Can anyone help us please. We have provided the Bankruptcy Trustees an internal valuation of our property which is 18 months old. They want to do their own valuation in full PPE during lockdown. Do we have to agree? The estate agent valued slightly higher than them but with Covid reducing property values and our short lease, we feel the house is worth a lot less. I don't trust their over inflated drive by valuation am I within my rights to insist we do our own valuation or do we not have a choice?

Yep they were particularly challenging. We just had to agree to not discuss the suspended case and didn't want to tip the balance when an order for sale was particularly imminent - the Judge would have granted it, I am almost certain, he was as unforgiving as they were! The debt charity suggested we accept the terms too so here we are now defending an unforgiving Trustee instead!!

Hi, it was CMS. I am bound by confidentiality so can't discuss the content but a junior solicitor dealt mainly with the case and more senior solicitors created the witness statements and a barrister attended the hearing. I used a debt charity to help me write to them with our final payment plan offer and they accepted. To say we were gobsmacked and relieved is an understatement. Just gutted we are now fighting with a trustee in bankruptcy and so worried we may lose the house afterall

We did hire a solicitor at the time to challenge it as it was an old business debt and it was against an overdrawn directors loan account, now liquidated company. The solicitor failed to fight it. Is it still worth challenging?

Yes, you're right. Perhaps wishful thinking of no news is good news but unfortunately it's raised its ugly head again!

Hi, thanks for your reply. The last house sold like ours was about 10 years which has a big extension. We did have our property valued about 18 months ago by a local agent but not sure how we would calculate what it would be worth with a short lease, as they calculated using freehold value. Also, with the fragile economy the way it is, I would have thought properties would be less now? Thanks.

Hi, we have managed to agree terms with this creditor, thankfully and finally. Now we face another problem... my husband was declared bankrupt in 2018 by another creditor. Long story short, it's now in the hands of a trustee. They have apparently completed a drive by valuation which is higher than the first creditor mentioned previously so the trustee believes there is more equity for them to take. Our property is leasehold with a 54 year lease so tricky to value. We made an offer based on the first creditors valuation which was rejected by the trustee because, guess what, their valuation stands. So, I am now fighting again to save our home. Is there anything we can do to challenge the valuation and suggest the equity isn't as high as they think it is? Will a trustee be brutal enough to effectively push us into a homeless situation during a global pandemic because raising the funds they are seeking, is somewhat out of reach? Any help is gratefully received. Thank you.

Ok great, we will leave it as it is - thanks so much for your help

Ok great thank you. I will ask them to confirm they are going to lodge an Official Consent Order as this was not mentioned in the letter.

Hi, it's a letter reconfirming our payment arrangement offer agreeing to adjourn on the basis the terms are met each month until the debt is paid off. Any breach will result in them relisting the OFS but they want us both to sign confirming, which I am reluctant to do when the charge is in one name only. The fact it hasn't been in both names is one of the defences we put forward. I worry that if for whatever reason, we break the agreement (believe me we want to stick to it wherever possible), we are both then liable as the agreement letter has been signed. Thanks.

Hi, finally the creditor has agreed to our payment arrangement and adjourned the case if the repayment terms are met. The debt is in one name only but have asked us both to sign an agreement. Not sure how to respond; gut feeling is to start paying immediately and returning the form with just the debtor's signature with a covering note explaining. We would be grateful for some advice on this please as soon as possible as the deadline cut off is next week. Thanks in advance.

Hi, we submitted the 8th suggested offer of monthly repayments 3 weeks ago (all other offers have been rejected so far) and was told by Banks solicitor they would reply asap. Have heard nothing since. Extremely frustrating as we only have 6 months to work out a solution before the hearing. We have been told that OFS are extremely rare by several forum groups but at the initial hearing the Judge indicated we should accept either the OFS claim or the adjournment to find a repayment solution - suggested arguments ie. children; one debtor on joint home; small debt in comparison, etc were ignored arguments. We feel like we are fighting a losing battle and the slow replies from the bank denying us the opportunity to repay the debt is not helping our state of mind. Struggling to know what to do as we cannot pay the debt off in full quickly. Can anyone offer any suggestions please moving forward? Thanks.

Sorry, have just picked up your messages and am not understanding what is being suggested we do and wondered if you wouldn't mind explaining. The Judge gave us 2 options - to accept adjournment the Bank requested in order to reach a repayment deal or the OFS claim. There is enough equity at the moment but the house value is decreasing due to a short lease (leasehold property) so the Judge is concerned the creditor will lose out the longer it continues. There are school aged children in the family home and there being only one debtor irrelevant arguments. The debt is only worth about 5.5% of what the value would be if it was a freehold property and 13% of the total value of debt. Again the Judge considered these as irrelevant arguments.

Ok great thanks. The Judge knew we had already made 7 offers but wasn't bothered, just said he couldn't comment on that, we have to work with the creditor so we will continue to do so.

Ok no worries, we will keep going with the negotiations. Is it worth asking what their expectations are considering they asked for more time to negotiate with us?

Interesting, how would I find that out, could it be in the court bundle? Yes it was a PG on a business bank overdraft/business loan. Thanks

That's our feeling too. Just feel we are quite vulnerable given the seriousness of the situation but I would hate to miss something due to our lack of legal expertise. We will continue to negotiate in the meantime and if we're fighting a losing battle, we may have to reconsider our options and hire a solicitor. Thanks so much for your time.

Would you recommend hiring a solicitor to offer a stronger representation at this stage or if an agreement can't be reached over the next few months?

That is a shame. Too late to be reversed I guess? What do we do now? Thanks for your help.

It was dated November 2017, £29,870 plus costs payable forthwith. Interim CO Jan 2018, final CO Apr 2018. Thank you.

Thank you for your reply. There is enough equity from my husband's share to repay what's owed if the OFS is granted. The bank suggested the adjournment to negotiate a repayment plan but this is where the struggle is - we can't raise the finance to pay off in full and 7 monthly repayment plans have been rejected. Do we start paying them something at least now in the interim (they haven't provided payment details yet) or should we use the money to find a solicitor? OFS are so rare, I'm not sure where to start finding a solicitor with a good track record in defending such claims successfully.

Thank you for the links. Seems there's nothing stopping them from going for the OFS and the Judge was disinterested in our arguments at the hearing. Not sure how to negotiate payment terms when large lump sums are hard to come by and repayment proposals have been rejected 7 times as they're not prepared to wait too long for their money, no matter how keen we are to get this debt cleared.

Hi, thanks for your reply. Can an order for sale be issued following a charge if only one of the joint owners is the debtor?

I will have to look into this, however we have already attended a telephone hearing with a Judge who was going to put the OFS claim through regardless, so we went for the adjournment option. Unless the Judge doesn't know what he was doing but I'd like to think he did?! Not sure why the bank encouraged the adjournment as it was handed to them, only they know the reasons. We could probably do with the weight of a lawyer now as I can't bear to be patronised by another Judge or feel so vulnerable. I have found this on another thread about COs and K restriction.... A Charging Order can be obtained against jointly owned properties. However, the method of registration differs from an Equitable Charge for one debtor/property owner to a Restriction for one debtor/multiple property owners. In both cases a Charging Order is still obtained and either an Equitable Charge or Restriction can be used to enforce an Order for Sale potentially.

Yes exactly that. Great business banking manager (not) pushed my husband naively into a corner to sign the personal guarantee on a business overdraft - business now liquidated. Hindsight says the form should never have been signed and the likelihood is, I wouldn't be on this forum right now! But, it is what it is and we have to now deal with the consequences. Thanks