Application for money held in court.

[Nick0]

This is a problem that I cannot find an answer to. We bought a property by cash in 2007 and then we took out a "Mortgage" on the property with Abbey National (aka Santander) then I took out an unsecured loan, and credit card with Nationwide and all was good.

 

My business went bust with the collapse of an airline and all went belly up with my house being reposessed(bySantander asMortgagee) and charges put on the property by Nationwide to cover debt (I never challenged the charges as my wife had a breakdown and could not cope).They reposessed the property in 2010 and put it up for sale.

Late 2010 we drove past the property and thought we had squaters and we had to contact Santander to be told the property had been sold (they had our new address but never told us) and the surplus money (£32k)was held with there solicitors.We contacted there solicitors and they said that Nationwide could not sort out a settlement figure due to a lack of information.

I have spoken to the solicitors so many times and it was stall stall stall, with the money not gaining any intrest I wrote a complaint (2012)and left it at that.I called the off spec in July 2013 and they told me due to Nationwide not providing the information they have placed the funds with the Court Funds service and upon writing to them Ihave recieved a N244 form to fill in requesting why I should have the money?.

Now due to my debts (Nationwide) I wont get any money back but my wife should be entitled to half of it as the debts where in my sole name.

 

When filling in the form do I ask for all the money due to incompetance from Nationwide or just for my wifes share, Do I also mention on the N244 the charges that are present or do I leave them off.

 

It seems the Nationwide problem is due to them changing solicitors at least three times and they cannot locate there paperwork.

 

Any help would be great.

 

Nick

Edited January 23, 2014 by Nick0
extra info

[steampowered]

Hi there,

 

I think we would need a few more details on the legal background to the payment. Was there a court order authorising the money to be paid into court - presumably Abbey issued a formal application notice at some stage? Do you know if Nationwide were notified?

 

If Nationwide are involved then, ideally, you would write to Nationwide's solicitors with your proposal and seek their consent in order to avoid going through court hearings and so on. I agree that your proposal should probably be releasing half the money to your wife and half to Nationwide to be paid towards your debt.

[Nick0]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, There was no court order authorising the payment to the court. From what I understand Santanders solicitors who where holding the surplus funds had NO luck with Nationwide so decided the lodge the funds with the court to get it off there hands. Nationwide have been shocking in all this and I dont want to contact them in case it ruins my claim (hence advice needed).

The charges that where placed on the property it seems Nationwide are having a problem finding the paperwork so I was thinking about making an application to the court for the funds based on the time its taken?.

Would I have to state there are charges on the property on my claim form or is that not my concern?.

I would pay for a solicitor to handle this but we have lost so much money I just dont know what to do.

 

Nick

[mjt2013]

My understanding is that they would have needed a court order to pay the money in, otherwise people could in theory use the Court Funds Office as a current account! I think you would do well to get the case details from Santander's solicitors and then make an application in that claim for the money to be paid out.

[steampowered]

To be honest I am a bit surprised that they just paid the money into court without an order authorising them to do so setting out how the money should be dealt with. Please double check that these details were not contained in the other court orders there must have been in the repossession case generally.

 

If there is no court order, there should at least be a form F100 filed, presumably under the case number of the repossession claim. Best to try and get a copy of that form from the court or from Santander.

 

Unless there was a court order involved authorising the payment into court, based on a literal reading of the rules (CPR part 37) I am not 100% convinced you would need the court's permission to withdraw the money. In this situation there would be no need to file an N244. In such a case you may be able to simply file form 201 with the court funds office and get the dosh. Although if this is the situation it would defeat the point of Santander paying the money into court in the first place.

 

I think you need to contact the court funds office and see what documents they would need to release the cash.

[Nick0]

Hi,

I have a copy of the letter from the court to Santanders solicitor. The house was repossessed and Santander was paid 100% what they where owed.There solicitors have been holding on to the surplus funds trying to get the information from Nationwide.

The solicitors lodged the funds in to the court using a CFO108 form and the reason is quoted as "Surplus proceeds of sale of property".

I spoke to the court funds office (Glasgow) and they put my on to the Royal Court of Justice Chancery Division.

The only thing I can find out is that the original order for repossession was granted at that court (so I was told).

On the letter from the solicitor/court there is no mention of any other parties.

 

I can scan and message (in private) the documents I have if required.

 

Nick

[steampowered]

My best guess is that there is something in the reposession order which authorises the payment into court. I imagine this order will also talk about the conditions on which the payment may be released.

 

If you don't have the order, the next step is to ask the court for a copy. The RCJ is a bit of a maze but you should be able to find the phone number for the Chancery Division on the website.

 

While you are at it, it is always worth checking that the fees etc. deducted from the purchase price match what they were allowed to do under the order.

[Nick0]

Hi,

Thanks again, I have left a voice mail with the person I need to speak too at the RCJ, so will obtain the relevant information and post.

 

Nick

[Nick0]

Hi,

The solicitors have given me a copy of the completion statement but I cannot get hold of the person at RCJ to get a copy of the repossession order as they never answer or return my calls.Is there a form I can download and put in an official request?.

Any Ideas

 

Nick

[Nick0]

Would it also be possible for me to challenge the CCJ's then if successful get the Charges removed?

 

The grounds would be that despite me giving them my new address (a have an acknowledgement from there solicitors via email date and time stamped ) and I also sent a change of address form through the branch.

 

Nick

Edited January 30, 2014 by Nick0

[steampowered]

Been there done that with the difficulties you are having with the RCJ. Are you trying a particular person? Try someone else ... there must be someone able to help in the Chancery Division. I know its frustrating and the way they run their phone system is incredibly frustrating but best to keep trying over the phone if you can. I doubt there is a particular form, you could always write a letter but no guarantee it would be responded to in a timely fashion.

 

You have given very little information about the underlying circumstances so very difficult to comment on whether it would be possible to challenge the CCJ. Are you saying they sent papers to your own address which were not responded to and they ended up with judgment in default as a result?

 

If a judgment in default was issued because you didn't respond to documents sent to your old address, you are supposed to challenge it promptly after finding out (meaning within 2 months). If the underlying CCJ was granted back in 2010 it won't be realistically possible to challenge it now, especially if there have been contested repossession proceedings off the back of it. If the completion statement does not reflect the order in some way then you could perhaps challenge the statement.