked me to pay upfront £140 on addition to the usual £60 fee. I would like to know also if this is right.

Unusual to be asked for money upfront other than the transfer fee but like I said before the glossy cover doesn't make it a good read..

 

I have personally used a good HCE company in the past and have had a positive result ..I have also been on the other end with glossy HCE company who made a complete b*lls up of it all (thankfully) they are known to have a well worn path to the HC front door in order to get protection from being sued due to their incompetence!!!

 

WD

[id330uk]

Pleace can you tell me what is this very good HCE company that you have used. I would like maybe to use it me too.

[ploddertom]

If the debtor evades service of the N79A form containing the suspended committal order maybe the solution is to make an application to the Court for permission to do alternative service. Are you sure this allowed as everything I have seen says it must be put into his hand

I thought that the HCOE charges to the debtor a percentage of the good taken and in case of failure to execute the warrant the only thing that the creditor can loses is the £60 fee. That is true - if there are goods to remove & sell, the initial Transfer Up fee is £60 + abortive fee is also £60 +VAT if applicable, so the most you would be held accountable for is £120 +£12 VAT. I assumed the £140 you referred to was to ask the HCEO to serve the N79A.

 

I would like to know if I am right or wrong concerning these two points.

 

PT

[wonkeydonkey]

Pleace can you tell me what is this very good HCE company that you have used. I would like maybe to use it me too.

I cannot put that info on forum but have sent you a PM.

 

WD

[id330uk]

I would like to be sure that I have understood how the transfer of the file to the High Court Enforcement Officer takes place

 

1. I choose a High Court Enforcement Officer. I do not know if it is better to choose a national or local one.

 

2. I bring a fully completed N293a form to the County Court to get a'certificate of judgment'. I would like to know how long this will take and if this could be done the same day or the county court will send me the'certificate of judgment' by post. I think that there is no fee to pay at this stage.

 

3. I bring to the Registry of the High Court the 'certificate of judgment' with a Form 53 - Writ of FiFa that I have to complete myself and the High Court issues a writ of execution. I think that we have to pay at this stage a £60 transfer fee. I would like to bring myself these documents to the High Court to apply for a remission fee. I would like to know how long this would take and if this will take place the same day or the High Court will send me the writ of execution by post

 

4. I sent the writ of execution to the High Court Enforcement Officer and I will have to pay a £60 plus VAT abortive fee if the HCEO fails to execute the writ of execution. I would like to know if I can get a remission fee for the abortive fee if I am on benefit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ploddertom]

You could of course just ask the HCEO you choose to do the whole job for you.

[id330uk]

But in this case I will not be able to claim remission fee for the £60 transfer fee because I am on benefit. In case there is remission fee available.

 

Moreover if I go myself to the county court to bring the N293A form and I go to the Registry of the High Court to bring the certificate of judgment and the Form 53 - Writ of FiFa this could take less time but on condition I know how to do this properly it is why I have posted my previous message

 

seanamarts said:

Im afraid this information is wrong. If the bailiff has checked with DVLA that the car belongs to the debtor, then he can and will seize it.

 

(Sofa's should not be seized if there are no other forms of adequate seating)

 

I would like to know how a bailiff can seize a car if he cannot have access to it because it is in a garage or not parked nearby. I would like to know if the bailiff has to ask for an order from the court and what kind of order. I would like to know if the bailiff has to send this order to the DVLA so that to prevent the passing of the ownership of the car to someone else

[josephbloggs]

Has to be able to touch it to levy on any goods, so for example if there is a six foot fence at the side of the property where behind is your vehicle, they would have to go through or climb over to be able to levy it.

There is nothing that the bailiff can do to stop you from changing the registered keeper whilst the vehicle is seized however if its deemed that you have done it on purpose to "defeat distress" they may remove it irrespective, sending a copy to the dvla of the levy would be a breach of data protection by the bailiffs if they did that and they dont do this anyway.

The dvla will only get involved with bailiffs for a yes/no answer for parking fines only and given the name address vrm they will say yes it is still or no its not registered to person who obtained fine.

Any person or bailiff can not just ask the dvla for ownership details, the police can but not bailiffs, this is why there should be reasonable doubt before removal by a bailiff.

[id330uk]

It is me the creditor.

 

I would like to know what happenned if the debtor removes parts of the car or damages the car once it has been clamped by the bailiff. I would like to know if the bailiff will put a seals on the doors of the cars and the bonnet of the car to prevent the debtor from doing this.

 

I would like to know also if the bailiff can check who was the previous owner of a car and if the ownership of the car has been changed after the County County Judgement was made against the debtor and in his case the bailiff can claim that the debtor change the ownership of the car to defeat distress.

[seanamarts]

Im afraid that cars,etc are easy targets for a bailiff to get at.

 

It dosnt matter where the car is parked, however if it is in a locked garage and the garage was attached to the debtors home then he cannot break in and levy on the car. As said previously the bailiff has to be able to touch the items he has levied on.

 

He can break into out houses, sheds and garages not affixed to a property. It is often up to the creditor if items are taken, usually a levy is enough to get people to pay.

 

You cannot change ownership of the car, once the car has been levied, this becomes property of the bailiff until the debt has been satisfied in one way or another. Doing so may complicate matters more so and the car will be taken anyway.