Council Tax - Attachment of Earnings

[BornThisWay]

I wonder if anyone can give me some advice please?

 

 

I have spent the last 5 years fighting eviction for mortgage arrears. My lender, sub-prime, got in just in time before the legislation changed demanding more consultation before applying for a possession order, and have been pushing ever since.

 

 

I was never more than 5 months in arrears but I have defended - I have lost count, but I think, 6 eviction notices. During that period they have raised their rate 3 times. I am now down to slightly less than 2 months arrears and they seem to be prepared to back off.

 

 

During this whole period I have amounts of unpaid Council Tax because every Penny went to keep my house - I did not prioritise other debts over the CT and I have 3CCJs to prove it!

 

 

Out of nowhere the council have now sent my employer 2 x attachment of earnings for CT years 2009 and 10 which combined will cost me over £400 per month since I just fall in the 17% of earnings level of net pay.

 

 

I earn just under £1500 net, the mortgage is now £800 (£750+£50 arrears) which is less than they want but I think will be okay. The £400 will take that to £1200, leaving me £300 for everything else.

 

 

Do I have any right of appeal? I notice that the Eviction Notices were always copied to the council, presumably for rehoming in a hostel or something, although I understand single people get no help at all. So they had proof of what is happening.

 

 

My employer could sack me for this because of the nature of my job, and if they send further attachments for overdue sums in subsequent years I think he will, which benefits no-one.

 

 

I am paying an interest rate on my mortgage of 7.75% which is in loan shark territory but obviously there has been no chance of re-mortgaging to a fairer rate with the arrears.

 

 

Any thoughts please? I thought I was out of the woods and had emailed to explain to the council that I would be in a position to catch up now, an email they seem to have ignored, but with the outstanding amounts which include bailiff and court charges I fear that I will lose my house.

 

 

My lender will not be sympathetic if I starve, will the council? I have not wasted money I have no car, never go out, and have not been on holiday for 20 years.

 

 

Thanks for any input.

[ploddertom]

If you have not paid or made an arrangement with the Council then they have done nothing wrong I am afraid and yes there is every chance that when one is paid off they will do the same with others. Do you know how many Liability orders the Council have?

[BornThisWay]

No I don't Plodd. I confess I have had my head in the sand as I have literally been fighting off repossession for 5 years.

 

 

I paid when I could but that was not all the time I'm afraid.

 

 

I will write and ask them that question. My main concern is losing my job altogether over this which means I lose the house and there are no earnings to attach to. I would far rather they take a charge over the house, and that I pay them without the charging orders - are they likely to agree to that?

 

 

I could understand if they had written to me and said you have to pay one way or another - with that sort of threat I would have done what they said even if it meant going without food, etc.

 

 

Do you have any idea how flexible they are?

[ss002d6252]

Do I have any right of appeal?

You can request the council withdraw one or both of the orders but it's their prerogative only.

 

 

I could understand if they had written to me and said you have to pay one way or another

Once a liability order has been granted the council need to give you no further notice prior to them issuing an attachment order.

[BornThisWay]

Sorry, double post!

Edited April 13, 2014 by BornThisWay
Double post.

[BornThisWay]

Thanks SS00. If they would withdraw one of the orders I might be able to survive. It will still be £255 but the £404 they want is going to cripple me. I have put in an immediate plea for this to happen but will follow up tomorrow with a breakdown of my outgoings. That said I don't suppose they will care that I am locked into such a high mortgage interest rate - what is that to them??

 

 

I confess I had no idea that the liability order, rubber stamped by a magistrate, gives them such power without further reference to the CT payer. That is certainly a lesson learned.

 

 

What I think may have happened is that this has been triggered by the recent merger of my council with another, and them jointly outsourcing this to a third council. All my letters etc., will have been lost and the computer has taken over. Hopefully there is still a human in there somewhere that I can talk to!

 

 

Thanks again.

[Ell-enn]

I think you should write to your council explaining that your job could be at risk if the AOE goes ahead, and ask if you can make an arrangement to pay - include a budget sheet with your letter to show them what you can afford. I have done this for a couple of people at my work and the council allowed them to pay either via direct debit or bank transfer, or at the council offices.

 

Link to budget sheet -

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31141&d=1320168516

[BornThisWay]

Hi Ell-enn. Thanks.

 

 

It was you that helped me save my house! 6+ eviction notices over the last 5 years, but mercifully now at a point where I can 'get away with' £800 per month compared to the hundreds of extra Pounds a month I was paying to keep them at bay.

 

 

I could maybe afford one attachment - which would come out at £255 - just! - but two at £404 will send me back into mortgage arrears and I think I will have run out of sympathetic judges on that.

 

 

I will appeal as you suggest. Should I offer them a charge over the house instead?

 

 

Thanks again for all your help in the past and ongoing. I have neglected the CT and I do want to pay it back, but when an eviction notice comes through your door every time you are £1 short on the mortgage plus arrears (plus the mortgage company put their rates up three times during that period) it is hard to give them what you haven't got!!

[Ell-enn]

Hi, how much is the normal monthly mortgage payment ?

[BornThisWay]

It was £756 but it has suddenly gone down to £743 - the first time it has gone down in over 5 years. The actual arrears are down to below £1,000 now but because I pay a bit late they go up to about £1,500 until I pay for the last month. I would love to 'catch up' but that is impossible.

 

 

The other issue is that while I am hoping to get a better paid job, that will never happen with an attachment order on my earnings in my industry.

[andydd]

What industry are you in ? A future employer wouldn't know, I know some jobs need various clearance, I for example work in IT and I have sc level clearance but the majority of it jobs don't require it, is there a similar jobs you could apply for that won't need checks ?, how about contract jobs ? I've been doing short term roles since 2013 and the pay has been quite good.

[ss002d6252]

Unless you told a new employer they would never know about the attachments unless the council sent them a copy of the order to take an attachment from your wages - there's no public record of the attachment (even a liability order application is held only by the court and the council).

[BornThisWay]

The problem is SS that until I have paid it all off the attachment would follow me. My employer has to tell the council if I leave so they would know where I had gone.

 

 

If have never told them where I work - they got the info from the Inland Revenue. Apparently they have powers to do that. In fact it seems local councils have the power to do just about anything!

[andydd]

Go Self-employed/contract. I owed some council tax and informed the council that they should accept my offer to pay, as attachemnts wouldnt apply to me, unfortunatley that only really leaves the bailiff option..or jail.

 

And yes, they do have the power to do almost anything, sidestepping the usual civil debt rules, its all goes back to the poll tax.

[BornThisWay]

I actually could go self employed Andy so not a bad idea!

 

 

As for going to prison - I would be glad of the rest! If they sent me to prison for three months instead of collecting the money I could have my first proper holiday in 20 years, catch up with some reading, and chill out!

 

 

Quite apart from anything, why the hell do they have the right to be told by the Revenue where you work??? They have never asked me, just gone behind my back. A bailiff did come round some time ago. I told him, quite honestly, that if I had anything I could sell to catch up with the payments I would have done so! I don't have a car, and nothing in the house is worth anything on the second hand market - my PC belongs to my employer. He was quite nice about it!!