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

[bluebottle]

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

I would be inclined to find out exactly what sort of "legal consultant" this person is. A solicitor familiar with the applicable legislation would have drawn up the relevant documents and summoned you to their office to sign them within a few weeks of initial instruction. It should not be still hanging around some four months later.

[brybry]

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

hmm ok. I'll check tomorrow and update.

Many thanks for your input, invaluable.

Cheers
Bry

[Nikolai]

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

Yeah I agree, you should have had advice from this consultant way before now. You really ought to be speaking to a solicitor specialising in insolvency matters, or to a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner. If the original debt was only £1,000 it is bang out of order for a bankruptcy to have resulted! I would be demanding some answers right now - how could this possibly happen?? Get yourself some good professional advice and quickly.

[brybry]

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

Hi Nikolai

Thanks for responding, all very much appreciated.

I am thinking back and I do remember the legal chap discussing multiple options and I know he was originally some sort of PA for my mother and requested that if I am ok to be, he would transfer that responsibility over to me. I discussed with my mother quickly and she states he is a financial solicitor but I of course will confirm that today. I am also sending off a request form (OPG100) to the Office of the Public Guardian to confirm my status, if any.

He is building a case against the originating council and has already thwarted an eviction attempt this November and he and I are to be meeting to discuss his strategy so I am reasonably confident to listen to this.

I believe it may have been my initial naivety that may have seen me overlook the wealth of initial advice I received from this chap as this is not an area I knew of in any great detail (but I like to think I am picking up great speed now, in part thanks to all you kind users on this forum..!).

Anyhow we'll see, as now I have an understanding I can find out if I need to employ the use of an alternative solicitor/legal expert.
Thanks so much.

Cheers
Bry

[alham]

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

Also, I fail to see how a bill of £1,000 could ever escalate to £40-50K, let alone £70K. This sounds very peculiar.

[enquirer]

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

... he was originally some sort of PA for my mother [....] I discussed with my mother quickly and she states he is a financial solicitor

Is he actually registered as a solicitor?

[brybry]

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

Hi

I know, its bizarre case even for my very limited knowledge...

I spoke with the legal chap briefly today (he's a financial solicitor) and apparently he went through my responsibilities etc as PA and had some documentation for me at the time but he recalled that I requested for all docs to be kept with the case note files at his office, so it seems that it was my initial newness to all this that I somehow managed to overlook/not understand exactly all that I needed to.

I have a full case review towards the end of this week, so i'll get a clearer understanding and he should be able to advise whether the equity release option is valid, I just thought I would ask on here for my own satisfaction.

I'll update this thread as when I get further bits of info.

Thanks all for your replies and pointers, it really is very much appreciated and I just wish I could reciprocate this but at the moment my knowledge of all this is very much entry/junior level :-)

Cheers
Bry

[bluebottle]

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

Is he actually registered as a solicitor?

Precisely. If this "legal consultant" is not registered in accordance with the Legal Services Act 2007, he could be in a load of grief. In your mother's case, you need the services of a solicitor who is familiar with the law relating to those with issues relating to mental capacity. I would also say that the local authority involved may have committed an abuse of the legal process in obtaining a bankruptcy order or mislead a court in order to obtain such an order. Such a measure for CT is a very last resort. If a debtor is subject to the Mental Health Act or Mental Capacity Act, a creditor has to tread very carefully indeed.

[brybry]

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

absolutely - I shall (re)confirm his credentials this week as I am sure I have seen an SRA ID or something when I first had dealings... And thanks for the info you have provided...

All the best
Bry

[bluebottle]

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

The Legal Services Act 2007 lays down a list of "reserved activities", which includes Civil Litigation and Notaries Public. You say he has an SRA ID and I would be inclined to check this against records held by the SRA.

[brybry]

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

I certainly shall be doing that, I have just visited their site to get the contact details for confirming the SRA ID..

Thanks again
Bry

[Openlaw15]

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

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

How much is the property worth? How much is the equity? How did your legal consultant friend stop the eviction? How did the debt increase to 70k? A charging order from a secure creditor (ie bank) will likely be a binding charge, ie a legal mortgage. The restriction by itself could be challenged as at best it's only an equitable interest (ie discretionary). Unless any charges are attached to a deed, they're also equitable charges, meaning in theory they can be set aside. At the point your parents purchased the property they likely held a joint tenancy originally. You mother and father were trustees as well as joint tenants and held the house (land) on trust for anyone in that household: s.36, Law of Property Act 1925, or someone paying a mortgage or beneficial interest (as son, ie heir to the property) creates a proprietary interest, which should have been protected by your own restriction on the property register. Since your father passed he left his estate to your mother (under JT survivor rules), now your mother was the sole legal owner (binding) and trustee of the property. Your mother as trustee had rights prior to the bankruptcy to apply to the court in her in own right under the Trust of Land and Appointment of Trustees' Act 1996. Since you're PoT for your mother, you were as such acting trustee of land (ie her representing your mother's legal interests or title to the property, ie home).

The effect of bankruptcy however means OR acts as trustee for your mother's estate for the benefit of the creditors. So temporarily OR holds all interests to your mother's property (ie home) and other assets until the estate is given back (ie bankruptcy discharged. Why was the bankruptcy suspended? In value how much are these charges worth against the property? However, you potentially still have equitable interests to the property in your own right, ie as heir, as well PoT over your mother's affairs. What property has the OR taken an interest in thus far?

Equity is only worth a value at the point of sale, so if the property were sold and there was equity (ie profit) after paying mortgage and other debts/ charges, then potentially the OR would be interested in that. The OR has 3 years too to claim the home or return it back to you, or give the opportunity of purchasing the equitable (or beneficial) interest to the property on your mother's behalf, albeit at their discretion. This is why the property value and equity value is very important. Do not do anything to hastily at this point.

[Debt Camel]

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

He is building a case against the originating council and has already thwarted an eviction attempt this November

Eviction by whom? What for? How was it thwarted?

Why has your monther's discharge been suspended indefinitely? This sort of thing is incredibly rare, she must have been failing to co-operate with the OR (or rather the appointed Trustee)

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.

Did you mother have any other debts, as they will need to be paid in full?
40-50k for OR charges doesn't sound at all unusual for something that has been dragging on this long and has been contentious.
How much equity is there in the property? Does it really make sense to take out a second secured loan, which is likely to be at a horrendous rate of interest? Would it not be preferable to sell the property, have the bankruptcy annulled and purchase another property with a mortgage in your name?

[Openlaw15]

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

Eviction by whom? What for? How was it thwarted?

Why has your monther's discharge been suspended indefinitely? This sort of thing is incredibly rare, she must have been failing to co-operate with the OR (or rather the appointed Trustee)



Did you mother have any other debts, as they will need to be paid in full?
40-50k for OR charges doesn't sound at all unusual for something that has been dragging on this long and has been contentious.
How much equity is there in the property? Does it really make sense to take out a second secured loan, which is likely to be at a horrendous rate of interest? Would it not be preferable to sell the property, have the bankruptcy annulled and purchase another property with a mortgage in your name?

If the property is sold it may not realise its full value. Besides any occupiers of the property or any one with a proprietary interest in it must be considered by the OR: amendment to the Insolvency Act 1986 by way of Trust of Land and Appointment of Trustees' Act 1996. We simply need more details before you can provide an informed opinion. selling the property should be a last resort. If the debts were accumulated by the mother when under the power of attorney, those debts may not be legal.

[Debt Camel]

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

a) I am not providing an informed opinion, there is a lot of information missing about this case. Property value and equity value being two important factors.

b) the OP got a PoA in August. There is a reference to the "legal chap" having some sort of PoA but he was only involved from 2012. In any case I doubt the mother's mental capacity or the existence of a PoA would have any relevance to the legality of a council tax debt

c) the "three year period" you mention is normal, but this is not a normal case. As discharge is being withheld indefinitely it is possible there has been an extension to this granted by the court.

Whatever is going on needs to be resolved as rapidly as possible. The OR's costs are already high and will go higher. It would be interesting to learn what this "legal chap"'s bills are so far and what he has done. A second secured loan on a property is not going to be cheap.