Urgently please could someone help me loan agreement is covered by CCA ?

[badger123]

Court on Tuesday starting to panic....

So my X lent me a sum of money in 2008. We had a contract. It was unsecured lending. He leant me some more but did not alter the amount on the contract to reflect this extra loan or give me a loan contract for it. Then in 2012 he says if I want anymore (we were together at this point-not now) I should allow him to put a 2nd charge over my property for the full amount. He then gets me to sign that Ive had the money from him so I sign it. There are no amounts on the letter he asks me to sign. He then gets a second charge on my home for double the total amount Ive borrowed from him as he added a spreadsheet to the letter I signed showing what he alleges he has loaned me.

He knew when I asked for the 3rd amount I was in dire straights with cash flow and everything would fall over if I didn't get the money. It was 2012 no one was lending money to anyone. He was my only chance so I had no choice but to agree. It was horrible.

So on Tuesday he's taking me to court for the full amount. I think there are issues over the loan agreement and I the amount he is claiming is wrong. Then there is the issue on interest which is claiming is 6.3% over all of it. But Im sure it should only be over the first bit.

I've no idea where to start - consumer credit act? does that apply? contract, duress, undue influence? Interest or no?

Please can someone give me a steer? at least some pointers on things to look at?

Thanks

[MIKE770]

Celestine

[Celestine]

A personal loan would not be covered by consumer credit act, we would need to know more about the terms of the contract you signed to advise further.
Duress/undue influence and possibly financial abuse could be considered as arguments here to persuade the Judge that this should be approached sensitively.

[badger123]

Hello. Thank you for coming back to me.
I can send the agreement and the mortgage deed to you - would that help?
The easiest way to explain it is - the loan was for £250,000 and there is a loan agreement for that. It was unsecured. Then between 2008 and 2012 he lent me another 50k. No agreement and no variation to the first loan agreement. Then in 2012 I asked him if I could borrow another £110k as I had no where else to go to help my business through the recession. So he lent that to my ltd company but he said only if I agreed to a charge for all borrowing against my house. There is even a clause in the agreement that he gets to run the company if he doesn't think Im doing it right, even though Ive been doing it well for 13 years. I said that was OK. I had no choice. He then got me to sign a document that said I had received all the sums from him. He said he would attach a spread sheet outlining what this was. I trusted him that it would be for what he actually lent to me - £330k and then the additional £110k. Instead it was for £600k yet there is no loan agreement for this amount just the mortgage deed and it says all terms of the original contract stand so interest at 6.3% repayable within one year and now he has gone for possession stating that with interest which I think he must have compounded I owe him £1,000,000. I borrowed 440k. I really have no idea what is going on or what to do. My solicitor just wants me to settle but I don't think its right though. I didnt even read the mortgage charge as we were still together then and he whipped it out at a party and took me totally by surprise getting one of his friends to act as a witness so I had no hope of reading it. He did the same on the stairs with the loan agreement with one of my neighbours 'wanting to get it all done before Xmas'.

The hearing today was cancelled as the Judge couldn't get to court due to an acid spill on their road. I am so grateful to that acid. Ive just let me solicitor carry on and its only when Ive read different things and people have asked me if I think that's right that Ive started to question things myself.

Thankyou.

[Celestine]

My first questions are about your solicitors. Are they instructed to defend this case? How come they have not explained basics like CCA relevance to you?

A debt of 440k not repaid for 8 years could easily have grown to £1 million I'm afraid. Do you even have assets that could meet this debt? How come the company was not able to repay the loan? Did you take independent legal advice before agreeing to the charge?

[pt2537]

HSBC v Brown springs to mind, as does Patel v Patel 2009, it seems to me there are many points that could be taken here. I note you have a solicitor, are they familiar with the Consumer Credit Act 1974

[badger123]

The sum over 1 million didn’t include interest that is still to be added on! He didn’t just drop the money into my account in bulk - the initial 280k came in in 5 different bits and he’d agreed to pay for different things but not others so he controlled what I spent the loan on and what it was used for. He’d wait until I was on knees and then he’d pay out a bit at a time. The contract was on that 280k from the start but the money didn’t come in in one bit. then he leant me 50k without a contract then 110k after I agreed to 600k on the charge. The company were in the middle of a commission and so the 142 for the company couldn’t be repaid until that commission was complete. He interfered so much it’s still not complete today. My solicitors are I think useless. They have admitted my liability for the whole debt even tho they haven’t asked him for bank statement to prove it or disclosure at court. I’ve asked for a forensic accountant to do through everything and they won’t do that either. They haven’t looked at the contracts, the charges and the distance between the two..... I’m totally lost really.