I Want to Set Aside a CCJ Obtained by Deception by Turnbull Rutherford/HFO

[entseo]

Hi there,

In 2007 I was the victim (like many others) of the aggressive tactics of Turnbull Rutherford Solicitors in conjunction with HFO Services (they are actually the same people, or were then - HFO bought unsecured debts and Turnbull converted them to secured debts by a court order, on an industrial scale).

However, the N9A form I sent to Turnbull/HFO was withheld from the court, to give the impression that I was not mounting a defence. The court then naturally found against me by default.

Turnbull/HFO further muddied the waters by making up another bogus case which was subsequently struck out by the judge when it was discovered that the case did not actually exist.

My first attempt to set aside this CO was unsuccessful because the district judge seemed to be beguiled by the paralegal who showed up to defend Turnbull/HFO. Also, by what the judge seemed to be saying, he had not actually read my witness statement. The judge dismissed my claim.

I have full documentation covering this case, including all court papers and over 20 exhibits.

Since this fiasco the FCA have asked to see this documentation and I have supplied them with copies of everything.

As the account is in dispute I have stopped paying the £55 a month I was paying to Turnbull/HFO by standing order towards this fraudulent account.

Last week I received a letter from HFO Capital (HFO Services had passed the account to their alter-ego HFO Capital) demanding the restitution of my standing order. I phoned HFO about this. I told the person I was speaking to at the start of the conversation that I was recording the dialogue. I then told him about the letter and reminded him that it was a criminal offence to demand money while an account was in dispute. At this there was a complete change of attitude! He told me that it was a terrible mistake and to "just ignore the letter".

I have paid Turnbull/HFO nearly £2,000 for this fraudulent account and I seek to set aside this court order, recover my money, including all prior legal costs to date and clear my credit profile of this unjust item. I also seek compensation for the time I have been obliged to spend trying to clear up this appalling mess (by my reckoning about 80 hours and the distress caused.

HFO Services and their associates HFO Capital and Roxburgh UK, all debt purchasing companies, have been barred from holding a consumer credit licence by the old OFT. Additionally, Alastair Turnbull has been barred from the group consumer credit licence of the Law Society (a hitherto unprecedented decision by the OFT) as a result of his illegal activities and has clearly brought the reputation of the law into disrepute.

At this stage I would welcome the help of a solicitor to set aside this court order and to restore some justice to this matter.

I would welcome any suggestions on this forum.

Thanks.

[entseo]

Re: I Want to Set Aside a CCJ Obtained by Deception by Turnbull Rutherford/HFO

I should explain that, at the time in 2007, I was ignorant of what I should have done, which was to question the validity of the contract by making a Subject Access Request. But as I didn't know about this I had no option but to complete the N9A and offer to pay by installments.

But Turnbull/HFO wanted all the money and so it was in their interest not to accept installments, therefore they pretended they had not received the N9A, thus making it look as if I had not responded. The court, accordingly, found in their favour.

[Amethyst]

Re: I Want to Set Aside a CCJ Obtained by Deception by Turnbull Rutherford/HFO

Hi Entseo, Apologies for missing your post yesterday and thank you for the bump.

How much was the original judgment for ?

You completed the N9A which is an admission and offer to pay - had you admitted and offered on the full amount? It would be difficult to set aside the judgment if that is the case, although it should have been a normal judgment not a judgment by default. Is the offer you made the amount on the installment order - or did you intiially get a forthwith order?

Good to hear you are have been involved in helping the FCA with their investigations into this bunch of companies.

You say it is a fraudulent account - can you explain that a bit more ? Was the original debt a result of ID fraud ?

[entseo]

Re: I Want to Set Aside a CCJ Obtained by Deception by Turnbull Rutherford/HFO

Hi Amethyst,
Thanks for replying. Looking at the documentation I see that the original judgment was for £2,594.99 but by 2011 this had climbed to over $5,00 due to 12% interest being applied, this being reduced to 8%, plus various legal fees and costs.

I also see that I had offered to pay £1 per month and submitted this with a full breakdown of my income and expenditure at the time.

Had I been aware of my legal rights in 2007 I would have started a Subject Access Request. However I didn’t know about this in 2007.

I am not aware of an Installment Order, and I’m not sure what you mean by Forthwith Order.

I refer to it as a fraudulent case because Turnbull/HFO rigged the court’s legal process by withholding my N9A so that it appeared that I had not made any offer. The court should never have come to that conclusion but in the absence of the N9A (which Turnbull/HFO has hidden from the court) the court founded against me by default and awarded to HFO.

I've been having nothing but trouble with these people for years and I'd like to get back at them, naturally, and recover the money that they have illegally taken from me. It is my belief that, after they realise that they will not get their credit licence back, they will put themselves into administration and squirrel away their cash into the overseas tax havens they are so fond of, leaving all the people they stole from out of pocket.

Also, Alasdair Turnbull has put the profession of the law into disrepute in the eyes of ordinary people; I'm sure that there are plenty of solicitors who would like to put the record straight.

[entseo]

Re: I Want to Set Aside a CCJ Obtained by Deception by Turnbull Rutherford/HFO

It may be useful to keep this correspondence more private, as I know that unwanted eyes may be watching. If anyone has further comments to make about this particular case then feel free to pm me. All contact information will be strictly confidential, of course.

[Amethyst]

Re: I Want to Set Aside a CCJ Obtained by Deception by Turnbull Rutherford/HFO

Hi entseo, We don't advise people to communicate via PM for your own safety, as there's no back up if poor advice is given. If you are concerned about your thread being read by the claimants and identifying you you could consider upgrading to VIP membership so you can post in the more private area of the forum.

Hi Amethyst,
Thanks for replying. Looking at the documentation I see that the original judgment was for £2,594.99 but by 2011 this had climbed to over $5,00 due to 12% interest being applied, this being reduced to 8%, plus various legal fees and costs.

I also see that I had offered to pay £1 per month and submitted this with a full breakdown of my income and expenditure at the time.

Had I been aware of my legal rights in 2007 I would have started a Subject Access Request. However I didn’t know about this in 2007.

I am not aware of an Installment Order, and I’m not sure what you mean by Forthwith Order.

I refer to it as a fraudulent case because Turnbull/HFO rigged the court’s legal process by withholding my N9A so that it appeared that I had not made any offer. The court should never have come to that conclusion but in the absence of the N9A (which Turnbull/HFO has hidden from the court) the court founded against me by default and awarded to HFO.

I've been having nothing but trouble with these people for years and I'd like to get back at them, naturally, and recover the money that they have illegally taken from me. It is my belief that, after they realise that they will not get their credit licence back, they will put themselves into administration and squirrel away their cash into the overseas tax havens they are so fond of, leaving all the people they stole from out of pocket.

Also, Alasdair Turnbull has put the profession of the law into disrepute in the eyes of ordinary people; I'm sure that there are plenty of solicitors who would like to put the record straight.

Sorry I missed your post, I agree with you on Alasdair Turnbull. A forthwith order is a 'pay full amount within 28 days' order, rather than a 'pay £100 a month over 10 years' order. So is your order to pay £55 a month ? or was that just an agreement you came to with Turnbull / HFO ?

When you received the original default judgment, as you had admitted and offered to pay the claim originally, you should really have applied to vary the judgment to an installment order as per what you had offered.

Do you know what the position is with HFO Capital at the moment, legally ?

[entseo]

Re: I Want to Set Aside a CCJ Obtained by Deception by Turnbull Rutherford/HFO

Hi Amethyst,

To answer your queries:

A forthwith order is a 'pay full amount within 28 days' order, rather than a 'pay £100 a month over 10 years' order. So is your order to pay £55 a month ? or was that just an agreement you came to with Turnbull / HFO ?

>> The £55 agreement was made several years later in 2011, after I attempted to set aside the original CCJ (on the grounds that it was obtained by deception in the way I have explained). The judge, who seemed not to have read my comprehensive Witness Statement, threw out my set-aside on the grounds that I had taken so long to attempt the set-aside and that I had originally admitted the debt by submitting an N9A (i.e. completely missing then point that Turnbull/HFO derailed court process by not presenting my N9A because they did not like my offer of £1 a month). The amount of £55 was agreed shortly afterward and outside the court between myself and the paralegal who had turned up to represent Turnbull/HFO. I was staggered at the amount the debt had risen to because of the 12% interest being applied (at a time when base rates are 0.5%, can this be right????) and I just wanted to be rid of it. But now I have different domestic circumstances (paying for my mum's nursing care) and started to wonder why I am paying these shysters so much money just because they were able to get away with it?

When you received the original default judgment, as you had admitted and offered to pay the claim originally, you should really have applied to vary the judgment to an installment order as per what you had offered.

Yes, I should have done exactly that. But I had no such advice at the time in 2007 and did not know at the time that I was able to do that

Do you know what the position is with HFO Capital at the moment, legally ?

The FCA asked me to send them the documentation relating to this case, as it was pertinent to Turnbull/HFO in their appeal against the revocation of their consumer credit licence. I reasoned that, as the FCA - a crown statutory regulatory body - was having a look at the account, then the account was certainly in dispute, and so I stopped paying the standing order earlier this year at the same time I sent a copy of the documentation to the FCA.

Then about 2 or 3 weeks ago HFO Capital sent me their letter asking me to resume the standing order again, which triggered my present attempt to get the whole thing set aside once and for all. I phoned HFO to ask them what they were playing at, then they spluttered that it was all a terrible mistake (i.e. they were just 'trying it on' ... again) and the rest you know. HFO have said, both in writing and on the phone, that my account is 'on hold' and that no further action should have been taken or will be taken.

I don't believe them this time either.

I'm still determined to get this abomination set aside and nothing will dissuade me from that.

[Amethyst]

Re: I Want to Set Aside a CCJ Obtained by Deception by Turnbull Rutherford/HFO

What was the original debt ?

[entseo]

Re: I Want to Set Aside a CCJ Obtained by Deception by Turnbull Rutherford/HFO

What was the original debt ?

£2,594.99 in 2007.