Debtor Making Legal Threats

[AndyW]

Hi

Over 16 months ago a would-be landlord took me for a £700 deposit. After he messed me about and played the system for as long as he could he finally ended up paying it off after a CCJ was issued. He is now demanding that I inform the court of the payment or he will sue me for monies lost from his inability to get a loan due to the CCJ.

I'm really not in the mood to help him out so the question is, am I legally obliged to inform the court of the payment or not?

[des8]

Re: Debtor Making Legal Threats

If he paid the full amount within thirty days of the judgement HE can apply to the court to have it removed from the register.
You are under no legal obligation to advise the court.

[R0b]

Re: Debtor Making Legal Threats

Hello,

Can you confirm that you obtained judgment against the landlord and did the landlord pay within one month of that judgment being made?

If it was paid within the one month from judgment date then there would be no CCJ but after this then he would have it on his record for the next 6 years. The CCJ can't be removed but he can obtain a certificate of satisfaction which he needs to prove that it has been paid and generally it is a simple letter or email to confirm that the full amount outstanding has now been received - this is more out of courtesy but you are not obliged to do anything beyond that nor are you obliged to assist him in removing the CCJ.

If he failed to pay the judgment debt within one month and subsequently has a CCJ on record as a result, that's his own fault and not yours when he would have had plenty of opportunity to settle the matter without it getting to that stage.

[AndyW]

Re: Debtor Making Legal Threats

Thanks for the answers.

The original CCJ was issued March 1st but he kept getting it put aside until it was finally reinstated from Match 1st on June 14th and he paid in full 10 days later.

[charitynjw]

Re: Debtor Making Legal Threats

As far as I can see, it was a Judge who decided on the CCJ, not you.
Perhaps the LL would like to sue the Judge instead?

[R0b]

Re: Debtor Making Legal Threats

To add to Charity's comment, if the matter was set aside each time (which would be strange in itself) and then judgment awarded and then paid within 10 days of that judgment he would not be getting a CCJ on his record. The Registry Trust administers the CCJ information on behalf of the MOJ and is informed by the courts on a periodic basis where judgment debtor's have failed to pay within 30 days, and they in turn record that information on a database. If the court hasn't been informed of it being settled then it is possible they may have informed the Registry Trust who have added a CCJ to his name.

As already said, there is nothing that obliges you to notify the court but to avoid any liability or claim against him then you should at the very least tell him that you can confirm receipt of payment for the judgment debt was paid on X date. The onus is on him to then inform the court/Registry Trust that the matter was settled within one month from the date of judgment - if they refuse then his course of action would be against the MOJ/Registry Trust not you.