Ex- Partner Interim Charge Order

[RClarkson]

Myself and my ex-partner purchased a property together in 2014. Long story short we split up in early 2016 and I agreed to move out by August 2016.

It was agreed that my ex would continue full payments with regards to the house until such a time (Jan 2017) that she would either ‘buy me out’ or if she couldn’t take the mortgage on solely then we would agree to sell.

She then attempted to avoid me for two years (refusing to discuss the sale of the house since I discovered she let it fall into arrears). As a result of this I spent 16k to obtain an Order For Sale which would force the house onto the sales market; this did not go down well.

In November 2018 I / we accepted an offer which would allow for enough equity for me to recoup 65% of the legal costs from my ex’s share of the equity (leaving her with nothing). The court order also stated that she would be fully responsible for the continuing mortgage payments until the house was sold; of which she has breached.

As a result of exchanging contracts between ourselves and the buyers it was bought to my attention that an interim charge order had been placed on the land registry during the summer of 2018. Having not lived at the address for over two years and having no contact (other than court appearances) with my ex, this came as a complete surprise. I have no idea of the amount of the debt other than it being for a vehicle PCP taken out in her name just prior to us splitting up.

We do not speak to each other currently and she has completely avoided the issue and refused to get it resolved with the creditor for the last few weeks.

I am highly anxious that she is delaying the process (as she knows she is walking away with zero equity) and is continuing to bury her head in the sand.

I have no idea what I can do to with obtain more information about this debt or even have the restriction removed so that it doesn’t interfere with the sale of the house. Neither can I afford to take her back to court to get this resolved/ sue her for breaching the initial court order.

[Amethyst]

There will be a CCJ against your ex for the PCP agreement which will need paying. You may be able to find out more detail on the register - https://search.trustonline.org.uk/Search/Person

Is your solicitor/conveyancer informing the charge holder about the sale ?

[RClarkson]

Thank you.

Yes I believe so however they seem to think that the sale won’t complete until this is paid by my ex. She has moved out of the address and no longer in touch with me or the solicitor so I can’t see how to resolve this.

[Amethyst]

Have you obtained a copy of the charge from the Land Registry ? That will have the charge holders details on it so you can contact them to find out what the status of the case is. Phone number is https://www.gov.uk/guidance/contact-hm-land-registry - I think you can just apply online though https://www.gov.uk/search-property-i...456.1547125416 but worth calling them to check that will give you the charging order details.

You can also search on the Judgment Register for the original judgment that gave rise to the charge - that will say who obtained the judgment - in your ex's name at that address - see trustonline https://www.trustonline.org.uk/

[RClarkson]

I have obtained that the restriction was placed on the address in April 2018 by BMW Finance and the debt is for around £6000.

She is going to avoid all contact from myself, solicitor or BMW so I don’t know what I can do to resolve the issue myself.

will the sale of the house be put on hold until they get their money back?

she has also moved out of the address and stopped paying the mortgage.

[RClarkson]

What does this mean?:

RESTRICTION: No disposition of the registered estate,
other than a disposition by the proprietor of any registered charge
registered before the entry of this restriction, is to be registered
without a certificate signed by the applicant for registration or their
conveyancer that written notice of the disposition was given to BMW
Financial Services (GB) Limited Trading as MINI Financial Services (Co.
Regn. No. 01288537) at care of Optima Legal, Hepworth House, Claypit
Lane, Leeds, LS2 8AE (Ref:-Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx), being the person
with the benefit of an interim charging order on the beneficial
interest of Xxxxxxxxxxxx made by the lCounty Court Money Claims Centre on
14 May 2018 (Court reference Xxxxxxxxx).

[Amethyst]

Okay - did you get a copy of the restriction ? Form K ?

Just from a previous thread for ref

Re: restriction/charging order against property

The Restriction is against the person with the CCJ only. The creditor can only 'take' what is owed under the CCJ from that person's share of the equity.

So if there is a Restriction for £10k and there'll be only £10k equity left in the property after the sale, then the creditor should only be entitled to £5k on completion of the sale, assuming the property is held as a Joint Tenancy (50/50) and not as Tenants in Common (with a defined unequal share).

You would not be expected to pay the sum owed (if it is owed) prior to completion - it would come from the proceeds of the sale.

Di

Normally I believe you can give an undertaking that the debt will be discharged from the sale proceeds - it shouldn't stop the sale. You'll need to talk to the solicitors dealing with the sale.

[RClarkson]

I didn’t receive a copy of anything; the first I became aware was when the ‘searches’ were being done by my conveyancing solicitor. She seems to think that the sale can’t be completed until the repayment of the debt issue has been resolved.

my issue is that my ex (because I won an order for costs as well as the order for sale) is going to be left with around £100.00 worth of equity therefore obviously can’t oay off the debt from her share.

[Amethyst]

What does this mean?:

RESTRICTION: No disposition of the registered estate,
other than a disposition by the proprietor of any registered charge
registered before the entry of this restriction, is to be registered
without a certificate signed by the applicant for registration or their
conveyancer that written notice of the disposition was given to BMW
Financial Services (GB) Limited Trading as MINI Financial Services (Co.
Regn. No. 01288537) at care of Optima Legal, Hepworth House, Claypit
Lane, Leeds, LS2 8AE (Ref:-Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx), being the person
with the benefit of an interim charging order on the beneficial
interest of Xxxxxxxxxxxx made by the lCounty Court Money Claims Centre on
14 May 2018 (Court reference Xxxxxxxxx).

It means that the purchaser has to sign something to say that BMW have been given notice of the transfer/sale. You need to discuss with the conveyancing solicitor. It is only on your ex's interest in the property ( which by the sound of things is nothing ) so they'll be given notice of the sale, then start hassling your ex again for the payment. It is an interim order, so you do need to find out what happened and why it hasn't gone to a final charge - the court proceedings may still be pending for applying the final charge, or she may have paid it up and BMW/Optima haven't removed the interim order. You will have to get the information from your ex somehow.

[RClarkson]

How do I find out about the proceedings?
I have called the court and they won’t release any information as it’s not in my name...
BMW won’t tell me anything either.
I am also being completely blanked by my ex- as is our conceyancing solicitor so I can’t find out from her.