DCA say OC will take me to court!

[Elldee]

Hi – I hope someone can put me on the right road.
Around 1999 I could not keep up with the repayments on our mortgage, so my wife handed the keys to the building society. I then moved to London and managed to get my life back together and got another mortgage.
In 2005 I received a letter from the DCA demanding money on behalf of their client. Unfortunately I panicked and contacted the DCA and arranged payments and have been paying ever since on a monthly basis.
In the beginning of January 2011 I received a call from the DCA saying that if I didn’t increase my monthly repayments or make a full and final (50%) they would advise their client to put a charge on my property and take me to court. Not really knowing what to do I sent a CCA request to the DCA. A week later I got a response from the DCA saying that they are an agency collecting on behalf of their client and that my request for CCA should be made to the legal owners of the account, they also returned the £1 PO. The DCA have not taken their January payment.
I have looked on my credit file and there is nothing about the reposession and nothing abt any default as yet,
Not sure what to do next and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Caspar]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

This sounds to me like a normal DCA threatogram in order to frighten you into paying more. Note they didn't put this threat in writing - if they were seriously going to recommend court action, then you'd have had it in writing.

Also, you are a good customer - you are repaying your debt. No judge in the land is going to take seriously someone who takes you to court to try to get you to......well, pay your debt - you already are. The judge would I imagine take a very dim view of their time being wasted.

I would totally ignore it and carry on paying as before. Send them a cheque stating it is to cover the January payment that they failed to take and make sure, while writing to them, that you state that from now on you will not respond to phone calls, so everything in writing please for the avoidance of doubt.

You could always include this as well, from The Communications Act 2003:

127 Improper use of public electronic communications network
(1) A person is guilty of an offence if he—
(a) sends by means of a public electronic communications network a message or
other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing
character; or
(b) causes any such message or matter to be so sent.
(2) A person is guilty of an offence if, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience
or needless anxiety to another, he—
(a) sends by means of a public electronic communications network, a message that
he knows to be false,
(b) causes such a message to be sent; or
(c) persistently makes use of a public electronic communications network.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable, on summary conviction,
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level
5 on the standard scale, or to both.

[pompeyfaith]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

In the beginning of January 2011 I received a call from the DCA saying that if I didn’t increase my monthly repayments or make a full and final (50%) they would advise their client to put a charge on my property and take me to court.

That could be seen as a threat that they cannot take which is against OFT debt collection guidance as you are making payments and not refusing to pay.

[Elldee]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

Thanks Casper and Pompeyfaith will send them a cheque.
Whilst I wait to hear from the DCA, is it worth me doing an SAR to the OC to see if they have any documents/agreements in relation to the mortgage or is it not worth it as I have acknowledged the debt by paying back every month ?

Also should i make any offer of a full an final to the OC ? I say this because the the DCA want more than I can afford on the full and final ?

Thanks for your help

[pompeyfaith]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

Always worth doing a SAR to the OC maintain your current payments though so the ball is always in your court.

As for making a full and final to the OC I would wait until you have the SAR info as that may well put you in a better position.

Gather the info first then go from there.

[Elldee]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

Thank you I will do just that and post once I recieve any docs.

[Caspar]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

I totally agree with Pompeyfaith here. An SAR is always useful for the sake of £10 and can give you information you were not aware of. However, unless you're able to get somewhere in the region of their F&F offer, I wouldn't bother going down that route or even mentioning it. The last thing you want them thinking is you can suddenly get your hands on a large wad of money as they'll want it, or think it gives them good reason to demand higher monthly repayments.

[Crispybacon]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

Hi Elldee

There is something that is crying out here to me which is why is the DCA prepared to offer you 50% F&F settlement?

To me this would suggest that the DCA now actually own the debt. You have been paying a nice sum to them every month and they have got greedy.

To find out whether this is true a SAR is definately a good choice as you should find out under what capacity the DCA are acting.

If they have purchased the debt then you have them by the short and curlys as their threat of 'advising their client' etc would be doubly naughty.

Best

Crispy

[Elldee]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

Hi Crispy - When the DCA spoke to me in January they said that they were 99% sure that their client would accept 50% F&F and if I wanted to accept that I would have to send details of my income and expenditure which included payslips and bank statements. They said that it was their clients procedure to ask for the evidence. I told them I could not afford the F&F and neither could I afford an increase in the monthly payments and thats when they said they would advise their client to put a charge on my property.

[Caspar]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

I suspect they didn't put any of this in writing to you. I think they're playing playing their games to get you to send IE sheets to them so they can reassess for themselves whether or not you can afford more each month than you're currently paying.

There is a letter re Harassment and them making unsubstantiated threats to you which I can let you have if you'd like. However, the problem you have is that it's purely your word against theirs and no doubt they would deny have ever said anything like that.

I'd still be inclined to think of taking two routes:

1. Doing absolutely nothing and just carrying on as you are.

2. Sending an SAR to the OC (and possibly the DCA) so you can get a full picture of exactly what they do and do not hold about you.

[Elldee]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

Thanks Casper I will send the SAR to the OC today and see what comes back and a chq to the DCA

[WendyB]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

I'm not exactly clear on this, what are you actually paying the DCA for? What is the debt? is it something to do with the repossession and unpaid mortgage/shortfall from the sale of the house?

You should send a SAR to both the DCA and the OC in my opinion, then you will be able to see exactly what the state of play is, how much you owed in the first place, and how much you owe now. And what';s more you should get a statement of account every year from the debtor,

And remember the only way anyone can get a charge on your house is if a Judge grants a charging order....and they have to take you to court to do that, they can't just suddenly decide, as a DCA, that they'll stick a charge on your house just for the fun of it (although they may like you to believe that they can.

Who was the OC (bank/building society etc) and who is the DCA?

[WendyB]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

And also, for mortgage shortfalls, the time limit is 12 years, not 6, so they would have had until at least this year to start chasing it anyway, it wouldn't have been SB after 6 years..

[Crispybacon]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

Hi Crispy - When the DCA spoke to me in January they said that they were 99% sure that their client would accept 50% F&F and if I wanted to accept that I would have to send details of my income and expenditure which included payslips and bank statements. They said that it was their clients procedure to ask for the evidence. I told them I could not afford the F&F and neither could I afford an increase in the monthly payments and thats when they said they would advise their client to put a charge on my property.

Hi Elldee

First thing you need to do is stop talking to these scumbags on the phone. You must insist that they put everything in writing.

If they do not like this and keep calling you then there is a letter you can send them which you can find examples of here:

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...59&postcount=3

Second they say they are '99%' sure their client would accept an offer. In other words they haven't bothered to check and then would go 'oooops sorry but we were only 99% sure' and then pursue you for the rest.

I don't think it is necessarily unreasonable for them to request an I/E sheet, but personally I would draw the line at payslips and bank statements.

As has already been said they are conducting dubious tactics to pressure you into paying more money. As you have been making regular payments since 2005, if your financial situation hasn't changed since then, I think they would be on very shaky ground to go to court for a charging order simply due to the fact that they have been accepting regular payments from you.

Is your current mortgage is a joint mortgage? If so I'll post up an article you may be interested in reading.

Get the SAR's sent off, and should they call you up again simply refuse to answer the security questions and inform them that all communication should be put in writing. I think you will find they will be very reluctant to start threatening charging orders in a letter.

Best

Crispy

[Elldee]

Re: DCA say OC will take me to court!

Hi WendyB - the debt I assume is for the shortfall from reposession, I suppose I have been very naive as to not question it and just 'rolled-over' and started paying thinking that my current house would be at risk. I have SAR'd the OC (Halifax) and will SAR the DCA (DLC) tomorrow. What I do recieve is a letter from the DCA twice a year that states the amount owed at the date of the letter and instructions for me to phone or else.

Hi Crispy - I DEF wont be speaking to them on the phone - I have learned that lesson the hard way, and the current mortgage is joint and would be grateful for that article you mention.

Thanks again to you both.