Charge on Property

[cbonnell185]

Can a company apply a charge on your property without letting you know they are going to do this first?

[Ethel]

What are the circumstances?

[themas]

Assuming it is a residence then no - they must get a County Court Judgement & you would be notified of their claim by the Court. You would have an opportunity to defend the claim, & to make an offer to pay by instalments. If you comply with whatever judgement the Court makes then the creditor cannot get a charging order. If you do not comply they can get an interim charging order and this is often done without you being notified in advance. But there has to be a Court hearing before the interim order becomes final, and you will be notified of that.

However, if the creditor does not know your present address all the above could happen without you being aware of it - their responsibility is to send documents to the last known address.

[MustafaTickl]

If your question is "Can a company apply for ... then the above answer is incorrect. A "charge" is now called a restriction and a company can apply to the Land Registry for a restriction to be entered against your title without telling you first. However the Land Registry rules require the Land Registry to inform you of the application and to ask whether you accept or oppose. If you oppose but the application is legally sound to the Land Registry they will enter a temporary restriction and establish a Tribunal with an Adjudicator to sort it out. The Adjudicator decides whether he can deal with it or whether it must go to a Court.