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Hi everyone,
Have also posted this on welcome forum.I’m new here. I’ve been in a long standing dispute with my freeholder over service charge demands. I withheld payment as she hadn’t followed section 20 consultation requirements for major works. We both own properties in the same block. She lives upstairs and my flat is downstairs. I haven’t lived there for years, which of course she knows. It’s been tenantted on and off, She threatened court action and I expressed my intention to defend the proceedings. She then filed proceedings and had them served at the flat she knew I didn’t live at. Obviously I didn’t receive them. She then obtained judgement in default (again I had no knowledge). She didn’t request payment of the judgement but instead proceeded to apply for a bailiffs warrant and changed the address to the company I work for. The first I knew of the claim was when bailiffs turned up at my work. I believe it’s clear she abused the court process to obtain judgement in default before I knew anything about it or could defend the claim. She refused to agree to set aside the claim. The court intervened and changed the address on the warrant. She then proceeded to apply for an attachment of earnings order. I panicked that before any application to set aside would be processed that my employer would be contacted. I therefore made payment of the full judgement amount to get, but sent an email making it clear that I believed the judgement was wrongly entered and the payment was being made without any admission of liability or prejudice to an application to set aside judgement,
My application to set aside was heard today. The judgement was set aside on mandatory grounds on the basis service hadn’t been effected. I then asked the judge to strike out the claim as service had not been effected within the 4 month period from issue (cor 7.5) and asked for payment back of the monies I’d paid against the judgement. Stupidly I hadn’t made a formal application to set aside in my notice, but I thought this would follow the event if he was satisfied the claim hadn’t been served. The judge looked really confused when I asked for strike out. He said you now need to serve a defence. I asked to what, no claim had been served? He said “I’m not making any order on this today. I don’t know the law on whether the 4 months has run out or not. It’s confusing because the 4 months is up, but at the same time a judgement was entered so I don’t know whether her time is up”!! He didn’t make any order to make service good, he just made an order judgement was wrongly entered and then set aside on mandatory grounds and gave me my costs. He made brief reference to Claimant possibly filing particulars of service and to me filing a defence) but I’ve checked with court and these orders haven’t been given, *What do I now do? Judgement was wrongly entered but I’ve paid her over in excess of £1000 when I also have a really good defence. Do I need to make a separate application for strike out and seek an order for the monies paid against a wrongly entered judgement?
Have also posted this on welcome forum.I’m new here. I’ve been in a long standing dispute with my freeholder over service charge demands. I withheld payment as she hadn’t followed section 20 consultation requirements for major works. We both own properties in the same block. She lives upstairs and my flat is downstairs. I haven’t lived there for years, which of course she knows. It’s been tenantted on and off, She threatened court action and I expressed my intention to defend the proceedings. She then filed proceedings and had them served at the flat she knew I didn’t live at. Obviously I didn’t receive them. She then obtained judgement in default (again I had no knowledge). She didn’t request payment of the judgement but instead proceeded to apply for a bailiffs warrant and changed the address to the company I work for. The first I knew of the claim was when bailiffs turned up at my work. I believe it’s clear she abused the court process to obtain judgement in default before I knew anything about it or could defend the claim. She refused to agree to set aside the claim. The court intervened and changed the address on the warrant. She then proceeded to apply for an attachment of earnings order. I panicked that before any application to set aside would be processed that my employer would be contacted. I therefore made payment of the full judgement amount to get, but sent an email making it clear that I believed the judgement was wrongly entered and the payment was being made without any admission of liability or prejudice to an application to set aside judgement,
My application to set aside was heard today. The judgement was set aside on mandatory grounds on the basis service hadn’t been effected. I then asked the judge to strike out the claim as service had not been effected within the 4 month period from issue (cor 7.5) and asked for payment back of the monies I’d paid against the judgement. Stupidly I hadn’t made a formal application to set aside in my notice, but I thought this would follow the event if he was satisfied the claim hadn’t been served. The judge looked really confused when I asked for strike out. He said you now need to serve a defence. I asked to what, no claim had been served? He said “I’m not making any order on this today. I don’t know the law on whether the 4 months has run out or not. It’s confusing because the 4 months is up, but at the same time a judgement was entered so I don’t know whether her time is up”!! He didn’t make any order to make service good, he just made an order judgement was wrongly entered and then set aside on mandatory grounds and gave me my costs. He made brief reference to Claimant possibly filing particulars of service and to me filing a defence) but I’ve checked with court and these orders haven’t been given, *What do I now do? Judgement was wrongly entered but I’ve paid her over in excess of £1000 when I also have a really good defence. Do I need to make a separate application for strike out and seek an order for the monies paid against a wrongly entered judgement?
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