Attachment of Earnings

I have just received by post a notice of application for attachment of earnings order for £26,334.45, and a Judgement for Claimant in default for £63,113.11. The latter was addressed to a house I left in 1991, which I shared with my ex-partner, yet sent to my current address - both have the same date.

I checked your site for advice, and called the court to apply for the judgement to be set aside, as I have never received a summons, nor the claim form to which I have apparently not replied. This is because both were sent to my former address.

I have no idea what this debt is for - I must presume the house was repossessed at some point and this is a shortfall claim. The £63k is around the amount of the original mortgage as I recall, which they seem to be claiming in addition to the £26k.

The court is sending me the original summons and papers and a form to set the judgement aside, but tell me that I will have to attend court give reasons for the jugdement to be set aside.

I do not know how they have got my current address, but if they have that, why did they send the summons and the claim form to the old address, particularly if the house has already been repossessed - it would be unlikely that I still lived there if they have sold it and are chasing for a shortfall...

When I called the court however, they told me that they believed that my ex-partner was replying from the address, so it could not have been repossessed. If this is so, how can a debt of £26k be outstanding on the property - surely a mortgage company wouldn't let you get that much into arrears before repossessing?

It's all very confusing until I receive the papers and hopefully an explanation, but from reading your site, I feel that a full explanation from the mortgage company (Citibank) or their solicitors (Chivers Easton Brown) is highly unlikely.

Once I apply for the judgement to be set aside, on the grounds of the summons and paperwork going to an old address, and presuming this is accepted by the court, what action should I be taking next??

Thank you for your help.

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