Interim charging order

[StalkedByASpider]

Hi,

I am about to put my house up for sale. About 10 years ago I was in a financial mess, and had lots of debts. I vaguely remembered one creditor writing to me about putting a charge against the property. I can recall thinking, phew, at least that's one that I don't have to pay right away!

Anyway, I totally forgot about it until now. I've just checked my title deeds and it shows an "interim charging order" but that's it. No amount specified. And no final charging order.

This was back in 2014 - what are the implications for it now? Are interim charging orders still enforceable nine years later? And if so, how can I find out how much it is for?

Without going into detail, things were awful back then. I paid off almost everything that I owed, but I remember there were one or two things that weren't paid. There was one debt that I didn't believe that I owed and the other one was supposed to be cleared by the delightful ex (and didn't).

Does anyone know where I stand on this please?

www.stepchange.org/debt-info/debt-collection/charging-orders-and-my-home.aspx

As there is an interim charging order against your property, the creditors will be notified when your house is sold. They will then be able to return to court for the debt to be repaid.
I would search through your house to find the paperwork detailing this debt. Once you know the amount, you will be able to calculate the amount of equity you will have left once you sell the property.
One other thing you need to be aware of is that your credit record may well be very poor as a result of this unpaid debt. Have you done a credit check recently? This may prevent you from getting an affordable mortgage if you were considering moving house and increasing your borrowing. Check all of this before you put your house on the market!

In fact this will stop you from selling the house. The new owner will insist on it being removed on completion. Find out what debt it relates to and work out either what you owe or alternatively whether you've paid it all off.

There should either be a final charging order somewhere or the proceedings were withdrawn.

@Rose7728 thank you for taking the time to link to this but it doesn’t answer my question unfortunately. The interim order was issued 9 years ago but the process described in the link hasn’t been followed - there’s never been any final charging order issued.

According to all the debt charities that’s supposed to happen automatically- but it hasn’t. So what now? Does the charging order still apply? I can’t seem to find the answer anywhere. There’s also no value stipulated.

I don’t think either has happened @Collaborate. I think the interim order was issued…..but then nothing happened. It’s fallen off my credit file - I have a feeling this was the one debt that wasn’t paid as my ex kept saying he’d clear it. I paid all the rest (even joint debts that he was supposed to pay) and have worked bloody hard to get everything back on track.

Presumably if I just pay it in full when the house completes, that will resolve it? How will I know if proceedings were withdrawn?

When you come to sell the house, your solicitor will be able to contact the company to find out what is owed to get them to remove the charge.