Bank takes subject to beneficial interest
The court found that the bank took subject to the occupier’s beneficial interest in the property as they failed to make inquiry of him. Paragraph 2 of schedule 3 to the Land Registration Act 2002...
View ArticleBank’s duty of care
This case considered complaints that the bank had failed to act in accordance with normal banking practice and that it had not complied with advertisements which stated that there were locally based...
View ArticleSummary judgment
This was an application for summary judgment in relation to the recovery of loans and the payment of promissory notes. The loans exceeded US$25 million. The loans were provided to enable the first...
View ArticleWhen is a loan agreement unfair?
The claimant had lent the defendant sums totalling £56,450 between 1979 and 1983. Between 1982 and 2001, the defendant made payments totalling £72,336, but according to the claimant, interest had...
View ArticleWhat is the impact if a signature on a guarantee has not been authorised?
If the signature is not authorised then the guarantee is not effective. Section 4 of the Statute of Frauds Act 1677 provides that a guarantee must be in writing and signed by the guarantor or a person...
View ArticleLord Justice Jackson’s report on costs in civil litigation
Lord Justice Jackson’s report on costs in civil litigation has been published today. His proposals make dramatic reading. The headline proposals are as follows: Conditional fees. These are commonly...
View ArticleMortgage arrears handling
The Financial Services Authority has published proposals to strengthen existing rules on arrears handling. The key arrears proposals: Make plain that firms must not add early repayment charges on...
View ArticleOrders for sale consultation
The Ministry of Justice has published a consultation on whether a minimum threshold should be imposed on orders for sale applications (following a charging order) in relation to consumer credit debts...
View ArticleConsumer credit – discontinuance of claim and obligation to pay costs
In general terms, if a claimant discontinues his claim he is usually ordered to pay the defendant’s costs unless the court provides for a different order (CPR 38.6 (1)). In Carey v HSBC [2009] EWHC...
View ArticleAttempt to postpone trial at the last minute
On the last working day before a trial was due to commence, the defendant made an application for an interim order under s252 of the Insolvency Act 1986 to assist him in obtaining an Individual...
View ArticleLenders must comply with the new Consumer Credit Directive
The Consumer Credit Directive 2008/48/EC (“the Directive”) and the Consumer Credit (EU Directive) Regulations 2010 introduce new rights and obligations. The Department for Business, Innovation and...
View ArticleWas there an oral agreement to vary the terms of a guarantee?
The Court of Appeal held that on the facts of this case it was always contemplated that the guarantors would obtain legal advice before they signed the guarantee. This would be a pointless provision...
View ArticleUndue influence
Can a court make a finding of actual undue influence even if this is not pleaded? Even where a finding of undue influence is made, if one part of the transaction is not affected by the undue influence,...
View ArticleReview of consumer credit and personal insolvency
Consumer Affairs Minister, Edward Davey has announced a review of consumer credit and personal insolvency. The review will cover: How consumers enter into credit commitments, including the way in...
View ArticleOFT takes action to address debt management industry
The OFT has identified a number of concerns in relation to the debt management industry. The consumers may be vulnerable and the issues which confront them can be complex. There are a number of...
View ArticleBreach of solicitors’ duty
Money was advanced by the claimant lender to the defendant solicitors with respect to a purchase of a property in Barnet. The claimant sent the firm of solicitors a standard certificate of title. The...
View ArticleThe ability to marshall
Where one debtor owes different debts to two or more creditors, but one of the creditors can enforce its claim against more than one security and the other can only resort to one, the equitable...
View ArticleThe impact of settling a case in a multi-party situation
What happens if you reach a settlement with one party, but not others? In this case, Chelsea Building Society had repossessed and then sold a property, but then wished to pursue the mortgagors for the...
View ArticleOverriding interests
This recent case considered whether a person who had an overriding interest can be taken to have authorised a charge and so be bound by it. Mrs Qutb had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for a number...
View ArticleCharging orders
A creditor obtained a charging order over a property based on a judgment in which a company had been ordered to pay £11,500 in costs. In addition, the company had been ordered to pay into court the sum...
View ArticleSale and leaseback schemes
The court was asked here to determine preliminary issues in 9 test cases concerning the controversial sale and lease back schemes. These schemes enabled the occupiers of property to sell their property...
View ArticleThe Directive on credit agreements relating to residential property
The European Commission has published proposal for a directive on credit agreements relating to residential property. Please see link....
View ArticleCan you serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction by alternative means?
The Claimant applied for permission to serve the Claim Form out of the jurisdiction by alternative means. The First Defendant operates the website www.wordpress.com, the Second Defendant runs the...
View ArticlePart 36 – certainty at last
There has been some uncertainty surrounding Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules, but there have been two recent developments, which should ease any ambiguity. The first development is the recent Court...
View ArticleCharging orders and competing creditors
This case considered whether to decline to make an interim charging order final if the effect would be to give one creditor priority in enforcing its judgment against other defendants. Unusually there...
View ArticleThe perils of Part 36
This is yet a further case on Part 36 and the perils of not complying strictly with its provisions. On 6 April 2007, Part 36 was completely rewritten. In this case when the claimant put forward their...
View ArticleCourt of Appeal compulsory mediation scheme
A new pilot scheme managed by CEDR (Centre for Dispute Resolution) for certain Court of Appeal cases has been launched. The pilot applies to all personal injury and contract claims up to the value of...
View ArticleShould an application for permission to appeal be heard separately from an...
When a party wishes to appeal a decision, it will usually need permission to appeal before the appeal court can hear the appeal in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules (“CPR”) Part 52.3. Despite...
View ArticleConsumer Credit Changes
From 1 April 2014 the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has taken over responsibility for the regulation of consumer credit in place of the Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”). The Consumer Credit Source...
View ArticleReversal of unjust enrichment where a lender does not advance funds but...
Can a lender be subrogated to reverse the effect of unjust enrichment where the lender did not advance funds, but released security instead? Previously there had been no authority on this question, but...
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