Fighting A Charging Order

[chrissa1]

We have received a Notice of a Charging Order being placed on a property we own. With the documentation was an Interim Charging Order that was issued at a Hearing on 13 th December 2010. We had no notice of this and so this took place in our absence.

There is a Hearing on 15th Feb to finalise this Interim Order.

We were ordered to pay the Claimant £100.00 per month back in August which we have done religiously.
As we haven't defaulted in any way, can this application be right and is it worth going to the Hearing bearing in mind that my husband is in hospital and probably won't be able to attend. I could go in his place. Thanks.

[woofgang]

I think maybe you need to contact the court well before the hearing and tell them what you have told us, asking for the grounds on which the interim charging order was issued and explaining about your husband.

[themas]

1. Definitely, do not ignore this. If you do, the Court will rubber stamp it & you will have a final charging order which could put your house at risk.

2. It is normal practice for interim charging orders to be made on the creditor's application without a Court hearing. However, you should have been notified of this. Contact the Court concerned & ask them whether it is they or the creditor who is responsible for letting you know.

3. Contact the creditor anyway. You need to know why they applied for the order. Give them the details of each of your payments - including how it was made & the date it was made - as that is required in order to determine whether you have met the Court order requiring you to pay the £100 p mth. It is important to realise that the date on the Court order is vital. If it says the payment is to be made by (for example) 15th of each month that means it has to be with the creditor as cleared funds on that day. If it is even one day late on one occasion that means you have broken the terms of the Court order & it is that which gives the creditor the right to apply for the charging order.

4. Unless you can prove to the satisfaction of the Court (at the hearing) that you did not break the terms of the Court order, it is almost certain that the Court will make the charging order final. However, they can do so with a condition that the creditor cannot go back to Court to apply for an order for sale unless you default on agreed monthly payment terms. It is vital that you ask the Court to impose such a condition and that you then make totally sure the agreed amount is paid each month without fail & is cleared funds with the creditor by the stated date. And please note that payment by cheque is not a good idea. A cheque is a promise to pay & the creditor could simply not cash it, or delay cashing it until the deadline date had passed. Pay by Standing Order & make

[themas]

Continued..... (I find the way anwserbank simply truncates answers without any warning infuriating - it is time their IT people sorted this out)


.......Pay by standing order & make sure there are always sufficient funds in your bank account for the payment to go each month.

5. If this debt & interim order is joint (you & your husband) then you can attend the hearing without him if necessary. If it is in his sole name then contact the Court & explain that he will not be able to attend that day. The best thing to do is to get an adjournment to a date he can attend.

[chrissa1]

Thank you very, very much themas for your long and detailed reply. I will certainly contact the court tomorrow as you suggest.
The payments we have made have always been by inter-bank transfer on the last day of the month so the timing I don't think is an issue.
It is just in my husband's name.

I agree about AB truncating long replies too.

Many thanks again for your effort. Thanks too to woofgang for his input.

[woofgang]

you are welcome chrissa, you have enough on your plate atm...I am glad that themas could give you more detail.

[chrissa1]

I contacted the court and was told to write a letter explaining the situation in about 2 weeks time.
I know that the claimant is going for this Order with a view to an Order of Sale being put in place. As it is my husband alone named in this dispute and we jointly own the property, can he do this? We shall fight it anyway.

[themas]

The charging order will only be against your husband's interest in the property, but that does not prevent it being made (assuming it can validly be made - which seems to be in doubt) & does not prevent the creditor then trying to get an order for sale if your husband does not comply with whatever conditions are put on the charging order.

I do think you should contact the creditor (see para. 3 of my previous post) as well as writing to the Court. I suggest you write to them giving the details of all the payments and ask on what grounds they have applied for the order. Send recorded delivery & keep a copy. If you get no reply you can then use that fact when you write to the Court.

[chrissa1]

Thank you themas, I'll do that.