chasing creditors /court case next month

[blackdragon]

please help me, yesterday when i went to visit my mother she showed me a letter addressed to her that she wanted me to translate[she cant read english],I was in total shock to read that my father had ran up a debt close to nearly 19k! and that now the creditors were using the courts to recover the debt. This has been a surprise to all our family including my mother as she/we did not know about any outstanding sums owed by my father.I know he was blacklisted many many years ago due to non payment of credit cards,those card accounts were closed and afaik he has not been able to get any more loans or cards due to his poor rating so i'm not sure this 19k debt is recent[it could be from years ago]. Now the creditors solicitors have written to my mother to inform her that her house may be forced to sale to recover the 19k as the property is in my mother and fathers name .Now she is worried sick that her home may be repossed, theres no way she can raise 19k in one months time, she is only on a average income and it's only her who pays the mortgage, my father has not worked for years due to illness and depression+insomnia[probably caused by hidding his debts], Now i'm trying to come up with a idea to stop the court orders, do you think it's possible for me to negotiate with the creditors to stop them taking this to court? if i sell my car i could raise �8'000,now if i tell them i want to pay the debt off would they accept a lower amount than the 19k ?,my guess is that the original loan was probably much smaller than 19k but has grown over the years due to interest and fees. Would they be willing to settle for a lower settlement or will they just keep pursuing this through the courts? thanks:(

[louadams6]

hi blackdragon

im sorry to hear of the circumstances you find yourself in, but my advice is to contact the citizens advice bureau first thing in the morning, either by visiting them personally or phoning them. i have been to them before for financial advice and they were fantastic and they will often sort things on your behalf. Im afraid i do not have the answer at the moment but im sure that someone on here will give you some good advice. Try not to worry too much. Please let us know how you get on, best wishes x

[louadams6]

have just found this link on anot her post that may be of use to you http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/legalhelp/leaflet01.jsp?section=8&lang=en Hope this helps

[Miss Zippy]

If you haven't done so already, please do as louadams6 suggests and go and get help from your local CAB. Most CAB centres have trained debt counsellors who can help you though every step of the process, even helping you to write appropriate letters and make phone calls to your father's creditors on your behalf. Just because the matter has reached the court proceedings stage, does not stop you from trying to negotiate a voluntary settlement with the creditors. It's never too late. Each case is different and I wouldn't want to give you false hope, but creditors are often willing to accept a lesser sum in full and final settlement of their claim or be willing to negotiate a repayment plan with you. Good luck, I hope things work out.

[sandbach99]

I hope by now you have seen the CAB, you do need to find out how old the debt is, who it is owed to etc, they will not tell you, it will have to be your dad who signs any letters etc. THere are time limits for recovering any debts. Why have they only wrote to your mother or is your father hiding letters!, I appreciate your father is ill but I think you will have to have a serious talk with him, this letter may only be the tip of an iceberg, I sincerely hope this is not going to be the case, but you are going to have to get your father to open up and be honest with you, Has your father somehow managed to remortgage the house without telling your Mum?, I say this as I wonder how other creditors know it is their own home and not rented unless it is a secured loan. Talk to him make him realize how serious the matter is don't let him hide behind his illness, its' his mess you are sorting Good luck keep posting