LLC Business Debt, HCEO & Residential Address

[adridude]

Hi,

 

I ran a briefcase company for some time now which slowly fell into debt. THe debt reached about £3000 and as a responsible director I stopped trading as I didn't want this to go any further.

 

Having not traded for quite a few months and having been takend to court (the lImited Company), it how has a CCJ. Since then I had a HCEO appear at my residential address? (Which is nothing more than a postal address for the company) with a letter stating that they wanted to gain entry.

 

Luckily enough, she was a nice woman, and we stood outside speaking in the rain and she made it clear that she could not gain entry anyway as it was a residential address.

 

Anyway, I explained to her that I personally was unable to afford liquidation formalities as these will dig the company a few more 1000 into the red so I explained this to her and she was on her way.

 

The next day I contacted herfirm and explained this to them too, they acknowledged this and left it there.

 

Yesterday whilst I was out, I received ANOTHER unstamped letter (hand delivered I assume) stating that I have 48 hours to pay or they will FORCE (in red) entry and retrieve salvageable property.

 

Can they do this?

 

1) None of the goods in my house belong to the company at all?

2) It's a Limited Liability Company registerd at my accountants, not here at home, this is a POSTAL address

3) There are no assets which belong to the company apart from a rickety old printer I have in the cupboard somewhere and a bit of stationary?

 

This was my reply to them today (via email as requested in the letter):

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Despite this having been told on several occasions that XXXXX (UK) Limited is NOT in a position to pay the outstanding sum, nor does it have any assets of any value, you persist on contacting me and leaving letters which threaten you breaking into my private residence to remove property which DOES NOT BELONG TO XXX (UK) Limited.

 

Furthermore, I have explained to yourself on the telephone (12th November 2012 @09:14am) the exact position. Furthermore, I have also explained this to Mrs. A. HCEO which appeared at my door recently.

 

Please advise LImited that I have already mentioned to you that the best route to resolve this matter would be to liquidate XXXXXX (UK) Limited. I would do this myself, but as this is an extremely expensive procedure this is not possible in the slightest by my own action.

 

This email will be confirmed as received tomorrow by telephone, Mrs A HCEO will be contacted too to ensure that no unlawful attempts to break into my private residence are made.

 

If there are ANY issues regarding the above, please contact me on my private number: 123412341234. This telephone number, nor email address, nor email addresses CC's into this email are to be passed to any third parties outside of the HCEGROUP. Email addresses mentioned above in the CC of the message are not to be contacted under any circumstances. ALl correspondence is to be made either in writing via post or via [email protected].

 

I thank you for your understanding and I hope that this email makes my position clear, and hope that this can be amicably resolved in the most peaceful manner possible.

 

Regards,

 

adridude

 

What else can I do? It's coming up christmas and the last thing I need is to go away to my family worrying that some 'above the law' company will break in and clear my house of everything :-/

 

THanks

 

adridude

[i hate bailiffs]

You are right they cant force entry to a residential address

 

What they are meaning about forcing entry will be shed/outbuildings not attached to your house

 

Any cars you have will be vulnerable

 

NO BAILIFF IS NICE:-x

 

Did you know about the CCJ before now?

[adridude]

1) No, There aren't any out buildings, its all contained in my flat/house

2) No cars outside are mine, the only one is a car in my fathers name which I use as a second driver. He has the vdocs in his name

3) Ye si did know about the CCj and have told both the solicitor of the supplier (to which my business owes money) and to the attending (intial) bailiff that the company coud not fit the bill, that it was no longer trading and that the supplier shoud seek liquidation proceedings (windup petition/order) - All of which was ignored by all parties.

 

Can I perform a citizens arrest if they try gain access my property? Bare in mind that this property has NOTHING to do with the company at all. The only link is:

 

1) The director lives here

2) The company 'Company House' documents are held here, so I had to list this address as a legal requirement as the current address of the company papers.

 

The companies work was ALL done at client premises, no stock was every held, nor were any of the repairs which were done, they were sent to a 3rd party.

[i hate bailiffs]

bailiffs lie they will say whatever they like to get money

 

keep property secure as they could gain entry through a open window

 

deny bailiffs a levy don't let them in

 

eventually they will return it to the court as a Nulla bona

 

Take extra care of the car they tend to ask questions later and will take it if they can

[brassnecked]

This is a HCEO not a bailiff so must have a writ of fi-fa from the High Court the debt being for over £600, so they are unlikely to go for a nulla bona, they will do everything they can to make you inherit the debt, and may well intimate at some stage you are personally liable. Which HCEO is this?, Hang in there as wonkeydonkey and ploddertom may well be the best bet with this one, and no doubt will be alonf soon

[i hate bailiffs]

This is a HCEO not a bailiff so must have a writ of fi-fa from the High Court the debt being for over £600, so they are unlikely to go for a nulla bona, they will do everything they can to make you inherit the debt, and may well intimate at some stage you are personally liable. Which HCEO is this?, Hang in there as wonkeydonkey and ploddertom may well be the best bet with this one, and no doubt will be alonf soon

 

That may be so but they are not able to force entry to a residential property

 

there never has been blood in a stone with no levy they can do not a lot

 

being a Limited Liability Company the OP is fairly safe

[ploddertom]

There's not much I can add to what Ihatebailiffs has said. The terms of the Writ that the HCEO has "commands" him to seize the goods of the debtor and sell them to satisfy the debt. As the debtor is a Ltd Co and has no assets then there is not much they can do. However the HCEO is allowed to call at an address that he thinks may have goods - the reason they have been to your home. It will eventually fizzle out and be returned to the Claimant. There are other steps you could take but to be honest if the Co has no assets then no need to put yourself out.

[brassnecked]

That may be so but they are not able to force entry to a residential property

 

there never has been blood in a stone with no levy they can do not a lot

 

being a Limited Liability Company the OP is fairly safe

Agreed the HCEO will probably be a nuisance for a while, but as the debt is for a Ltd company with no assets, once they get the message that the OP knows the HCEO is powerless they will move on.

[adridude]

The writ was to "My Company (UK) Limited" not in my name.

 

The registered address is my accountants address and the 'trade address' is my home as this is where I sat with my personal laptop and personal mobile taking calls.

 

With a writ, can they gain access? As I said, she confirmed that she cannot enter my property as it's a residential property, but none the less, the letter states that she came here with carriers to remove goods.

[ploddertom]

She may attend with all Hannibal's elephants if she so desires. The simple fact is she may not force an entry unless she has entered peacefully previously. The paperwork they all use is written in such way to think they have more powers than my granddaughter has.

[adridude]

lol @ Hannibals elephants! Nice blast from my distant past history lessons there!

 

I'm not worried now, when she last came I pointed out my shiny new CCTV camera (with microphone) above the door smiling at her. SHe soon backed down and said 'I'mm return the file to the office and advise that the claimant take further legal action'.

 

Incase anyone else finds such a thing handy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Link-DCS-930-Wireless-Network-Camera/dp/tech-data/B005496WPO/ref=de_a_smtd

 

I got it there for £30 odd, took me 5 mins to install. The hardest bit was the drilling of holes and laying of power cables, but the actual tech side of setting it up is simple

[HCEOs]

The key point here is assets. If there are none belonging to the company then there is nothing to seize.

 

It would be sensible to write to the HCEO stating clearly the facts. This combined with their own officer's report would likely mean they return the debt unpaid (nulla bona).

[adridude]

Its been cleared up and the 'elephants' have left The acknowledged that there's no assets and have passed the dossier back to their client (my suppliers solicitor). I'm just waiting for a return on answers as I've sent them an email informing them that I'm willing to have the company struck off. On top of that I informed them that its a cheaper option to shoving the company through an insolvency hearing. I'll know more when they reply.

 

I have a funny feeling that this is all going to kick off just before Christmas just to make my merry life complex lol....

 

On that note, I'm going away to my parents between the 20th and 3rd January. Is there anything I can put in place to stop action during my religious period?

 

Cheers

 

A

[ploddertom]

They may well send it back to the Claimant if they cannot action the Writ, this will cost them a fee for doing so. However there is nothing to stop them trying another HCEO Co. and it all starts again.

[HCEOs]

You could apply for a Stay of Execution at the District Registry/High Court. There is a fee for this though.

[ploddertom]

You could apply for a Stay of Execution at the District Registry/High Court. There is a fee for this though.

 

That is normally what I would say as well, but in this instance they are attending a residential address for a Ltd Co & there are no assets availablewhich has now been established. If the Claimant carries on by using the services of another HCEO then in my opinion they are just using "sour grapes" as an excuse.

[adridude]

Could it be deemed as harassment if they use HCEO after HCEO or is there a limit to this action?

 

Furthermore, I've written to them, sent them copies of the companies books to show good faith in that there are no assets nor transactions..

[ploddertom]

Could it be deemed as harassment if they use HCEO after HCEO or is there a limit to this action? If they had any sense they would ask for a history of the debt - what has or has not been done.

 

Furthermore, I've written to them, sent them copies of the companies books to show good faith in that there are no assets nor transactions..

 

You are in the hands of the Claimants solicitors, depends on how peeved they may feel but you have to remember they take their instructions from their client who remains ultimately responsible. I don't doubt this has probably been written off through their books anyway. I think you have done more than enough to prove your Ltd Co has nothing left.

[adridude]

Thanks, I think this has been put to bed. As an act of good will I'll apply to get the company struck off myself. I believe this is the correct thing for a Director to do in this situation.

 

your helps and advice was much appreciated!