HELP. In Court vs Varde Investments/Hegarty LLP

[Hephaestus]

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

Thanks Teaboy,
I am doing just that regarding this licence discrepancy but its going to take too long for me to present any outcome at my hearing. Will keep at it tho.
I've looked at the Nelson case quoted in Heggartys letter. It concerns having a judgment set aside if the claim form did not reach the defendant. The most important factors appear to be the "prompt" application of the defendant once he finds out about a judgment against him. I believe I fulfill that requirement. And also that the defendant can demonstrate a reasonable chance of success in another hearing. I believe I also fulfill that requirement as Varde,Heggarty and now IND have all failed to supply any proof of claims. I will argue that I have the right to know what I am paying for.
But that's about all I can come up with.
Yikes.

[teaboy2]

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

Taken from the public register:


Current license

Application / Licence Details




Licence Number:0643780
Licence Status:Current

Current Applicant / Licensee:

Business NameCompany Registration Number Varde Investments (ireland) Ltd401930

Categories:

Consumer credit

Right To Canvass Off Trade Premises:No


Issued Date: 22-Jun-2011
Date Maintenance Payment Due: 21-Jun-2016


Legal Formation:

Body Corporate (incorporated outside UK)

Current Individuals that run the organisation:

Previous license:

Application / Licence Details




Licence Number:0577595
Licence Status:Lapsed on 13/11/2010

Current Applicant / Licensee:

Business NameCompany Registration Number Varde Investments (Ireland) Limited401930

Categories:

Consumer credit Consumer hire Credit brokerage Credit reference agency Debt adjusting/counselling Debt collecting

Right To Canvass Off Trade Premises:Yes


Issued Date: 13-Nov-2005


Legal Formation:

Body Corporate (incorporated outside UK)

So it would appear they have may have been acting unlawfully if they had sent you any letters or issued a claim too (i believe) between those dates. You should forward copies of any such letters and details of their claim issued against to the OFT and ask them to take action.

[Hephaestus]

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

Hi Folks,

Got an update. I have not received any proof of claims from IND. I know they received my request as I sent it "signed for delivery" and have proof of delivery.
I just received a letter from Heggarty tho regarding my hearing to have the judgment set aside.
The say that as I have reconfirmed my address to the court by asking for this new hearing this means that Vardes claim was properly served and therefore I have no prospect of successfully defending the claim and there is no reason for the judgment to be set aside.
They go on to say
"If the court allows the Defendant's application, the claimant applies for orders dispensing with service of the claim form and for permission (under CPR r24.4(1) to apply forthwith for summary judgment on the claim with the decision of the Court of Appeal in Nelson and another v Clearsprings (Management) Ltd (2006) EWCA Civ1512"

They have attached a print out of Vardes new Consumer Credit Licence issued 22 June 2011.
Also enclosed is a copy of IND's "Last letter before Legal Proceedings"

I am in court tomorrow and still don't know what this is about. Hopefully the judge will also want to see what this about.

Cheers.

[Judge mental]

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

Hi Heph

Assigned was actually the word I was hoping was there, but I thought that it was Varde that has assigned the debt to IND.

Crossed wires all round

Stuart

[Hephaestus]

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

Hi Judge Mental,
Thanks for your info. I have looked again at this letter and I have made a mistake, it does not say sold it says assigned. Sorry dude.
The actual wording is Last Letter Before Legal Proceedings.
"MBNA Europe Ltd has assigned to Varde Investments (Ireland) Lt the full amount owed by you under the agreements(s) referred to above with effect from 26/05/2010. As a result of this assignment the full outstanding balance owed by you is due to Varde Investments (Ireland) Lt immediately. Varde Investments(Ireland) Lt has appointed IND Ltd to collect this balance on its behalf."
This is the only letter I have received from IND dated 5/8/2011. The next letter I received shortly afterward was the judgement for claimant (in default) from the courts.
This letter has Varde as the claimant but the address for payment is IND Ltd. co Heggarty LLP, 48 Broadway, Peterborough. On the AOE that came shortly after this though, Varde are named again as the claimant but payment is due to Heggarty and not IND.
So far I was originally contacted by Varde, I requested info from them, they ignored me and I started getting letters from Heggarty, I requested info from them, they ignored me as well, then I get the letter from IND referred to above (which I ignored) who say they now have my personal data and I should get it from them. I have written to them with a £10 fee and await a reply.
The office of fair trading have given me the following ref numbers to enter into their site
OFT 664 and OFT664CON which they said is something specifically related to Debt Collectors and/or companies who are sold and want to continue with the previous companies business. I will look at this later and see what it means.

Once again, thanks for your advice and my apologies for getting the wording wrong in my previous post.

Cheers.

[Judge mental]

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

Hi:

That is a good find, if Verde sold the debt Varde has no legal rights. Does the letter say notice of assignment?

Its another (and possibly the best) reason for the Judgement to be set asside -

On the day of your hearing (make sure you take copies of that letter with you) inform the Judge that new information has recently come to light proving that Varde is not the owner of the debt and therefore they have no lawful right or entitlement of action. Pursuing a debt to which they have no legal right to pursue is deceitful by misrepresentation and an abuse of the court process.

Section 136 of the Law of property Act 1925 states -

136 Legal assignments of things in action.

(1) Any absolute assignment by writing under the hand of the assignor (not purporting to be by way of charge only) of any debt or other legal thing in action, of which express notice in writing has been given to the debtor, trustee or other person from whom the assignor would have been entitled to claim such debt or thing in action, is effectual in law (subject to equities having priority over the right of the assignee) to pass and transfer from the date of such notice—.

(a) the legal right to such debt or thing in action;.
(b) all legal and other remedies for the same; and.
(c) the power to give a good discharge for the same without the concurrence of the as signor:.

Provided that, if the debtor, trustee or other person liable in respect of such debt or thing in action has notice—

(a)that the assignment is disputed by the assignor or any person claiming under him; or.

(b)of any other opposing or conflicting claims to such debt or thing in action;he may, if he thinks fit, either call upon the persons making claim thereto to interplead concerning the same, or pay the debt or other thing in action into court under the provisions of the Trustee Act, 1925..

Stuart

[Hephaestus]

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

Hi,
Have been ransacking the house looking for letters from Varde. No luck yet. I have found one from a company called IND Ltd. ( dated Aug/2011). It says that Varde were sold this debt on 26/5/10 and that IND now hold all my data. I have only ever written to Varde so I will write to IND now and get my info, they want £10 admin fee. I never sent this fee in any of my previous requests to Varde. Hopefully I will get some paperwork before I go to court.

Cheers.

[Judge mental]

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

Hephaetus

The hearing on ** November is to only determine if the Judgment granted by Northampton bulk centre will be set aside, it will not determine the claims made by the claimant, however as previously stated to do this you will need to show a reasonable chance of success at defending the claims against you.

Things which might trigger some sort of brainwave, if not you should bring them to the attention of the court in support of your claims to have a 'reasonable chance of success' at a full hearing -.

The claimant has been uncooperative with disclosure of documents relating to their claims, a complaint has been made to the IFO and you are awaiting a decision. (Do make a complaint, hopefully you will receive an acknowledgement from IFO which you can produce at the hearing). Additionally, the claimant has a continuing duty of disclosure under Civil Proceedure rules Part 31.11

The claimant was operating unlawfully between 13/11/2010 and 22/06/11 and therefore had no legal right to pursue any claims. (This is particularly important if they initiated recovery of the debt between those dates, written confirmation of your telephone conversation with OFT would be very useful)

The relevant sections of the CCA are -

(A payment under section 28 is the license fee)

28C Failure to pay charge under s. 28.

(1)This section applies if a person (the ‘defaulter’) fails to pay a charge—.
(a)before the end of a period (the ‘payment period’) as required under section 28A; or.
(b)where the payment period is extended under section 28B, before the end of the payment period as extended (subject to subsection (2))..

(2)Where the payment period is extended under section 28B in relation to a part of the charge only, this section applies if the defaulter fails—.
(a)to pay so much of the charge as is not covered by the extension before the end of the payment period disregarding the extension; or.
(b)to pay so much of the charge as is covered by the extension before the end of the payment period as extended..

(the important one.......)

(3)Subject to subsection (4), if the charge is a charge under section 28A(1), the defaulter's licence terminates..

(4)If the defaulter has applied to the OFT under section 28B for the payment period to be extended and that application has not been determined—.
(a)his licence shall not terminate before the application has been determined and the OFT has notified him of the determination; and.
(b)if the OFT extends the payment period on that application, this section shall have effect accordingly..

(5)If the charge is a charge under section 28A(2), the charge shall be recoverable by the OFT.]].

Renewal, variation, suspension and revocation of licences

29 Renewal.
(1)If the licensee under a standard licence [of limited duration], or the original applicant for, or any licensee under, a group licence of limited duration, wishes the [OFT] to renew the licence, whether on the same terms (except as to expiry) or on varied terms, he must, during the period specified by the [OFT] by general notice or such longer period as the [OFT] may allow, make an application to the [OFT] for its renewal..

(2)The [OFT] may of [its] own motion renew any group licence..

(3)The preceding provisions of this Part apply to the renewal of a licence as they apply to the issue of a licence, except that section 28 does not apply to a person who was already excluded in the licence up for renewal..

(3A)In its application to the renewal of standard licences by virtue of subsection (3) of this section, section 27(1) shall have effect as if for paragraph (b) there were substituted—.
“(b)invite the applicant to submit to the OFT in accordance with section 34 representations—.
(i)in support of his application; and.
(ii)about the provision (if any) that should be included under section 34A as part of the determination were the OFT to refuse the application or grant it in terms different from those applied for.”].

(4)Until the determination of an application under subsection (1) and, where an appeal lies from the determination, until the end of the appeal period, the licence shall continue to have effect, notwithstanding that apart from this subsection it would expire earlier..

(5)F40. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

(6)General notice shall be given of the renewal of a group licence..

And under schedule 1 - Prosecution and punishment of offences

9(1) Engaging in activities requiring a licence when not a licensee.
(a) Summarily. £400.
(b) On indictment. 2 years imprisonment or a fine or both.

Hope it helps

Stuart

[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.

[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,

[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

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

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

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)

[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.