Unsecured loans now registered as charges against my home - can they be challenged?

[Simples]

Hello
I hope someone can point me in the right direction. I have discovered we have several charges on our property dating from 2008. At the time I did not realise I could challenge an agreement etc. Is it possible to challenge it now?
Thank you in advance of any help!

[Amethyst]

Were these unsecured loans that defaulted and went to court, judgment awarded against you and then secured by way of a charging order ? Did you take part in the process at all - know about the claims or enforcements ?

Do you know what companies hold the charge and the judgment ? and who the original creditors were ? ( any HFC ?)

[Simples]

Hello Amethyst
Thank you for getting back me.
These were all unsecured credit cards and car loan. They all went to court and judgement awarded and then secured by a charging order. At the time 2008 onwards I did not know what the process was and probably should have challenged them.
The charges are:
06.05.2008 HFC Bank Limited at Restons Solicitors Limited
04.06.2009 Robinson Way & Company Limited
09.10.2012 Porsche Financial Services at DWF LLp
05.11.2012 LLoyds TSB bank c/o SCM Solicitors

I don't know if there is any way I can challenge them at all?
I am trying to find any paperwork I have received

[Amethyst]

As they've already gone to judgment and charging orders you won't be able to challenge them - You might be able to negotiate a settlement for them to remove the charge but other than that I think you're probably stuck with them.

However the HFC judgment is likely to have included a collection charge of around 16.4%. This is now being repaid with 8% interest, I'll find the number you can call to put your claim in. I'd guess you don't still have any of the paperwork. Any idea how much the total is ?


03455 857 564

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-re...tion-practices

[Simples]

I do still have the paperwork! It looks as though I asked them for a copy of the original credit agreement and they claimed that they were unable to supply a copy of the signed agreement from 8 December 1994. The final amount was 14,233.58 on the charge. The balance HFC claim outstanding in a letter dated September 2007 was 11,571.47. Since the charge I believe it has been transferred but I cannot find any documentation at the moment.

[Simples]

23 June 2008 Restons obtained the charge. 24 June letter from Marlin. 22 March 2003 letter from Mortimer Clarke re Phoenix Recoveries - this letter claims they do not have a copy of the original signed credit agreement

[opticrom]

Are you full owner or joint owner of property, the charge is only a full charge if you are the only owner,if you are a joint owner and the other party do not owe any of these debts then the charge is not legally enforcable and is considered to be a restriction.
See the final paragraph of the download,for the true legal position.


I know this is true as i have just sold a property in a similar situation and all these so called charges were ignored by the conveyancing solicitor.

Many solicitors are ignorant about this aspect of the Law I had legal advice from one that these charges had to be paid,fortunately I sought a second opinion.

see download

Charging Orders.

If the debtor owns a property, then an application can be made for a Charge to be registered. Once the Charge is registered, future purchasers of that property will be aware of your interest and in most cases will insist that you are paid from the sale proceeds. The law is not particularly clear and if you require further information on this, please ask your file handler. When an application is made, no notice is given to the debtor (so that they cannot rush through a sale of the property).

An application will initially be considered by a Court Officer and if it meets the prescribed criteria (which in most straightforward matters it will), the Court will make an Interim Charge. If the application does not meet the prescribed criteria then the application will be referred to a Judge for consideration and the Court can either make an Interim Charge and/or transfer the matter to the Debtor’s home court for a hearing.

If an Interim Charge is made by the Court this will be registered at the Land Registry. The Debtor and any other interested party of the Debtor’s property will then normally have 28 days from service of the Interim Charge to file their objections to the application. If an objection is received then the application will be referred to a Judge and a hearing may be take place at the Debtor’s local court to determine the application. However, if no objections are received then the Court may make a Final Charging Order, discharge or modify it without the need to incur the costs of attending a hearing.

In some circumstances, a Charge holder where the Judgment is over £1,000 may apply to the court for an order that the property be sold. Again, please ask for more information. Costs


Our fees:
£450 + VAT (£110 recoverable if successful)

Court fee:
£110 (recoverable if successful)

Land Registry fees:
£23 – 43 (recoverable if successful)

If the application is opposed then your file handler will provide you with an estimate of further costs based upon the nature of the objection(s) Timescale


Approximately 2 weeks for Interim Order and 10 to 12 weeks for Final Order Advantages


This is the best method when a debtor genuinely cannot satisfy a debt immediately. It gives you security and a growing property market means it is more likely that there will at least be some equity to satisfy some or all of your debt if the property is sold or re-mortgaged. Disadvantages


Provides long term security rather than short term payment. The security will only be effective if there is sufficient equity in the property – your Charge will rank behind any prior Charges.

If a property is jointly owned, and you only have judgment against one owner, then all the Charge entitles you to is notification of a sale.

[Simples]

Thank you for that information Opticrom. We are joint owners of the property and the charges are for individuals. We were advised we had to clear them before we should consider selling. So we will seek a second opinion after your information

[opticrom]

You will need a copy of the so called charges, however if the situation is as described they are what is known as k3 restrictions and only entitle the holder of them to your new address, this is normally done when you exchange contracts, the land registry is informed and the restrictions are removed from the title deeds of your previous property enabling the new owners to unencumbered title.
As I said there is a lot of ignorance in the legal profession so you will need a conveyancing agent who knows the difference between a charge and a restriction and also your buyers solicitor will also need to be equally clued up. Those in the know realise that these restrictions are not worth the paper they are written on but they rely on general ignorance of the law by solicitors.
We lost a sale because the buyers solicitor insisted they were paid, however our new buyers solicitor was totally aware of the legal position and these restrictions were ignored when the sale went through, then our new address was forwarded to all the holders of the restrictions.
I wish you luck.

[opticrom]

https://www.google.com/search?q=word...obile&ie=UTF-8

If the charge is worded as in above link the.its not a charge but a restriction

[opticrom]

Ignore that link simples it's the wrong example sorry

[veryannoyed]

Were these unsecured loans that defaulted and went to court, judgment awarded against you and then secured by way of a charging order ? Did you take part in the process at all - know about the claims or enforcements ?

Do you know what companies hold the charge and the judgment ? and who the original creditors were ? ( any HFC ?)

Just going through this with a HFC account for the wife. Having checked original court documents it clearly shows the additional illegal legal charge but also shows that it should never even have gone to court as the circumstances are pretty much identical to Phoenix Recoveries (UK) Ltd s.a.r.l v Devendra Kotecha {2011} even down to the false agreement documents supplied by HSBC.