Sheriffs Men Ignore Stay

[JayEffGee2013]

I have been involved in a long running legal battle and ended up the loser with a judgement of £42,000 made against me.

 

This was to do with a business partnership that started in 2003 and was dissolved in 2008 with much acrimony.

 

The other side then made claim against me on an address where they knew I was no longer living (as they owned it ) and obtained a judgement by default in 2008.

 

I knew nothing about this judgement until September of 2012 when out of the blue a Debt Collecting agency wrote to me demanding payment of £41,000.

 

The other side had waited for FOUR years before pressing their claim to allow the statutory interest on the original judgement to accrue to a nice healthy sum.

 

I lodged an appeal for set aside but lost on a technicality in January of this year but the judge ordered a stay of 2 months before enforcement could begin.

 

It may as well have been £42 million as I am unemployed and have no assets whatsoever other than talents in the I.T. area.

 

However my age is against me in that I am 64 years old and trying to find a job is not too easy although I have never stopped trying to find work.

 

The two months passed and enter stage left The Sheriffs Posse aka The Sheriffs Office of the Croydon Corral with a visit to my very small flat on the 9th of April.

 

An attempt was made to levy on goods for the now increased sum of £46,700 but as nobody was at home a form 55 was simply pushed through the letter box.

 

I telephoned the HCEO on the 9th of April and he simply laughed at the thought of being able to recover anything at all from where I am living and said the writ would be returned.

 

No Walking Possession Agreement was signed nor any list of goods made - the endorsement was for 'all goods up to the value of the debt'.

 

This would not appear to me to be a valid levy on goods but I stand to be corrected on this.

 

I would not in any event have allowed the HCEO peaceable entry to my property had I been at home nor will I in the future.

 

I have no goods, no money and no other assets and have beeen in receipt of benefits for the last four years.

 

I made an application for stay of the writ of fifa using form N244 and this was granted by the District Judge with a 15minute hearing date scheduled for next week (W/C 29th April).

 

Accompanying this was an application on form N245 giving an offer to pay - basically a token monthly payment which is now up and running with the other side and awaiting their response since the 18th of April.

 

So, it would appear that I have two stays of execution in effect and under court process and a little relief from the nightmare world and stresses of the Alice in Wonderland logic of HCEA enforcement.

 

Not acording to The Sheriffs Office who despite my co-operation with them say that 'they will proceed anyway' and 'unless the debt is settled in full the HCEO will reattend with the van to remove your goods and chattels' on Monday 29th or Tuesday the 30th of April.

 

I have kept them fully informed and given them copies of all of the courts orders as well as my benefit claim documents to prove I am unemployed but this does not seem to matter to them.

 

They are above the law it would appear and spurred on by the claimant who is utterly malicious they are doing their best to harass me.

 

What do the learned members of the CAG forums think of this ?. Should I apply to the court on Monday for an injunction with form N16 to stop their enforcement attempts ?.

 

Or perhaps I should ask the Judge who issued the original orders to clarify whether or not they can disregard his orders.

 

Can The Sheriffs Men simply ignore the Courts orders and do what they wish - if so what is the point of having a due process of law ?.

 

This I believe is a classsic example of the utter mess that this area of enforcement has fallen into. It truly is the Wild West.

 

I am asking my M.P. to complain to the Justice Minister as this is symptomatic of the treatment of vulnerable people usually the least able to defend themselves by these HCEA's .

 

Your thoughts and advice would be gratefully received.

 

With thanks and regards

[brassnecked]

If they ignore a stay, are they not potentially in contempt of court? not that a small matter that could send them to jail would get in the way of levying £100 worth of goods for £42k debt, as they are the Sheriffs.

 

WD and PT are the ones to advise here, along with some input from HCEOs who would be able to put the enforcer perspective into the mix.

[wonkeydonkey]

Firstly it is a fact that 'blood cannot be extracted from a stone' so, please try not to worry over this.

 

The HCEO is allowed to attend to enforce the writ of fi'fa' right up until the time the Judge grants a stay of execution and stamps his order but, it is unusual for them not to pull back once they have evidence the application is pending. If as you say they have not obtained entry to your home to carry out a levy and as you have not been left any notice to a levy having been made on a vehicle, then the bottom line is ...there is very little they can do.

 

I need to ask a few personal details to clarify a few things before I can help you move this forward so I have sent you a PM.

 

WD

[brassnecked]

The cavalry are here

[JayEffGee2013]

Many thanks WD for your interest and response - I have given the details you requested plus copies of the orders from the judge.

[JayEffGee2013]

Thanks for your interest and reply 'brassnecked'. Its good to be rescued by the cavalry at any time !!

[tomtubby]

I am sorry to hear of your problem.

 

The legal position is that until such time as a "stay" has actually been agreed, a High Court enforcement officer may indeed continue with enforcement.

 

I would however "suspect" that the HCEO knows that there is little or no chance of being able to pursue the debt and the "threat" by him to continue with enforcement is just that.....a threat.

 

As for applying for an injunction...frankly.....I would not waste the time or money. It would seem from your post that you have limited assets and therefore such an application is not appropriate.

 

Wonkey donkey is by far the most experienced person regarding High Court enforcement and you are almost certainly now in good hands.

[JayEffGee2013]

Thanks for your reply - my original post was poorly crafted in that there is an interim 'stay' that was granted by the judge on the 22nd of April - that is why I found it all the more shocking the HCEA were utterly indifferent and said they would proceed anyway.

 

Is it correct that if the HCEO does illegal actions to the detriment of the debtor that the original claimant becomes 'vicariously responsible' for the HCEO actions and is open to a damages claim for distress caused?.

 

I am grateful for all of the help that has been offered and hope to reciprocate at some stage - unfortunately not with money but helping the CAG in other areas where I have skills.

[ploddertom]

I would suspect that as an interim Stay was only granted a few days ago that it had not yet filtered down through the "ranks". I assume WD will have told you to make sure the Sheriff's Office are kept up to date at all stages and imagine they are now aware. The Form 55 does indeed look a little scary at first but in reality means nothing until such time as the Enforcement Officer makes a levy on your goods either by gaining entry to your home or on items outside.

[JayEffGee2013]

Many thanks for your reply to my posting.

 

The importance of corresponding promptly with The Sheriffs Men has always been my priority and I have a number of emails and acknowledgements as my evidence of this from the 9th of April.

 

The Sheriffs Men knew about the stay of enforcement application and form N245 application as they themselves acknowledged that they had been notified by the High Court and the County Court of the two actions now being in process.

 

On Monday 22nd April at 12.30 an interim stay of enforcement was granted by a High Court Judge and 10 minutes after that the Sheriffs Office were informed by an email from myself quoting the judges name and a fax was sent from the court - despite that they still continued with their threats to attend with the van and illegally remove goods on which they clearly had no levy over as well as the fact they were also ignoring the courts stay of execution.

 

My request for a breakdown of the certificated fees of £4,200 that they proposed to charge me has not been replied to and this is another area which I am really concerned about.

 

All of this wilful illegal action has caused me considerable distress,fear and upset.

 

What could any of the people involved in this hope to gain by such malevolent treatment when there was never any hope of their having realised anything of value from this enforcement ?.

 

I am grateful for W.D and your observations and continuing support and will keep you fully informed as to the outcome of this matter.

 

Regards

[ploddertom]

Thank you for that, I believe WD has a lot of this covered and don't doubt will pick up on anything missed.

[ploddertom]

For anyone following this - the latest update is that WD has been in contact with senior management at the Sheriffs Office who have confirmed a Stay is in place and the account is now placed on hold. Believe the OP has been seen dancing round the streets in celebration.

[JayEffGee2013]

Many thanks to WD and yourself for all of the help given. I am most grateful to you all.

 

Regards

[tomtubby]

When it comes to debts being enforced by a High Court Enforcement Officer there is nobody better than Wonkey Donkey.

 

She is not confrontational.......

 

Does not suggest Form 4 complaints at the "drop of a hat" ........

 

Does not suggest that debtors write 4 page letters citing 300 year old case law with allegations of fraud.....

 

 

And this is why she has ben able to gain the respect of High Court Enforcement companies.

 

 

PS:For frequent visitors to Wonkey Donkey's posts they will know that ONE particular company is exempt!!!

Edited April 28, 2013 by tomtubby

[wonkeydonkey]

Thank you TT. as I have told many caggers .........I see no Hceo's through rose tinted glasses, they range from a hint of pink to blood red ,the cagger in this instance was very lucky to be dealing with the former and within less than 12hrs of contact I received a reply to put his mind at rest. I have to say this is not the first time I have had dealings with the Sheriffs Office and I must give credit where it is due as they have shown themselves in a very good light when dealing with issues raised.

 

WD

[seanamarts]

Nice work WD

[Fulhamboy]

Great result . but I bet we are all wondering was it due to the influence of the cag that brought about

a change of heart from the Sheriffs Office ? This also applies to those axxxholes at Barstons.