Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

[brybry]

Hi

This is my first thread, so firstly i'd like to say thanks for this forum being provided and its members taking the time to help and share their knowledge and hopefully someone may have the knowledge to help point me in the right direction in regards the following request.

Ok, in a brief summary, I am Power of Attorney over my mother as she has got into difficulty which has transpired that she has a bankruptcy order over her from early 2009. Her order currently states 'discharge suspended indefinitely'. I do have some legal consultant working on the case but it seems rather slow (to me anyhow) so I am doing my best to get myself exposed into this to try and understand better any options that may be available.

The OR (whom have a restriction for the property on the land registry) wants payment in the tens of thousands (all this from a £1000 non-paid council tax bill - seems ludicrous to me but thats for another time) and I was wondering if it is perfectly ok to approach the OR with an option to allow the property to have equity released (which I do have a company that have an intent to lend) and have some of this equity used to satisfy the OR's costs.

There is a case ongoing to sue the originating council so I am hopeful to claim back any payments made that we feel should not have culminated in this bankruptcy but that is going to take a good while to run through the system and I was rather hoping to at least satisfy the OR.

I need to find out froom the court, whether they have an interim or full charging order and indeed whether an 'order to sale' or similar is in place (there was an eviction notice very recently but we manged to avoid that).

Hopeful someone can help and again, thanks for taking the time to read my post..

Cheers
Bry

[alham]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

Hi brybry, have you checked with the Land Registry if there are any charges/incumbencies registered against the property?

[enquirer]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

Please provide a clear timeline, with each stage having a brief note of explanation.

[brybry]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

Hi alham

Thanks for getting back to me, very much appreciated.

I have a copy of the Title Register from the land registry and there are 2x charges (a mortgage and a secured loan) for which I understand is the norm and then the restrictions from the lenders and also the 'Bankruptcy Restriction' and another 'Restriction' from the OR under 'Proprietorship Register'. As well as the 'Registered Owner' it also states the 'Title Absolute' as my mother (not sure if that would've changed to the OR or not?).

It is a soley owned property in my mothers name since my father passed in 05 (and for which I have been paying the mortgage since late 08) but it does still reference my mother and father in the 'Charges Register' section in regards a transfer of land, for which I assume is when they purchaed the property. AFAIK my mother hadnt updated the land regsitry to remove my mother, so I can only assume that the local council did in respect of council tax.

***From Register***(Date removed) 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 (Address of OR and Owner removed).
Kind regards
Bry

[enquirer]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

As well as the 'Registered Owner' it also states the 'Title Absolute' as my mother (not sure if that would've changed to the OR or not?).

No, she remains the owner. Title Absolute is the sort of ownership.

[brybry]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

Hi enquirer

Thanks for also getting back to me on this, very much appreciated.

A brief timeline (from my current understanding) is as follows;

1: 1998 the house was purchased by both my parents from the local council (they had lived in this property since early 74)
2: mid 08 a restriction was put on the property for a secured loan
3: late 09 a 'bankruptcy notice' was placed as part of a non-payment of earlier stated £1000 CT bill (a case is in progress as we feel there are mitigating circumstances)
4: Early 2010 a 'bankruptcy restriction' is placed along with a 'Restriction' from the OR.

Now not at any point has my mother received any bailiffs round her property demanding payments nor any letters registered or hand delivered and neither has she been sent to prison.

She has absolutely no other creditors and secured loan payments are all up to date.

I am currently in the process of a freedom of information request from the said local council to obtain all the relevant data I can get - Now I know I have a legal consultant on the case but I like to understand (as best I can) what options are available.

I really just wanted to know whether there is scope to speak with the OR to allow the equity release so they can be satisfied or whether it really is a case of getting this in front of a judge/QC in the hope of pleading the whole case to show that we believe that good practice was in no way followed?

Cheers
Bry

[IanM]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

""The OR (whom have a restriction for the property on the land registry) wants payment in the tens of thousands (all this from a £1000 non-paid council tax bill - seems ludicrous to me but thats for another time)""

Have you asked the OR for a breakdown of the amount they are claiming for the CT bill?

Was it the council that applied for the restriction order for the outstanding council tax? If so, on what grounds?

""A Bankruptcy Restriction Order or BRO, is a court order made against a bankrupt once a court has decided that the bankrupt’s conduct has been culpable or dishonest.""

Have the council lied to obtain the bankruptcy order?

[brybry]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

Hi IanM

Thanks for your input on this also, its very much appreciated.

As my mother had a legal consultant work on this (he only picked this up mid/late June 12, so maybe I am being a little unfair by saying it seems to be going slowly :-) ) and my involvement was around Aug 12, I have not been privvy to any docs/comms from the OR. I am awaiting a case review from the legal consultant and I sure will ask him if he has these breakdowns of cost (roughly >40k <50k [although I did hear a figure passed around of 70k]).

Now I know it was left a good while from the initial order to now and i'm not sure 100% whether my mother would've just ignored letters etc but there was definately no bailiffs or visits or indeed arrest warrants and during this period is where we are pursuing a case against the originating council. It was for sure the council who requested this backruptcy and the OR is working for their side.

The 2 other charges/lenders are still being paid and up to date (now im also not sure whether this is fair or not) as from my 'limited' understanding doesn't this show preference to a creditor during bankruptcy and the OR should be point of contact for all payment arrangements post any recovery of funds?

Its an odd case, for me anyhow as I struggle to see where getting to the point to sell one's property to satisfy an origianl £1000 CT bill is a good and fair way to go but I suppose all they see are £££ in charges. I am however understanding of the fact that my mother has not done herself any favours if indeed she has just buried her head in the sand (but I do feel there are mitigating circumstances for which a case is being built).

I am hoping the legal chap dealing with this so far has the relevant info on the actal grounds but this was also to be part of my FoI request to get all data pertaining to this case so I can understand exactly what the grounds were/are and then see if they actually manipulated the situation in any way to get to the point of bankruptcy.

I just wanted to know if there was any mileage in my trying to open a discussion with the OR to satisfy them via an equity release and then hopefully claim this money back if successful at trial, or whether its a case of just expediting a pursuit for a court case to try for a complete annulment?

Cheers
Bry

[bluebottle]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

If the LA involved mislead the court to obtain the order, both they and their legal representative could be in very serious trouble indeed.

If you have POA over your mother's affairs, have you spoken to the Office of the Public Guardian or the Court of Protection about this matter? They might be able to offer some guidance.

[brybry]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

HI bluebottle

Thanks for your response, much appreciated.

As for the OPG or CoP, I hadnt heard of these but thanks for the pointer, I shall for sure look into this option.

Cheers
Bry

[bluebottle]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

HI bluebottle

Thanks for your response, much appreciated.

As for the OPG or CoP, I hadnt heard of these but thanks for the pointer, I shall for sure look into this option.

Cheers
Bry

If you have Power of Attorney and this was granted after 1 October 2005, the CoP would be involved as the POA would need to be registered. Could you please elaborate as to why you have not heard of the OPG or CoP until now? The legal professional who drew up the POA should have explained your obligations as an attorney/deputy and where the OPG and CoP fit in the scheme of things at the time it was drawn up.

[brybry]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

Hi bluebottle

Yes, the Eternal PoA I had signed for back in August but I dont recollect either of these being mentioned (and I am stil waiting for all the relevant (to me) case docs to be made available to me, including the PoA). Now whether they were not conveyed to me or I had not listened correctly I am not sure but I will find this out as a matter of priority tomorrow with the legal consultant dealing with this case. I am hoping the latter..!

Thanks, this is very interesting and I would be most dissapointed if I am not registered as PoA. I shall update accordingly.

Cheers
Bry

[brybry]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

Correction: I meant 'Enduring Power of Attorney and not ["Yes, the Eternal PoA"] as previously stated.

[bluebottle]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

With effect from 1 October 2005, all POAs have to be registered with the CoP. EPOAs (Enduring POAs) drawn up prior to 1 October 2005 are exempt until it becomes necessary to register them with the CoP in accordance with the Mental Capacity act 2005.

Is this "legal consultant" a solicitor, barrister, legal executive or paralegal?

[brybry]

Re: Equity release from a property to satisfy an Official Receivers interest?

thanks, I have only known him to be referenced as 'legal consultant', so I shall get some further clarity when I speak with him tomorrow. He came via a colleague of my mothers (who has known him for years through various cases) and he recently thwarted the eviction my mother faced.

As I say, I am hoping (and erring) on the side that my initial naivity of these matters is why I dont recall the relevant bodies in regards E/LPA.

Thanks.