Monthly Archives: September 2012

Arrears, warrants and abuse of process

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A report of a County Court mortgage possession case has reached us, in which the secured lender’s behaviour resulted in a finding of abuse of process. The question was when (an if) an arrears payment had been received.

Blemain Finance Ltd v Andrea Jayne Ridley Darlington County Court 21 June 2012

Ms Ridley was the homeowner, with a mortgage of £44,000 (£39,000 outstanding) from 1999. She took out a further secured loan for £20,000 with Blemain Finance in 2006. She had fallen into arrears on payments and Blemain had obtained a possession order in 2006, then a warrant, which Blemain didn’t enforce on payment of the arrears. When arrears of … Read the full post

Haigh, Squatting is Now Illegal

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The Evening Standard is reporting the sentencing of the first person under the new anti-squatting provisions in the LASPO Act.

Alex Haigh received 12 weeks in prison. Unfortunately Mr Haigh appeared to be unaware that squatting was now an offence and admitted to Police that he was a squatter.

I am not going to repeat the various comments we have made about this legislation and its implementation. The most recent post on the topic is here.

I am also not going to comment on the Standard article except to highlight this phrase from the article:

The law was brought in amid a squatting crisis in London as organised eastern

… Read the full post

New Practice Direction for s.204 appeals

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The 59th update to the CPR comes into force on October 1, 2012 and, importantly, it brings in a raft of new practice directions for appeals. For we housing lawyers, page 81 of this document sets out the position for s.204 appeals. The appellant should now file proposed directions with the appellants notice. Those should be agreed (or alternatives proposed) within 14 days. Disclosure (in effect, of the housing file) must take place within 14 days of the filing of the appellants notice and the appellant then has a 14 day period to amend his notice.

They kept that change quiet. From memory, this looks pretty similar to something that … Read the full post

Job Ad

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Hopkin Murray Beskine solicitors

We are seeking a housing solicitor of up to 5 years PQE for our leading housing and public law department.

We have a wide referral base and legal aid contracts in housing, public law, family law and mediation. Both our housing and family law teams carry out a range of work both legally aided and privately funded. We would expect the successful applicant to obtain LSC supervisor status, providing appropriate support to do so.  We act for clients in a diverse range of housing related cases, and encourage staff to develop their expertise in areas of law that interest them.  We are committed to legal aid … Read the full post

Job Ad

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Hodge Jones & Allen LLP
Leading London NW1 Solicitors

Require:

Housing Solicitor (2 yrs + PQE)
and
Housing Paralegal

Salary negotiable depending on experience, 35 hours per week

You should have good experience of advising clients with problems relating to disrepair, possession and homelessness cases. It is essential that you have excellent verbal communication and written skills, be a good team player, ensure an efficient and effective service to clients and be able to work well under pressure.

Operating from modern central London premises, Hodge Jones & Allen has a national reputation and we provide our solicitors with varied and challenging caseloads.

We offer excellent prospects, training, IT facilities and … Read the full post