basically case is now in the courts hands, building society have never provided any documents despite numerous requests for them. offer was made in full & final settlement but no reply to this either it is now at allocation questionnaire stage but still no breakdown of the shortfall has been received however on court papers the other party have stated that they have provided them. I don't know who too because it certainly wasn't me.They are now stating they wish for a summary judgement but what is this could someone please explain & also advise what happens or is likely to from here on in.

cheers andy.....

-- andy (andypel@aol.com), November 07, 2001

Answers

I was the defendant at a Summary Judgement application filed on beh alf of Bristol and West. Their advisors sought judgement on their belief that I did not have reasonable grounds in defence of the Mortgage Shortfall claim dating back to 1991 and that I had no reasonable chance of winning. I had asked for all the disclosure points since 1996 (first contact from B/S) but it was never produced.My defence citing the lack of disclosure to verify the shortfall seemed to be overridden. Lots of other points about Mortgage Deed / Mig etc. No avail. The judgement went against me and now I have to repay the debt without so much as a question from the judge on their behaviour. I will post full details on the site shortly (heading of CPR/Disclosure/LevelPlaying Field !!!)

-- Ron Evans (ron@evansr19.fsnet.co.uk), November 08, 2001.

Hi Andy,

Just found this on a solicitor's web site, it may help to answer your question:

The Defendant's Options once a claim (summons) has been issued:

"If he does nothing then 14 days after the proceedings were served on him by the Court you can apply for a judgement (known as a Default Judgement). The Court will return the judgement which you can then seek to enforce.

If the Defendant admits the claim he may seek time to pay or may try to send you a part payment in full and final settlement. You will have to decide whether his proposals are acceptable.

If within 14 days of service of the proceedings the Defendant returns an 'Acknowledgement of Service' stating that he intends to defend then he has a further 14 days in which to file a defence document. The defence must be complete - a simple denial is not enough. If the defence is inadequate you may be able to obtain a summary judgement without the need for a full trial."

As to what a judge perceives to be an inadequate defence is presumably up to the individual judge to decide. Will try and find out what you can do if this happens.

Stephen

-- (stephen.pooley@ntlworld.com), November 08, 2001.

Hi Andy,

You may find this useful also, Part 24 of civil procedure rules at :http://www.smlawpub.co.uk/online/cpr/PART-24.HTM

Stephen

-- (stephen.pooley@ntlworld.com), November 08, 2001.

thanks for the advice i must say based on your posting ron i am more than a little concerned now as to the fact that despite you asking for documents etc the judge still sided with the building society without as much of a second thought about their behaviour i supposse alot of it boils down to the judge on the day. i too have done everything within my power to get documents etc, but they don't even reply to me. what chance have we got after all the hard work we put in & they still walk all over us in the end, might of well of not bothered & sat back & done nothing.

-- andy (andypel@aol.com), November 09, 2001.

Andy: I would suggest that you have a solicitor at your hearing, I relied on CPR and Disclosure as I believed the Judge would ensure that fair play would follow and he would ask why they had not answered my requests. Their solicitor met every point with a case precedent and my pleas that I did not have all the lenders proof of their claims went unchallenged. They had also been asked, in readiness for the hearing, why the Bristol and West as members of the CML were pursuing this case after 6 years. This was not answered and again went unchallenged.I feel that the Judge ignored the concept of the CPR principle. Good Luck anyway.

Ron

-- Ron Evans (ron@evansr19.fsnet.co.uk), November 09, 2001.

Ron. Sounds like you have/had good grounds to appeal against the decision of the "judge" based on what you say. From my little bit of research on the subject of "summary judgement", it seems to me that any defendant needs to make sure that their defence/counterclaim is pretty comprehensive.

I agree it's a good idea to have a solicitor present at the hearing, as he/she will know what to do if the worst happens.

-- (stephen.pooley@ntlworld.com), November 09, 2001.