HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

[Hephaestus]

Hi Folks,
I have got myself into a bit of a mess and could do with some sound advice, let me explain.
I have been receiving letters from Varde Investments (Ireland) LT telling me to pay them £6K for a debt they bought from MBNA.
I wrote to them asking for proof of claims but they ignored me and just kept sending letters demanding immediate payment. I foolishly ignored them and last week received a Judgment for claimant (in default) and another letter saying it had been passed to the local court for enforcement.
I contacted the court and they told me to submit an N244 form to have the judgment set aside on the grounds that I did not receive a Claim Form prior to my court case. They also want £80 fees for this form to work. They told me I had 14 days to submit this form and payment.
A couple of days later I get an application for an attachment to earnings form from the courts telling me I have 8 days to return it or face 14 days jail!
I contacted the courts and explained I was still within my 14 days and was submitting the N244 form, but she said " No 14 days, judgment is instant". I was struck dumb by this and after a pause she told me to get the N244 in asap and then hung up.
I have got the N244 form now and after reading it I see that I could have done it all online anyway. Never mind though, It also says I need to send a copy to the other parties who I assume would be Hegarty LLP so will do the court one online and post the other to Hegarty.
I have absolutely no idea what to say in this form or how to go about defending myself in court. Does anybody know what the next steps are?
I have written to DCA's in the past using template letters asking for proof of claims and other legal stuff and to be fair this has usually stopped them in their tracks. However if I try to say all this stuff in court it will be painfully obvious that I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about and they will make mince meat of me.
The original court case that gave me a CCJ was in Northampton "Bulk Centre" apparently.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how I should proceed?
Q3 on form N244 is " What order are you asking the court to make and why?"
I am going to sat that I want the judgment set aside as I was not forewarned or summoned to appear in court and therefore could not defend myself.
Is that a good enough reason or do I need to also state my need to see all the relevant documentation or is that something to be addressed elsewhere?

Any advice will be gratefully accepted.

Cheers.

[Amethyst]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

Basically the claimant has entered a claim against you through the bulk centre (standard stuff), as you didn't receive the paperwork you were unable to enter a defence, or an admission, and they have claimed judgment in default - sounds like they then haven't wasted any time in going for enforcement via attachment of earnings.

What is the actual date of the judgment ?

So the N244 - yes you are right in what to put to ask for the setaside - you do have to show that had you received the claim you would have a valid defence so we need to look at that quickly as well - I know you have queried the paperwork previously with the claimants but is there a debt owing to MBNA of that sum ?

Do you have a thread elsewhere with previous details of this debt (eg were you advised to write to them asking for proof of the assignment etc)

You also need to put on the N244 that you are asking for all enforcement action to stop - it will not happen automatically so I would still return the AOE forms within the time limit but add a note that you have also entered an N244 for a set aside.

[Judge mental]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

Hi Hephaetus

You have given a perfectly good reason for the Judgement to be set aside, however you ought to mention the case number and date of Judgement, you could also request the case be transferred to your local court and that all enforcement action is stopped until your application is heard, e.g.

To have the default Judgement from Northampton county Court (case number xxx) issued on (date) to be set aside as I was not forewarned to appear in court and denied the opportunity to defend the claim against me, and for the case to be transferred to my local court.
Further, that all enforcement action is ceased until this application is heard.

You should also, in part C of the N244, include details of your defence (and include any supporting documents) as you will need to convince the Judge you have a reasonable chance of success.

If there has been a delay in you making your application you should include the reasons for this.

Hope it helps
Stuart
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
Amethyst, Sorry for the duplication in our posts, I didnt realise you had replied before I posted

[Amethyst]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

Utterly fine JM

[SpringerSpaniel]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

Thanks JM - this is good advice.

I would add that 'it is contrary to natural justice and to the overriding objective of the Civil Procedure Rules to have a judgement enforced against me when I had no prior knowledge of the case being heard and hence no opportunity to put my own case.'

Hephaestus, if you have a low income, you are exempt from the £80 - you need to fill in a Form EX160 which you can get online or form the court office

[Hephaestus]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

Hi Folks,
Thanks for advising me on how to proceed, it is truly appreciated.
The date of the judgment was 14th September, so this has escalated rapidly in the last 10 days.
I have foolishly destroyed most of the letters I have received as they all seemed the same and my only plan was to ignore it and hope it stops! Not a good plan..

I did have a credit card several years ago with LV. This got took over by goldfish, but then almost immediately it got taken over by MBNA. The first thing they did was increase the interest to 34% and I immediately was stuck with the repayments. I defaulted and the debt was sold to Varde. I actually remember reading the letter saying it had been taken over by Varde but, I chucked it out...
I know I have done everything wrongly in my dealings with this matter. I just lost the will to fight or even acknowledge what was happening and let it snowball out of control.
I haven't got £60 let alone £6K so I do not know what I can do.
My main hope is that Varde have not got their paperwork in order and I can stop it on a technicality. But that seems a bit hypocritical of me considering the state of my paperwork!
I am also considering a "Freeman on the Land" style court appearance but given my limited knowledge of the legal system this would probably be a recipe for disaster.
In answer to a query above, I have no other threads on this matter. I have dealt with DCA's in the past, APEX, Westcott and Moorcroft to name a few; and in these instances I kept proper records and sent my mail recorded delivery etc. I have used template letters which asked for
Proof of claims,
Sight of the original contract bearing my wet signature,
Proof of protection from liability and
Sight of full auditing.
etc etc.

However, although these things were in the template letter, I do not understand exactly what it is I was asking of them... I was effectively calling their bluff.
Now they appear to be calling mine! Yikes.
I do not recall signing a contract with either Goldfish or MBNA, these changes in ownership just happened without me having any say in the matter.
I most definitely do not have a contract with Varde or Hegarty and am hoping that will be of use to me.
I am reluctant to fill in my statement of means regarding an attachment to earnings order and wonder if by submitting form N244 I negate the need to do so. However, I think the courts may require this no matter what now as they have sent it to me so quickly and do not seem very flexible.
I will contact the court and query this.
I will post any developments as they happen, I don't think I will be waiting long.

Thanks again.

[CleverClogs]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

I am also considering a "Freeman on the Land" style court appearance but given my limited knowledge of the legal system this would probably be a recipe for disaster.

Don't even think about trying such tom-fool nonsense, unless you want the judge to believe you have been smoking exotic cheroots.

It won't work and it only makes it obvious that the "freeman on the land" is a blithering idiot.

However, you might care to add that the Consumer Credit Licence for Varde Investments (Ireland) Limited, no. 0577595, appears to have lapsed on 13/11/2010.

[Amethyst]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

Okay you have two options, wing it and hope the paperwork is deficient, and if it is you manage to convince a judge that is enough to let you off with the debt - something which doesn't happen a great deal these days, OR deal with it now..avoid the AOE by entering an admission and offer to pay - with a low income on a £6k debt anything from £20 could be accepted under an installment order by the court. There wouldn't be any further risk of costs although there may be an application for a charging order over your home. It would basically mean you have a set payment leaving your account, that you can afford, and you can effectively put the debt to the back of your mind. It sounds like your credit file is already pretty trashed so it shouldn't affect you too much that way - the CCJ stays on your file for 6 years, much in the same way defaults do. You would be obliged to complete a statement of means to have an installment offer accepted though.

Forget the Freeman type stuff completely - unless you are 100% sure on what you are doing it won't have a cat in hells chance of working.

Re the paperwork it does sound like you have seen the assignment and default notices etc just ignored them. Even if you are entering an admission you should still enter a CPR 31.14 request for a copy of the credit agreement - the default notice - the deed of assignment etc - and a statement of the acccount - as this will ensure Varde are entitled to collect the debt and you will be able to see if there have been irrational charges added to the account. Do you recall what the balance of the original card was before it defaulted?

There may also be some mileage in the sale of the card to Goldfish then MBNA and the massive hike in interest rates - nowadays they have to let you stop using the account and pay it off at the original interest rate if you so wish so it may be worth looking at that angle further.

Howvever - first job is to stall the AOE enforcement process by entering the N244 - and the best way to do that is by showing you will have a valid defence - and them failing to send paperwork despite requests should assist with that....just don't go all out on the 'no paperwork, no debt' argument - you are entitled to respond to a claim (and decide whether to defend all, part or none of the claim) when you are in receipt of all the relevant facts, and currently you aren;t.

Do you have any paperwork still relating to the debt ?

Do you now have a copy of the original claim form ? or just the judgment letter ?

As always just a few thoughts Don't panic and do let your head rule your heart on this one.

[Hephaestus]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

Hi Folks,
Have submitted my N244 form now, along with AOE order (unfilled) and a print out of Vardes Consumer Credit License (or lack of one).
Thanks for your advice. I was advised by the community legal service to return the AOE without filling it in, so I referenced them in my N244 form. I also asked them about the Consumer Credit License "lapse" of Varde. They encouraged me to submit a print out but also said that this level of law was higher and more complex than they could advise upon.
So, there you go. Have asked for judgment to be set aside as I had no prior knowledge of the hearing and also that all enforcement action is ceased until after the next hearing.
Will post any further developments.
Cheers.

[Green121]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

Hi All, firstly i'd like to mention that i am so glad this kind of advice is available. Thanks in advance.

Im in similar situation as Heph..., I have had baliffs over twice for a debt of £2800 with court orders. The second was delivered to the house on 03/10/11 but in fact has the date of 23/09/11, this is annoying as they state that i must fill in the 'order for protection of statement of means' in 8 days.

To cut the long story short, my cusion used my MBNA card, when i noticed i confronted her, she convince me she is sorry and will pay me the repayments. She did for 10 months or so then decided to stop, when i confronted her she said i was using the card for my personal use and was making her pay the repayments.This is in fact false. We stopped talking after many attempts to get her make payments, i ofcourse couldnt afford it making it a default.
Although she has admitted she owes me £1200 (in my figures its actually much more) she said she will pay in her own time, i told her i need to know in 2 working days as i have been getting court letters and need to settle this otherwise i will have to go to the police to prosecute her for fraud under my identity....I know i should have done this when i first found out but as she was my cusion i thought against it.
I have contacted MBNA to make a final payment if it is reasonable i am willing to fund raise from family to settle this long standing matter. When i contacted MBNA who passed me over to Experto-->IND who i cant get through to know. However on the court order it states the claimant is Varde Investment (Ireland) LT, who's number i can not find from the internet.
Now im in a dilema and would realy appreciate some advice, should i send in the court order for production form and make monthly payments. Then go to the police who i think will say "well u should have done something about this then" and fob me off.
Or call Varde and ask for a final payment (If anyone has there number and suggest this is a good idea please let me know)

My son is getting married in 2 weeks, i dont want the baliffs coming over while i have guest or get arrested...

Again please let me know what you suggest

Kind regards,
Green121 (Please excuse the grammer)

[Amethyst]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

YOu must return the order for production of statement of means within the alloted time. To get to this stage you must have previously had a court claim and judgment against you and Varde are now enforcing the judgment via the statement of means and you will be ordered to make payments according to what you can afford. You will also have previously received a request to file your statement of means. If you don't return it then you can face a further fine and prison is also an option (though exceedingly rarely it gets to that stage).

You already have a CCJ against you for the debtand this will be reflected on your credit file.

Yes you should have contacted the police when you found out about the fraudulent use of your card, or at least MBNA, but understand why you didn't.

The original court paperwork should have details on for the claimants - but if you are raising funds to settle the order in full then this should be made through the court anyways.

Look after yourself first - get the amount paid or the statement of means returned asap. Then concentrate on sorting out your cousin.

[Green121]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

Thanks for that Ame..., do think it is worth calling Varde for a final settlement? to be honest i dont want to pay (eventully £2800) i dont mind settleing this if they offer a final settlement of £1200 or so. As it started of from £1800.

Or should i just send order for protection asap and forget asking Varde for a final settlement.

This stuff is soo stressful i cant even think straight or sleep, all because i care for someone i clearly shouldnt have...

[Amethyst]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

First question really is did you receive any of the paperwork regarding the court claim prior to the first statement of means form delivered by the bailiffs? If you hadn't received any of the prior paperwork from court or varde etc then we could look at doing similar to what Hephaestus is doing and try and get the judgment set aside and enforcement halted - although you are a little later down the line than they are so it could be harder.

Re the rest tbh they have judgment against you so it doesn't gain them much by settling - they have the upper hand completely here - although it might be worth offering a settlement so they get cash in their coffers now rather than £1 a week for 50 years - but if you do decide to do that still get that form sent back to the court asap.

You can then relax a bit and go after your cousin for repayment of the money - possibly consider informing the police and/or suing her - although neither is likely to get you your money back very quickly or get rid of this judgment - you know already you should have dealt with it long before it got this far so you don't need me to tell you that - what's done is done - get the statement of means in - offer to pay what you can and give your cousin hell later.

[Green121]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

Im posting it off now, with a letter
'
To the Court Manager

Please find attached Order for Protection of Statement of Means, although this states that I have failed to file one previously. I would like to inform you that I did not receive one prior to this therefore I was denied the opportunity to defend myself.

Adding to this although the OPSM has the date 23/09/11, I did not receive this until the 03/10/11.

I would like you to take this into consideration and inform me of any outcome from this submission. '

Regards,

[Hephaestus]

Re: HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

Hi Folks,
Just had a letter from the court.

" TAKE NOTICE that the hearing will be heard on ## Nov 2011"

"30 minutes has been allowed for the hearing"

That's it !!! Not much info there. I am going to turn up at court not knowing what to expect or do.

I have contacted the Office of Fair Trading though. They told me that Varde appeared to have been sold recently and they never applied for a CCL until 22nd June 2011. This means that if they were sending out letters between the Lapse date of their original CCl (13/11/2010) up until 22/06/2011 this is unlawful trading and can be challenged. OFT told me this. How I would go about making such a challenge though I do not know.
They have also advised me to contact the information commissioner regarding Vardes failure to supply documents. But I reckon it might be a bit late to contact them now.

So, thats the state of play at the moment, if anything happens or I get some sort of brainwave I'll be sure to post it.
Cheers.