Enforcing a County Court Judgment

[Muncher]

I am advising someone who has a substantial County Court Judgment awarded in their favour, it has been outstanding for a couple of months now with the Court Bailiffs not willing to put in any effort to enforce it. The debtor has significant assets which are highly mobile, from a practical point of view, what's the best way of getting the cash from them?

[jamesuk28]

With respect, if you do not know, then you should not be advising them!. Court bailiffs are a waste of space, there are a plethora of alternative remedies available. I suggest you do what I had to do and study in detail credit law. Debt recovery companies get a bad press, but some of us actually know what we are doing and time after time get results for our clients.

Edited by jamesuk28 on Wednesday 7th November 21:43

[Muncher]

jamesuk28 said:

With respect, if you do not know, then you should not be advising them!. Court bailiffs are a waste of space, there are a plethora of alternative remedies available. I suggest you do what I had to do and study in detail credit law. Debt recovery companies get a bad press, but some of us actually know what we are doing and time after time get results for our clients.

Edited by jamesuk28 on Wednesday 7th November 21:43

It's a friend who I'm helping out. The Legal Practice Course only really touched upon enforcement of judgments. Is the debt something you would be able to recover?

[CIS121]

Muncher said:

jamesuk28 said:

With respect, if you do not know, then you should not be advising them!. Court bailiffs are a waste of space, there are a plethora of alternative remedies available. I suggest you do what I had to do and study in detail credit law. Debt recovery companies get a bad press, but some of us actually know what we are doing and time after time get results for our clients.

Edited by jamesuk28 on Wednesday 7th November 21:43

It's a friend who I'm helping out. The Legal Practice Course only really touched upon enforcement of judgments. Is the debt something you would be able to recover?

Interesting to read your post aftert the one I've just posted. I've always found that a letter outlining a range of options open to me has always secured payment. Your topic is particularly timely however as one of the last resort methods is to lodge the debt against one of their properties via the title deeds and I've just created a post on how to hide ownership of such assets. When you say your chap's assets are highly mobile, is this what you mean and are you able to identify any property in his name?

[jamesuk28]

Muncher said:

jamesuk28 said:

With respect, if you do not know, then you should not be advising them!. Court bailiffs are a waste of space, there are a plethora of alternative remedies available. I suggest you do what I had to do and study in detail credit law. Debt recovery companies get a bad press, but some of us actually know what we are doing and time after time get results for our clients.

Edited by jamesuk28 on Wednesday 7th November 21:43

It's a friend who I'm helping out. The Legal Practice Course only really touched upon enforcement of judgments. Is the debt something you would be able to recover?

Depending on what assets the debtor has, its possible. The other poster refers to a charging order, this can be placed on a property (house) or other asset such as stocks and shares. We would need to run several searches and then if appropriate apply for an interim order.

There are several other options also available, again depending on the facts of the case, third party debt order, attachment of earnings etc etc. Or you could use private bailiffs

[JustinP1]

CIS121 said:

Muncher said:

jamesuk28 said:

With respect, if you do not know, then you should not be advising them!. Court bailiffs are a waste of space, there are a plethora of alternative remedies available. I suggest you do what I had to do and study in detail credit law. Debt recovery companies get a bad press, but some of us actually know what we are doing and time after time get results for our clients.

Edited by jamesuk28 on Wednesday 7th November 21:43

It's a friend who I'm helping out. The Legal Practice Course only really touched upon enforcement of judgments. Is the debt something you would be able to recover?

Interesting to read your post aftert the one I've just posted. I've always found that a letter outlining a range of options open to me has always secured payment. Your topic is particularly timely however as one of the last resort methods is to lodge the debt against one of their properties via the title deeds and I've just created a post on how to hide ownership of such assets. When you say your chap's assets are highly mobile, is this what you mean and are you able to identify any property in his name?

By his assets are 'highly mobile' he might just mean he owns a flash car...

[TuscNick]

I always find that once we have a Judgement, the service of a Statutory Demand, threatening bankruptcy usually has the desired affect. They are generally not keen on all of their assets being at risk.

Cheers
Nick

[jamesuk28]

TuscNick said:

I always find that once we have a Judgement, the service of a Statutory Demand, threatening bankruptcy usually has the desired affect. They are generally not keen on all of their assets being at risk.

Cheers
Nick

You do not need Judgement to serve a statutory demand. As long as the debt is not disputed and for £750+. The demand must be served correctly (process server or your own Affidavit) otherwise it is void. The demand can lead to bankruptcy proceedings or a winding up order being sort. However these two remedies can work out very expensive so I would take advice before you play about with Stat demands too much.

[trunnie]

As mentioned, the type of enforcement depends on the assets that you think that you are after. A Land Registry online search against a residential or commercial address should reveal who owns it and who it is charged to (the lenders shouldn't tell you how much is outstanding, but if a name appears as a lender who advertises on daytime TV then you may draw the conclusion that there isn't any equity; similarly lots of other charging orders suggest a potential lack of equity/readiness to pay on judgments).

It also depends on your assessment of the debtor. A "hardened debtor", which may be the case here, is experienced at brushing off bailiffs and hiding assets and may only respond to bankruptcy proceedings. BUT bankruptcy proceedings (after the stat demand) cost a lot and if your debtor has stashed the money where it is untraceable may mean that more money has been paid just for the satisfaction of bankruptcy with no real result. Always was a bit of a poker game and I suspect that the reduction of bankruptcy to 1 year has led a few more debtors to be willing to call your bluff. If you want to play that game then gather the information that you can "on the record" about the substantial mobile assets and pass it to the Official Receiver/trustee in bankruptcy after the bankruptcy.

Proper advice tailored to the exact circumstances would help your friend decide.

[TuscNick]

jamesuk28 said:

TuscNick said:

I always find that once we have a Judgement, the service of a Statutory Demand, threatening bankruptcy usually has the desired affect. They are generally not keen on all of their assets being at risk.

Cheers
Nick

You do not need Judgement to serve a statutory demand. As long as the debt is not disputed and for £750+. The demand must be served correctly (process server or your own Affidavit) otherwise it is void. The demand can lead to bankruptcy proceedings or a winding up order being sort. However these two remedies can work out very expensive so I would take advice before you play about with Stat demands too much.

Correct, but the fact you have a judgement indicates that the debt is an order of the courst and less likley to be disputable.

Assumption of over £750.

Whilst it may be expensive to go all the way to Bankruptcy - circa £1000 .One does not have to,if the stat demand has the desired affect.

Nick

[CIS121]

JustinP1 said:

CIS121 said:

Muncher said:

jamesuk28 said:

With respect, if you do not know, then you should not be advising them!. Court bailiffs are a waste of space, there are a plethora of alternative remedies available. I suggest you do what I had to do and study in detail credit law. Debt recovery companies get a bad press, but some of us actually know what we are doing and time after time get results for our clients.

Edited by jamesuk28 on Wednesday 7th November 21:43

It's a friend who I'm helping out. The Legal Practice Course only really touched upon enforcement of judgments. Is the debt something you would be able to recover?

Interesting to read your post aftert the one I've just posted. I've always found that a letter outlining a range of options open to me has always secured payment. Your topic is particularly timely however as one of the last resort methods is to lodge the debt against one of their properties via the title deeds and I've just created a post on how to hide ownership of such assets. When you say your chap's assets are highly mobile, is this what you mean and are you able to identify any property in his name?

By his assets are 'highly mobile' he might just mean he owns a flash car...

He did put "significant assets". Has he got a Veyron, Mclaren F1 and something else nice?

[Muncher]

He's got quite an infamous (in recent terms) Ford GT, though not worth as much as it was a while back... Also property, commercial property and a race car.

[CIS121]

Muncher said:

He's got quite an infamous (in recent terms) Ford GT, though not worth as much as it was a while back... Also property, commercial property and a race car.

What stops you from lodging the debt against one of his properties, perfrerably one he's likely to sell soon?

[Muncher]

CIS121 said:

Muncher said:

He's got quite an infamous (in recent terms) Ford GT, though not worth as much as it was a while back... Also property, commercial property and a race car.

What stops you from lodging the debt against one of his properties, preferably one he's likely to sell soon?

Nothing but I've no way of telling which properties he is intending to sell soon and was hoping there would be more effective means of extracting cold hard cash more quickly and easily.

[jamesuk28]

Muncher said:

CIS121 said:

Muncher said:

He's got quite an infamous (in recent terms) Ford GT, though not worth as much as it was a while back... Also property, commercial property and a race car.

What stops you from lodging the debt against one of his properties, preferably one he's likely to sell soon?

Nothing but I've no way of telling which properties he is intending to sell soon and was hoping there would be more effective means of extracting cold hard cash more quickly and easily.

If you place a charging order against one of his properties you can technically force a sale. Either way your debt will earn interest while its charged against a property, so even if its sold in 20 years you will still come out all right. Think of it as a secured long term investment.

[Boosted LS1]

A person with assets will usually settle if served with a Stat Demand unless they file a counterclaim or agree terms. It's a bluff but a very good one and simple to implement imo.

Boosted.

[soprano]

jamesuk28 said:

Muncher said:

CIS121 said:

Muncher said:

He's got quite an infamous (in recent terms) Ford GT, though not worth as much as it was a while back... Also property, commercial property and a race car.

What stops you from lodging the debt against one of his properties, preferably one he's likely to sell soon?

Nothing but I've no way of telling which properties he is intending to sell soon and was hoping there would be more effective means of extracting cold hard cash more quickly and easily.

If you place a charging order against one of his properties you can technically force a sale. Either way your debt will earn interest while its charged against a property, so even if its sold in 20 years you will still come out all right. Think of it as a secured long term investment.

orders for sale in situations where a charging order have been placed against property are notoriously difficult to obtain, especially when the value of the charge is a small proportion of the value of the property.

[jamesuk28]

soprano said:

jamesuk28 said:

Muncher said:

CIS121 said:

Muncher said:

He's got quite an infamous (in recent terms) Ford GT, though not worth as much as it was a while back... Also property, commercial property and a race car.

What stops you from lodging the debt against one of his properties, preferably one he's likely to sell soon?

Nothing but I've no way of telling which properties he is intending to sell soon and was hoping there would be more effective means of extracting cold hard cash more quickly and easily.

If you place a charging order against one of his properties you can technically force a sale. Either way your debt will earn interest while its charged against a property, so even if its sold in 20 years you will still come out all right. Think of it as a secured long term investment.

orders for sale in situations where a charging order have been placed against property are notoriously difficult to obtain, especially when the value of the charge is a small proportion of the value of the property.

HENCE the reason I said TECHNICALLY !!!!

[soprano]

jamesuk28 said:

soprano said:

jamesuk28 said:

Muncher said:

CIS121 said:

Muncher said:

He's got quite an infamous (in recent terms) Ford GT, though not worth as much as it was a while back... Also property, commercial property and a race car.

What stops you from lodging the debt against one of his properties, preferably one he's likely to sell soon?

Nothing but I've no way of telling which properties he is intending to sell soon and was hoping there would be more effective means of extracting cold hard cash more quickly and easily.

If you place a charging order against one of his properties you can technically force a sale. Either way your debt will earn interest while its charged against a property, so even if its sold in 20 years you will still come out all right. Think of it as a secured long term investment.

orders for sale in situations where a charging order have been placed against property are notoriously difficult to obtain, especially when the value of the charge is a small proportion of the value of the property.

HENCE the reason I said TECHNICALLY !!!!

considering the nature of the question, and the fact the O/P appears to have no legal training, i thought it unlikely he would know that something he could 'technically' do would in fact practially provide little chance of a satisfactory solution.

I wasn't intending to undermine your advice, simply be helpful to the O/P.

[unrepentant]

Boosted LS1 said:

A person with assets will usually settle if served with a Stat Demand unless they file a counterclaim or agree terms. It's a bluff but a very good one and simple to implement imo.

Boosted.

I thought stat demands could only be served on companies?