£18k In Credit Card Debts - How to deal with demands, can they force u to sell ur home etc

[masjntt]

Hi

 

My 58 year old uncle told me last night that he has run up approx £18k of debt on 4 credit cards in the last couple of years since my nan died. He lives alone and cannot manage on the money he has coming on and has arrears built up on his cards.

 

He owns the property he lives in {was inherited after my nans death}.He is unemployed and recieves JSA and has his council tax paid. As far as I know he only has these unsecured debt but is worried he will lose his house.

 

I have asked him to sort out all of his account details, letters etc and make a list of all incomings / outgoings too. I am going to see him on Thursday to have a look at things. I am going to see if he is entitled to any further benefits as he is unwell but dont think he will be.

 

Once I've ascertained the extent of his debt what is the best way forward to negotiating or even getting some debt written off. Do I need to apply for CCAs for each card??

 

More importantly for now can anyone clarify the worse case senario as to what could happen to his property with this debt?

 

Thanks for any advice / input

Cheers xx

[42man]

Hi Mas....CCA request would be a good start (how old are the accounts ?)....and he could possibly lose the house, but only after CCJ's then Charging Orders......(and failing to pay back any repayments)

[masjntt]

Thanks 42man

 

I'll start with some CCA letters then. Im not sure how old the accounts are Im assuming 4/5 years - obv will find this info out when I've seen him

 

Whilst requesting the CCA's what is the best process to follow re payments, should we be also sending letter explaining inability to pay and asking for interest/charges to be frozen and offering token payments in the mean time??

 

Obviously the main objective is to not loose the house

Thank you for ur help x

[cerberusalert]

For the time being he could pay a nominal amount of a couple of pounds. In the event that his creditors applied for CCJs against him he would be able to show the court that he had taken responsibility for his debts & was paying what he could reasonably afford due to his circumstances. Because of his income a judge would not order him to pay more & could even reduce payments to £1 per month.

 

As for losing his house, his creditors would first have to apply to the court for a charging order after they had acquired a CCJ and as long as your uncle had kept up with his payments a judge would be extremely unlikely to grant it.

[the_shadow]

If these responsible lending firms have lent someone who is unemployed a credit line up to £18k solely on the precept that he owns a house and has equity then they deserve to get burnt.

 

Not sure of the legalities but could the house be signed over to someone else, say yourself....as a gift?

Edited March 24, 2009 by pmw1971
changed deserved to deserve... : they havent lost out.... yet :-)

[masjntt]

Thank you everyone so far for ur replies. The query about signing the house over was something I had thought of but wasnt sure whether it would be possible given the circumstances.

 

As I said main priorty is to try and protect the house really x

[the_shadow]

Thank you everyone so far for ur replies. The query about signing the house over was something I had thought of but wasnt sure whether it would be possible given the circumstances.

 

As I said main priorty is to try and protect the house really x

 

Ok so long as he's not being pursued under bankruptcy a solicitor can transfer the ownership of the house to whoever he wishes, obviously this is a serious step and means he effectively becomes a tenant and has no claim/say in the property from then on.

 

Solicitors charge approx £400-450 for this. I've been told takes 4-6 weeks

 

As you've been advised already they would need to get a CCJ and then convince a judge he's not actually paying the amount to get a charging order.

 

a question for people far more knowledgeable than me: Would the DCA's be more likely to use a stat demand for someone who has a sizeable asset but no likelihood of paying back a debt?

[cerberusalert]

a question for people far more knowledgeable than me: Would the DCA's be more likely to use a stat demand for someone who has a sizeable asset but no likelihood of paying back a debt?

 

A few do on a regular basis and are beginning to get their wrists slapped as a result of it. Part of their search process is using the Land Registry & when they get a 'hit' their eyes must light up like an xmas tree.

[the_shadow]

A few do on a regular basis and are beginning to get their wrists slapped as a result of it. Part of their search process is using the Land Registry & when they get a 'hit' their eyes must light up like an xmas tree.

 

Thanks!

 

I suspected as much. Something the OP needs to be aware of then and possibly prepare for.

Edited March 24, 2009 by pmw1971
forgot to say "thanks"

[masjntt]

Thank you again everyone as far as I know things havent gotten as far as DCAs yet - sorry to be thick but what is a stat demand ??

 

Thanks x

[cerberusalert]

See; Legal Issues Explained - Statutory Demand

[masjntt]

Thank you x

[masjntt]

For the time being he could pay a nominal amount of a couple of pounds. In the event that his creditors applied for CCJs against him he would be able to show the court that he had taken responsibility for his debts & was paying what he could reasonably afford due to his circumstances. Because of his income a judge would not order him to pay more & could even reduce payments to £1 per month.

 

As for losing his house, his creditors would first have to apply to the court for a charging order after they had acquired a CCJ and as long as your uncle had kept up with his payments a judge would be extremely unlikely to grant it.

 

I just want to check something if possible please. If we request CCAs but also send a letter offering nominal payments towards the debt wouldnt that legally be classed as acknowledging the debt?? Im just probably getting confused with various bits of terminology that i've read about???

 

Thanks x

[masjntt]

**BUMP** Still need advice on my last post - thanks x

[cerberusalert]

Paying money to an alleged debt is not an admission. It would be different if he was claiming that any agreement was 'Statute Barred' where it would be important not to have made any payment or written admission of the debt within a six year period (5 in Scotland).

 

What we are hoping for in your uncles case is that any agreement be unenforceable because they are lacking 'the prescribed terms'.

[masjntt]

Thanks for clarifying that for me makes complete sense now

 

Thank you once again for your help x