Cabot/Restons CCJ - now have Charging order - wasnt told?

[garyclarke1962]

Hello,

I'm after some help and advice.

 

Briefly

- Restons obtained a CCJ against me for a £1200 debt in March this year,

I was ordered to pay £25/month.

I have been making the payments as ordered and on time.

 

 

At the weekend I got a letter from the Land Registry saying Restons had been granted a Charging Order against me (dated 18th July 2016) and did i want to agree with it or dispute it.

 

The thing is I havent had anything in the post from the courts about this

and its come completely out of the blue - nothing from Restons warning about it either.

 

What do i do?

 

Thanks,

Gary

[AndyOrch]

Thread moved to Financial Legal Issues...what debt does the CCJ refer to gary ?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[ThedaBara]

Is it a joint debt and is the house jointly owned? TB

[garyclarke1962]

Andy - the debt was an old credit card one.

 

ThedaBara - The debt/CCJ was only in my name, the house is jointly owned.

 

Thanks,

Gary

[AndyOrch]

Many thanks Gary.

 

Well the rules were changed in October 2012 to enable the Judgment creditor to automatically obtain a charging /restriction against a judgment even if you are upto date with your payments.

From April 2016 the rules changed again the process of obtaining a charge.

 

Stage 1 is the Interim Order in which the creditor must send you a copy within 21 days of the order being made and stage 2 is the Final Order which you have 28 days to register an objection.

 

If you do not respond then the court will decide if it can be made without a hearing..if a hearing has already been made you have 7 days before that hearing date to register your objections.

(if you have any)

 

Regards

 

Andy

[garyclarke1962]

Thanks Andy,

So what does this mean in terms of the payments i make under the CCJ? If they get a Charging order can they get the payments increased?

[AndyOrch]

Thanks Andy,

So what does this mean in terms of the payments i make under the CCJ? If they get a Charging order can they get the payments increased?

 

No effect...the charge/restriction is merely to secure the debt against your property

[Old Cogger]

From April 2016 the rules changed again the process of obtaining a charge. What is the main difference now Pls?

[AndyOrch]

From April 2016 the rules changed again the process of obtaining a charge. What is the main difference now Pls?

 

There are three key differences:-

 

An application for a charging order with respect to a judgment made in the County Court will need to be made to the County Court Money Claims Centre;

 

Where an application is made to the County Court Money Claims Centre it will be determined by a Court Officer; and

Where an application is to be determined by a Court Officer this will be an administrative action and a hearing will not be listed.

 

Under the previous rules, applications were sent to the County Court where the judgment was made, and determined at a hearing by a district judge before the claimant and whichever other party who saw fit to attend. Under the new regime, if the County Court Money Claims Centre receives an objection to the application, the matter will be transferred to the local court of the judgment debtor and the process will essentially revert back to the old regime, whereby the application will be determined at a hearing by a district judge.

 

Other changes:-

 

Slight amendments to the charging order application forms (N379 and N380);

responsibility to serve the application on the judgment debtor being transferred from the court to the judgment creditor; and a new requirement to serve the application not just on parties which have an interest in the property but also the spouse or civil partner of the judgment debtor – if known.

 

Hearings will still be listed to determine applications which are required to be issued outside the County Court Money Claims Centre, such as those referring to judgments made in the High Court.

[Old Cogger]

Ah! just procedural changes - Thankyou!

[AndyOrch]

If you have time gary you may find the following sticky informative...32 pages though:-)

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?203298-A-guide-to-Charging-Orders-amp-Orders-for-Sale

[garyclarke1962]

i'll have a look when i get time Andy.

It seems to me that the DCA's are in a win win situation with these Charging Orders then, cost wise - they have to fork out £100 to apply for the CO but just add it onto your debt to them. So it doesnt really cost them anything.

Dosent seem right to me.

[AndyOrch]

Who was the claimant in this case?

[garyclarke1962]

The claimant was Cabot Financial

[AndyOrch]

No surprises there then...how come you didn't defend?

[ThedaBara]

Sometimes a Charging Order is made when the creditor wants to try and get an Order for Sale. I just wondered why they would go for the CO if you were paying on time… TB

 

No surprises there then...how come you didn't defend?

 

 

I'm thinking this must be an Interim CO… you don't get to defend those as the application is made and granted made without notice… TB

[AndyOrch]

I'm thinking this must be an Interim CO… you don't get to defend those as the application is made and granted made without notice… TB

 

The initial CCJ...the claim

[garyclarke1962]

Andy - i defended against the original debt but the CCJ was issued anyway.

 

TB, as i said the letter from the Land Registry was the first i heard about the Charging Order, their letter says, 'the applicant claims to have the benefit of a charging order made by the court against your interest in this property and is entitled to protect that order by an entry in the title register of the affected property. The applicant has therefore applied for the following restriction to be entered in the register of your above title.....'

Does that sound like an interim CO? Can i get the court to disregard it or not take it any further as I am making payments on time?

 

It seems to make CCJs a waste of time if DCAs can just apply and get COs with the intention of making people sell their houses to pay off debts!

[AndyOrch]

But they cant get a Charge/restriction without firstly getting the CCJ..its a 3 step process...

 

CCJ.....

 

interim order

 

Final Order

 

Sounds like your at stage 2. (refer to post#5 above)

[ThedaBara]

But they cant get a Charge/restriction without firstly getting the CCJ..its a 3 step process...

 

CCJ.....

 

interim order

 

Final Order

 

Sounds like your at stage 2. (refer to post#5 above)

 

But how can the CO be made final without notification of a court hearing? The OP has said there was no notification about the CO, which is why I though it must be an Interim CO. TB

 

Andy - i defended against the original debt but the CCJ was issued anyway.

 

TB, as i said the letter from the Land Registry was the first i heard about the Charging Order, their letter says, 'the applicant claims to have the benefit of a charging order made by the court against your interest in this property and is entitled to protect that order by an entry in the title register of the affected property. The applicant has therefore applied for the following restriction to be entered in the register of your above title.....'

Does that sound like an interim CO? Can i get the court to disregard it or not take it any further as I am making payments on time?

 

It seems to make CCJs a waste of time if DCAs can just apply and get COs with the intention of making people sell their houses to pay off debts!

 

Yes… it sounds like an Interim CO… there will be notification of a court hearing for the final CO where you may be able to object. Do you have any equity in the property? TB

[garyclarke1962]

Yes TB there is equity in the property, tho i have no plans to sell up anytime soon, nor do i want to be forced to sell.

 

Does it sound like Restons may have jumped the gun a bit by informing the Land Registry about this before a Final CO? I noted that the Land Registry letter only says 'the applicant claims to have the benefit of a charging order' not that the applicant does have a charging order.

I'm also a bit confused why the Land Registry are writing to me before the court.

 

As the debt was only in my name, and the mortgage is in joint names (with the wife) I understand that will stop them forcing me to sell up anyway.