I have a phantom CCJ

[Tuvra]

Hi Guys.

Back in 2007 (ish) I dropped out of University & moved out of my accommodation. Unknown to me I still had to pay the full years rent.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, once I dropped out I moved back in with my parents at their new address. This caused huge confusion and despite informing everyone of my change of address, the accommodation company did not forward correspondence to the correct address.

Being young & naive I thought they simply charged me for the term I was there and effectively wrote off the rest of the rent owed due to the stress caused at the accommodation (massive flood in a brand new tower block).

One day then a debt collector knocked on the door, this was a big shock as some time had passed, of course I agreed to pay the money back and I did as quickly as possible. I had the certificate of satisfaction from the debt collector.

However, after going for a Mortgage last year I was told that an outstanding CCJ had been found against my name, the issue I have is that I cannot seem to find any kind of trace of this CCJ. I am a member of Experian and have recently acquired a written Credit Report from Equifax, none show any trace of a CCJ?

Its obviously there somewhere, however I cannot for the life of me find it? I want to appeal/clear/satisfy/over turn the CCJ however I don't even have a CCJ reference number, date imposed etc to do so?

The debt collection agency have told me that they have no interest in this any further and have refused point blank to provide CCJ numbers, dates imposed or any other information.

Therefore I am asking where else can I look to find this blot on my credit record? Seems very odd that it doesnt show up on Equifax of Experian no?

[stongle]

You could try Trust Online. They are "evidently", the central registrar for all CCJs and other like judgements. Whether / how long they keep records is probably sbject to the DPA, but I guess somewhere between 6 or 7 yrs for a CCJ (if memory serves me correctly). I think it only costs a couple of quid per judgement type to search.

[DS3R]

if you paid for the CCJ within the last 6 years then under the data protection act you are able to make a Subject Data Access Request to the debt collector (send them a cheque for a tenner- the max they can charge- + a written request), thn they will leglly be obliged to tell you what thy know, which must include the references. They may have taken th wonga, and not satisfied the CCJ.

[Tuvra]

DS3R said:

if you paid for the CCJ within the last 6 years then under the data protection act you are able to make a Subject Data Access Request to the debt collector (send them a cheque for a tenner- the max they can charge- + a written request), thn they will leglly be obliged to tell you what thy know, which must include the references. They may have taken th wonga, and not satisfied the CCJ.

Ohh god I didn't expect that! It is alarming as the only thing I have ever seen on paper in regards to the CCJ has come from the Debt collecting agency. The only other fact I know is that it went through the Northampton County Court Bulk Center, infamous for handing out premature CCJ's that people often don't know about...

stongle said:

You could try Trust Online. They are "evidently", the central registrar for all CCJs and other like judgements. Whether / how long they keep records is probably sbject to the DPA, but I guess somewhere between 6 or 7 yrs for a CCJ (if memory serves me correctly). I think it only costs a couple of quid per judgement type to search.

Thanks for the tip. Tried there, paid £10 for a full search and nothing registered there either.

I do not know whats going on!

Edited by Tuvra on Wednesday 9th May 10:37

[voicey]

Nothing further to add other than there is a third credit ref agency, Call Credit, so check with them too.

Also, history gets wiped after six years so it wont be that long until it drops off anyway.

[Tuvra]

voicey said:

Nothing further to add other than there is a third credit ref agency, Call Credit, so check with them too.

Also, history gets wiped after six years so it wont be that long until it drops off anyway.

What you have added is a third Credit reference Agency that revealed the bugger! For that I thank you.

Turns out it was issued on the 14/08/2007 to the wrong address. Now the battle to get it off begins!

[TVR1]

Tuvra said:

What you have added is a third Credit reference Agency that revealed the bugger! For that I thank you.

Turns out it was issued on the 14/08/2007 to the wrong address. Now the battle to get it off begins!

Not wishing to be the bearer of bad news on such a lovely Friday afternoon......

But. Has the debt been marked as 'settled' ? if so, you essentially have 0% chance of The Court setting aside The Judgement. in fact, more than likely, if you did apply to have the judgement set aside, your application would be rejected before it even got to a hearing on the basis that you acknowledged the debt and paid it....although you have nothing to lose having a go, other than 70 odd quid. What makes things slightly worse (from a future lenders point of view) is that prior to settlement, your account would be marked as 'clear out' which in laymans terms means you did a runner.

A bit of stable door and bolting horses advice but what you should have done is send the bailif/debt collector away and then disputed/applied for a set aside order, without paying a penny back. You may have had a good chance of success as long as you could prove that the post was forwarded incorrectly and that you had made all reasonable efforts to keep all and every possible creditor aware of your future address.

Having said that, actually it may be better to just wait another 15 months until the CCJ drops off.my reasoning is very simple. It will allow you to save more for a deposit in a realisable time frame and after 12 months, the current searches on your credit file will drop off too, leaving you with a sparkly clean credit history and a bit more money in the bank for 'unexpected' expenses. Besides, in all honesty, as a buyer, in a years time, you will be in a very strong position. My personal opinion is that even though we keep hearing about things getting better, the real st has yet to hit the fan economy wise and you may just thank your blessings for the 1 year delay.

HTH