in 1992 my partner handed in his keys and moved in with me.the house was sold in 1993 for a very low sum of money.in 1996 we got a lovely visit from a lady and her 2 goons we made them stay on the doorstep but were very imtimidated by them and i think my partner signed a form we now know that that was a silly mistake thanks to this site. we then left that property down to fear of the goons returning.About 2 months ago my partner's parents started to recieve letters from Lioyds TSB asking for my partner to get in touch.my partners father rang them and told them he had no idea where his son was and could you stop sending letters to his address.1 week later a letter arrived on our doorstep asking us to get in touch regarding the shortfall. so in light of it being nearly 8 years old does anyone out there have any ideas as what to do next? P.S. we are not going to pay them a penny as we dont have any :)and does any one know if it is legal for agents to come knocking on the doors of our neighbours as we have documented proof that this was the case

-- wendy rossell (wendy.jane@ntlworld.com), January 06, 2001

Answers

In my opinion, which is merely a result of reading this site and my own experiences, and not from any expert knowledge:

I would be interested to know what your partner signed on the doorstep in 1996, and whether anything signed in such a way could constitute you admitting liability. Any other opinions on this?

Can you remember a bit more about what happened in 1996 and the circumstances?

I would also suggest that you write directly to Lloyds TSB asking them to prove that it has a legally valid claim against you. You are entitled to do this. You should also serve a Subject Access Rights Notice on Lloyds TSB (see this site for details of how to do this) which will cost you £10. This way you ought to confirm whether indeed anything was signed in 1996 and what Lloyds TSB's view of said document is.

(By the way, you said your partner may have signed something. Are they after you both for debt or just your partner?)

If Lloyds TSB's view is that you have admitted liability, but you feel that you were duped, there are possibly courses of action you can take if L/TSB ever issues a summons against you. (See a solicitor or get some sort of legal advice about resiling your liability. Cite Gale vs Superdrug 1996 for starters.)

If there is no admission of liability on your part, then, given the repo was in 1993, L/TSB will need to demonstrate that it has the right to pursue you in court for this alleged debt after six years. Ask to see a copy of the mortgage deed and conditions, and the MIG policy, etc etc. You should also ask to see copies of valuations and marketing details - was it sold for the best price and can the lender prove it?

Lenders have to do a lot of work to prove these 'claims', especially after such a length of time, and especially with the new Civil Procedure Rules in force, so don't be disheartened and *do* keep in touch with this board.

Good luck.

-- Eleanor Scott (eleanor.scott@btinternet.com), January 06, 2001.

PS I have been emailed privately by another reader of this site and this person says that their understanding is that any admission of liability obtained under duress or through deception is not enforceable. I would check this out further if you feel that this may apply to you.

-- Eleanor Scott (eleanor.scott@btinternet.com), January 07, 2001.

sorry its been a while. in answer to the last posting . we can not for the life of us remember what if anything we signed in 1996. the debt is in my partners name only as it was his previous address before we got together. we sent a 2 page reply to the person in question from the loss recover department at TSB questioning the contact in 96 and she has bluffed it off by saying that she only took over in dec 2000. my partner had also sent a letter to the data protection department and the sent us a form back anyone have any idea which code he should put in this form as it has a few to choice from i am going to go to the website for the dpr to see if that makes things any clearer also do you have to pay £10 for every sar u serve. oh and guess what she sent with her reply a damn earnings form :) hes not going to fill it in until we have all the relevant info from them

-- wendy rossell (wendy.jane@ntlworld.com), January 13, 2001.