eviction date 31st january with birmingham midshires

[star*]

hi our hearing date is tomorrow at 3.30, there were no duty legal reps available they only work on a tuesday morning, i am a bit worried about what their rep will be like, any advice on how to handle myself before we go into the judge x

[Lea_HTH]

hi our hearing date is tomorrow at 3.30, there were no duty legal reps available they only work on a tuesday morning, i am a bit worried about what their rep will be like, any advice on how to handle myself before we go into the judge x

 

You're not in London are you?

[star*]

no we are in staffordshire

[Lea_HTH]

Okay - if you were in London might have been able to help with representation.

 

If you are worried about talking to their rep, then don't talk to them. Sometimes they do try to make people agree with things before going before the judge, but you are perfectly entitled to say you want the judge to decide. Always be polite - the representative for the other side is simply doing their job; but if they are rude to you, feel free to remind them that they should be polite to you too! (They really ought to know better than to be rude to defendants, but some people can't help themselves - most of the reps are polite, but you do get a few who aren't.)

 

I know you have been in court before, but when you address the judge, if it is a man, ensure you end each sentence with 'sir' and if female with 'madam'. Do NOT be tempted to interrupt the other side when they are speaking, even if they say something untrue, make a note of it, and wait for your turn, or, when they have finished say to the judge 'may I respond sir/madam'. Politeness goes a LONG way with judges.

 

You've had help from Ell-enn with your paperwork, so really you just need to stay confident that you can afford to repay the arrears, and put your case across clearly - and with any luck things will go your way.

 

Best of luck - and let us know what happens.

[star*]

hi guys all went well, the judge was really lovely he was impressed with our statement, budget sheet and my corresspondance with BM, he put me at ease straight away, and was very unimpressed with BM's rep, he was very confused with their figures, basically we took out the mortgage for 110,000.00 in sept 06, and according to our bank statements we have made payments of around 30,000.00 yet BM are saying our mortgage balance is 107,000.00!!! he advised the rep to get BM to look at this, and advised myself to get some good advice about this as he feels they have charged me a ridiculous amount in interest. Their rep was so cross afterwards and stormed off, she was also extremly busy too as she had at least 4 other cases to deal with and from the look of it lost each case.

So thankyou so so much everyone especially ell-enn and to lea, you are a credit and provide an amazing service to all of us who have lost our way with finances, its very scary as there are so many of us out there, and i bet many just get evicted as they dont know their rights we really need to stand up to the banks but maybe the government should do alot more, i can sleep well tonight, and from the bottom of my heart i thankyou xxxxx

[Ell-enn]

Excellent news - well done hope everything goes OK for you now

[frettful38]

Excellent news and an excellent result with the help of Ell-enn and Lea......can I ask would these same principles apply on a secured loan too? Would the Norgan case apply?

[star*]

many thanks, not sure about your question but the judge did say his principles were to work alongside with norgan?

[Lea_HTH]

Well done Star!

 

Fretful: yes, Norgan applies to secured loans too - but in addition if the secured loan is under 25K it is probably governed by the CCA 1974 too, which means the Judge has other powers available to him. Norgan is usually the easiest and most straightforward way of dealing with a loan secured on property though.

[frettful38]

Thank you kindly for your response Lea_HTH, my loan is unregulated so a little different.