When it is a hearing of course! The recent case of Forcelux v Binnie in the Court of Appeal reviewed the status of initial hearings under part 55 of the Civil Procedure Rules, which govern possession actions. It seems that the first hearing before a Court is not a trial even though a possession order may be awarded and it may be the only hearing.
The key upshot of this is that it is far easier for a tenant to apply to set aside any possession order made at such a hearing where it has been made in his absence. This is because any attempt to set aside a decision made at trial can only be made by application under rule 39.3(3) and this requires that the party seeking for the order to be set aside must show:
1. He acted promptly;
2. He had good reason for his non-attendance; and
3. He has reasonable prospects of success at an re-trial.
This can be hard to do and therefore has the effect of preventing many re-hearings of matters where the defendant was not at the original trial. However, as the first hearing of a matter under CPR 55 is not a trial CPR 39.3(3) does not apply and the Court power to set aside the hearing is provided by CPR 3.1(2)(m). This does not require prompt action or the Defendant to show that they have reasonable prospects of success but merely requires a the Court to be persuaded that justice will not be done without a proper hearing.
In practice, this means that many more Defendants may have the opportunity to apply to the Court to set aside possession orders where they can show that the overriding objective of fairness will be best served by doing so. Agents and landlords should be aware that this may allow unscrupulous tenants to delay possession further and should also be aware that simply proceeding to a hearing without the presence of the tenant may not be the ideal situation that it may first appear to be.
Filed under: Uncategorized , litigation, possession, procedure
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9 September, 2009 • 21:27 0
Mortgage Repossession Protocol Changing Behaviour
It seems that the new mortgage repossession pre-action protocol (which we talked about here) is having an effect on mortgagee’s behaviour with a dramatic drop in repossession actions.
Whether the protocol has been responsible for this or whether mortgagees are less inclined to take possession due to the difficulty in recovering their investment by selling the property is a moot point. The key issue from the point of view of the landlord and tenant professional is the increased willingness of mortgagees to appoint receivers and reach sensible commercial arrangements.
From the tenant’s point of view this means that they may be able to remain in a property they have rented by paying rent to a receiver appointed by the mortgagee. However, it should be remembered that the receiver is frequently not accepting the landlord’s responsibilities (just the money!) and so it will still be necessary to look to the landlord to repair the property.
For buy-to-let landlords the new willingness of mortgagees to reach sensible commercial arrangements coupled with a reduction in interest rates may be sufficient to allow them to weather the downturn. However, it is notable that many mortgagees are refusing to remortgage with buy-to-let landlords so this may not be sufficient.
Whether this new attitude from mortgagees will continue when they can more easily sell property remains to be seen but the current change in attitude will benefit landlords who make an effort to negotiate with their mortgagee if things are difficult.
Filed under: Uncategorized , comment, Law of Property Act 1925, mortgages