A GLASGOW-BASED factor has been accused of taking legal action that could have forced an 83-year-old woman out of her home of 46 years.
A GLASGOW-BASED factor has been accused of taking legal action that could have forced an 83-year-old woman out of her home of 46 years.
Property management company Walker Sandford tried to have the pensioner's husband made bankrupt over an unpaid bill of £6400 - despite the fact he died in 1992.
If successful, the action could have left her homeless.
Walker Sandford insists it didn't know the woman even existed until the bankruptcy hearing and had tried many times to contact the family.
How £10 debt can end in bankruptcyLAWYERS say entire days of proceedings at Glasgow Sheriff Court are often dominated by factors suing customers.In some cases, Walker Sandford, featured in our story opposite, sends out reminder letters over unpaid bills every week at a cost of £17.62 - so debts grow by £70.48 every four weeks. The firm calls them "administration" charges and applies 33% compound interest on them. Over a year, a £10 debt could grow - in theory - to as much as £1200, with 52 letters at £17.62 each, plus interest of around £300. That's a mark-up of nearly 12,000% on the original sum owed. Factors can then sue customers for bankruptcy. Once a homeowner is made bankrupt they no longer own their home. It is legally owned by the "permanent trustee", who has to free up the equity on behalf of any creditor, such as the factor. The trustee will often repossess the property and sell it, making the debtor homeless. Factors have also been known to use "exceptional attachment orders" for debts of just a few hundred pounds. That's the modern-day equivalent of warrant sales, where household goods are forcibly removed and sold to pay a debt. They can also use the "notice of liability" procedure under the Tenements Act for very small debts. For example, if you have a £25 bill, the factor can threaten to register a notice of liability in the Land Register. That costs £30 - which is billed to you - and will show up when you try to sell your flat, which could put off buyers, as any purchaser will inherit this debt. Housing campaigners fear too many of these notices are being used by unscrupulous factors to prevent bills being challenged or questioned. Lawyer Mike Dailly said he was disgusted at the tactics used by factors to recoup debts. And he hit out at Walker Sandford for applying high charges to unpaid bills. He said: "It's a despicable, unethical practice designed to generate big profits at the expense of vulnerable people. "I've seen £500 bills turn into £5000 bills. "Govan Law Centre is defending several cases and will be leading evidence that these charges are really unenforceable penalty charges." |
However, her furious son, Norman Anderson, dubbed the company "predators and parasites".
He said the vast majority of the debt was made up of massively-inflated late payment fees and interest that had mounted up over years.
Walker Sandford sent bills for repairs and maintenance to Mr Anderson's dead father, also called Norman.
When they were not paid by Mr Anderson's vulnerable mum, weekly "administration" charges of £17.62 were slapped on, so the debt grew by £70 every four weeks.
The firm also applied compound interest of 33% APR.
TODAY the Glasgow lawyer defending Mrs Anderson called the practice "an outrageous scam". And he warned she could still face legal action over the bill.
Mr Anderson, 47, insists the family tried to resolve the case for their mum and offered to pay the original bill for maintenance and repairs on the three-bedroom flat in Cessnock.
In January 2005, the bill was £1300 but by last month it had soared to almost £6400.
He says Walker Sandford, which factors 400 properties in the city, refused to waive the penalty charges - despite addressing all correspondence to his deceased father.
Mr Anderson, who has lived with his mother - whom he doesn't want named - for most of his life, said: "My mum isn't coping well with the stress of this.
"When we realised what was going on in the middle of last year, my brother Neil stepped in to help but Walker Sandford wasn't interested in resolving the situation, even though they'd been sending bills to the wrong person.
"These people are bullies who are trying to take my mum's home.
"She's lived in her house since 1962 and it means the world to her.
"Walker Sandford are predators and parasites who prey on the vulnerable. They try to bleed you dry.
"What if my mum was on her own and had no-one to help her?"
Lawyer Mike Dailly, from Govan Law Centre, has been defending the OAP in court.
He said: "It's incredible to think a company which is supposed to work for you and look after your property could end up making you homeless.
"That is what Walker Sandford tried to do to my elderly client.
"In my view this scam is so outrageous it would bring a tear to the eye of a loan shark.
"We were able to get the petition dismissed as incompetent because they had raised the action in the name of my client's late husband.
"However, she still faces possible court action."
MSP Patricia Ferguson, who is behind plans to have the rules governing factors tightened, said: "It's appalling a woman of this age could find herself in this situation.
"I would expect a company as big as Walker Sandford to waive these charges and negotiate a settlement on the original amount owed."
GLASGOW SNP MSP Sandra White said: "Factors are faceless bureaucrats with no sense of humanitarian duty.
"They are money-making machines. This is a disgraceful case."
A spokesman for the Property Managers' Association for Scotland, which represents factors, said Walker Sandford was not one of its members.
A spokesman added: "If they were, they would certainly be on the receiving end of disciplinary action.
"We don't consider the practice of adding huge sums to bills, without any additional service, to be appropriate behaviour."
But Walker Sandford director Paul Walker denied his firm was trying to evict Mrs Anderson and said staff had been trying to resolve the situation for years.
He added: "Up until the recent court date we had no knowledge of who Mrs Anderson was and have never tried to put her out of her home - the fact this accusation has been made is scandalous.
"No-one told us we were sending out bills in the wrong name.
"We were trying to recoup this debt on behalf of the co-proprietors (other owners in the block).
"According to the land registry, Norman Anderson still owns the property. Why would we raise a court action against a dead man?"
He insisted the £17 weekly "administration charge" was a fair reflection of what it cost the company to chase up debt and was only applied as a last resort to customers who refused to pay bills.
Clients' fury at massive charges
THE Cessnock widow isn't the only vulnerable person Walker Sandford has hit with massive charges.
We've heard from three of the firm's other clients in Glasgow who face court action after their original bills spiralled out of control through late fees and interest.
All face losing their homes.
Bulkeet Javaid, of West Princes Street, Woodlands, owes the firm £4500 - her original bill was around £550.
The mum-of-four said: "How can you pay that amount of money when you're living on benefits?
"We've tried to come to some sort of payment plan with Walker Sandford for the original amount but they won't listen.
"They just make threats of court action.
"My eight-year-old son, who was disabled, died last year and my husband's business was declared bankrupt.
"We're both very depressed and struggling to cope - the worry of this is terrible.
"It is morally wrong - how can they do this to people?"
Walker Sandford said it could not comment about ongoing court action.
Her neighbour Shameem Muneer is £2500 in debt to Walker Sandford. She says her original bill was £600.
Mrs Muneer, a widow who is registered disabled, said: "I spent months in hospital and wasn't able to pay my bill.
"When it started to grow by so much my son offered to pay the original amount in full but they refused and kept adding on the charges."
She added: "They must not be allowed to get away with this."
Her son Nadeem, a restaurateur, said: "Walker Sandford is clearly trying to make as much money as it can from vulnerable people.
"It's a disgrace."
Paul Walker, a director of Walker Sandford, said a previous court action had resulted in Mrs Muneer being told to pay the bill.
He added: "We have a responsibility to all the co-proprietors (in the block where Mrs Muneer lives).
"Mrs Muneer stopped paying her bill and we made many attempts to contact her by letter.
"People on benefits can get assistance with their bills."
Craig Cowan, of Craigpark Drive, Dennistoun, saw his bill rise from £9 to £1600 after he got into a dispute with Walker Sandford over a repair.
He now wants the firm to take him to court so he can highlight its "despicable"
practices.
Mr Cowan fell out with the factor after he says it increased the cost of a repair without permission from residents.
He refused to pay the extra £9 and his bill has soared to £1600 over the past three years.
The 29-year-old researcher said: "Walker Sandford continually failed to explain why I should pay the extra money, so I refused.
"I would actually like my day in court so they would be forced to explain to a sheriff why I owe them any of this money. Their practices are disgraceful."
Walker Sandford director Paul Walker said the firm had been forced to bring in another contractor and Mr Cowan's neighbours had paid.
Mr Walker added: "Despite our efforts to resolve this situation Mr Cowan's bill remains outstanding.
"There are other items he has refused to pay.
"We can't afford to subsidise the accounts of people who refuse to pay." Mr Walker said it was the firm's policy to reach amicable finance arrangements with customers struggling to pay.
But Glasgow Labour MSP Paul Martin described Walker Sandford's customer services policy as "appalling".
He said: "Several of my constituents are experiencing similar problems with this company and its bully-boy tactics."
