A CCJ against my name/property - total surprise, how to resolve pls?

[JandLandG]

I wonder if anyone can help here.

Currently trying to rent a property prior to downsizing. Own own home outright. No debt, good salary, pay credit cards off in full every month.

Went to sign a rental agreement but it was withdrawn after letting agency said was found there was a CCJ against me.

A total surprise.

Cannot find details (they gave me a reference number but no idea how to access info), but I suspect it might relate to a parking fee charged by a private company that my work was supposed to pay and never did. I remember just ignoring in the end and it went away.

Or so I thought.

£200 owed, apparently.

Not in a massive rush to rent, but thought I had all my ducks in a row - paperwork, finance stuff, self-employment invoices/remittances etc etc and then this came up.

How do I proceed?

Can I not rent until this is resolved?

How on earth do I resolve?

Any thoughts/info/experience would be greatly appreciated .

It seems crazy that some piffling little "debt" scuppered/delayed my plans...

Thanks for this...yep, it does look like i've been naive, as I said earlier.

just seems like I've been written off here when I didn't receive anything for this so-called debt.

and all my normal positives don't seem to count for anything.

"Tough on the OP but that's how it works." someone said above...just wondering how/why this is how things "work"...

I would have been better off walking into curry's and just nicking a telly and walking out or mugging an old lady for her bingo money...presumably that would have been ok to rent a flat?

Funny how "things work" I suppose...

Will plough on...

You do sound a bit airy fairy I'm afraid and a little smug and thinking you're above it all because its @not your world".

It's mad to me that you don't know how to check your credit score. It's a good way to make sure you're not the victim of fraud too so worth learning about it! Try something like clerscore, it's free and you'll probably see more details of the CcJ too!!

I'm a landlord and wouldn't rent to you, a CCJ means you've had issues managing your affairs whether it's financial or in your case organisational so I'd have concerns about what it would mean for me and pick some one else. Unfortunately for you there's more tenants than properties right now.

It's fairly easily sorted and set aside though so just pull up your big girl (boy?) pants and get it done!

"I would have been better off walking into curry's and just nicking a telly and walking out or mugging an old lady for her bingo money...presumably that would have been ok to rent a flat?"

Come on op now you just sound a bit thick lol obviously a criminal record would be even more of a barrier to renting 😂

Yep… her stream of consciousness narrative is trying too hard.

@JandLandG just seems like I've been written off here when I didn't receive anything for this so-called debt.

You say yourself that you ignored correspondence about a parking infringement. Did all of that come from the landowner/council or did you also overlook/miss letters from the court?

The only way to solve this is to get full details of the judgment from the Registry of Judgments and apply to have it set aside. If there's been a cock up with addresses so you didn't get the original 'summons' you stand a good chance of success. If it was correctly served, and all they need to do is show it was posted to you, then you're on a much stickier wicket.

The last time I asked EA to advertise a 3 bedroom house they took photos and got it up within 24 hours. Within 3 days they had done about 24 viewings and 18 wanted to rent it. EA had taken details from the 18 about their circumstances. Stuff like how many adults/kids, if pets, if 1 or both adults worked, any benefits they got, any CCJ's, if kids in a nearby school, how much they earned and how long they wanted to rent for plus anything else they wanted to add. 1 lady said she wanted to live close to her Mum so she would help with childcare so I decided to go with her.

I would have been happy with 14 of the 18 tbh. The thing is why would anyone choose a person with a CCJ when 18.didnt have one?

You seriously need to get off your smug high horse l it matters not a jot what you own and how much money you have you also have a CCJ and that will impact you because people like landlords etc will not just look beyond it at what a wonderful wealthy person you are . It would be better to be a person with debts but no CCJ than a person like yourself .

Op do you really not understand how credit files work and the negative impact from a CCJ? Your credit check is assessed based on risk, and people who just ignore bills to the point a company applies to the court to have a ccj inflicted on someone tends to be a risk they won't touch.

Don't assume you'll be able to get this set aside either. If you just ignored letters, you don't have a leg to stand on.

I don't think so...honestly!

they haven't checked my bank statements, dbs check, personal reference from the headteacher of the school where I'm a governor, mortgage paid off on 600k house - nothing other than some letters some computers sent to each other three years ago.

I mean, every day's a school day, but this all sounds mad to me...

ok, I might be living in a different world to credit checks and debt, normally...I don't mean to sound aloof, but it's a bit of a mystery how, as you say "It would be better to be a person with debts but no CCJ than a person like yourself ."

Seems a bit mad.

Flats market was hot by me, but cooling...I'll put my big pants on and sort and see where we go...no mad rush to change circs, but I was getting excited until I found this out...it seems difficult to sort thought...they said they'd get back to me in 28 days...I mean, ...and then I bet it'll take a while after that...

anyway...as usual, thanks all for your thoughts and perspectives...

It’s not madness, having managed debts shows you are responsible and able to make the agreed payments and can keep to within your means.

Having a CCJ means you’ve ignored / stuck your head in the sand long enough for a company to take you to court for none payment of your debts. I suspect you did receive the court paper work but thought, this doesn’t apply to me.

You don’t need to wait 28 days, several people have shared links to info about how to ‘set aside the CCJ’. These are the exact words you need to google for more information and the forms. Again, it’s like you think this process doesn’t apply to you.

And no matter how much money you have, you should be checking your credit reports fairly regularly to make sure you’ve not fallen victim to any identity fraud.

Ok...point taken, everyone - thanks so much again.

Look, I'm not rich or anything, just fortunately decently comfortable - for now.

Not much in the way of pensions or investments, tbh - my main aim when I was younger was paying off as much of my mortgage as poss...even when the money was cheap.

I can see that was an error now...

Not a bad place to be in, but...was probs just concentrating on enjoying the children when they were young and work and usual stuff...it was an easy option and seemed sensible...

anyway...I'm feeling flush just atm bc I've got a nice new contract that should see me nice for the next 2/3 years if I'm lucky...anything could happen after that tbh - not getting any younger.

I'm too laid back - but I think I've avoided stress bc of it - and I'm last minute and spontaneous. Sensible though, have done some decent things and been a responsible parent and friend and child and member of society ...

I put on a comedy night last year just out of nothing bc I fancied it - it went down a storm and ppl seemed to enjoy it...maybe I'll do it again, or maybe I won't ...I'm a bit of a dilletante...that's a bit rubbish...

Your posts seem as if you are desperately trying to convince the internet that you are just not “the type” to have a CCJ. I wonder why you care so much what anonymous strangers think of you 🤔

You are exactly the type of person to get a CCJ. One who decides that the admin around charges you don’t agree with is not worth your time.

If you didn’t spend your time looking down on those who experience genuine financial hardship (those not in “your world”?!) then perhaps you wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable to be amongst them now, certainly from a landlord’s perspective.

Well you've got some stress now! CCJs are a serious bar to many things so the sooner you can deal with it the better. You do come across as rather condescending, as though you think you're too important to deal with 'such a small sum of money'.

Of course the court will respond to you - they cannot ignore correspondence on a whim. That's not how the justice system works.

Hmmm...can't agree with you there, tbh...I don't "look down" on anyone.

Withdraw and apologise please.

well, tbh, it does seems like this is all a bit "computer says no," in all honestly.

I think I've mentioned earlier, there are a million plus points for me when it comes to renting a place - all demonstrably true and provable - versus one thing that I have no idea about and revolves around some computers sending letters to some other computers.

I'll deal with it, but that doesn't mean it's the way things should be in our society.

I think I've signalled my own naivety and error on this thread, but I'd perhaps turn it around and say that too many people just seem to accept daft/unjust/insert-own-appropriate-term-here things.

Too compliant for me, that. Wider implications for how our society is run.

Much wider than this little bit of trivia on the internet, ofc.

Cars used to be clamped in this country in an industry famously run by cowboys and swindlers. Eventually something was done about it.

Just bc something is a certain way doesn't mean it's right and doesn't mean we have to accept it.

"as though you think you're too important to deal with 'such a small sum of money'"

Sorry, can't agree here - just pointing out that the sum involved is factually small, (a) when compared to my disposable income, and (b) compared to the sum total of the deal that was scuppered.

Seems a bit of an odd way to run a railroad when small things can scupper big things when there is demonstrably no problem.

Again, just trying to highlight the problem with "computer says no" culture; obviously, there are a billion more important things affected by this than my trivial little problem.

I find Mumsnet a great educator for me on UK living.

I'm in the US. If we find something on our credit report that we don't feel is valid we can dispute it with the credit agency. They have to act within 30 days to provide proof of validity. If they can't provide proof it has to be removed.

@OhcantthInkofaname 28 days for the same in the UK. Which is why the OP needs to check with the Northampton County Court first.

@JandLandG - nothing to do with "computer says no" and everything to do with not checking what was actually done at the time you got the parking fine. Factually this is what happens when you've got pots of money and think it doesn't matter cos it's only a couple of hundred quid.

Well yes of course they didn't check any of this. The CCJ meant they didn't bother checking anything else. It's a red flag for most landlords. The EA is doing what the landlord wants and if they have lots of applicants why would they bother reading the details of your CCJ if they have e plenty of applicants without.
If you want to rent a property do the work PP have outlined. If you think it's all a bit unfair and too much hassle then don't bother

I stand firm with my opinion.