Charging Order

What is a Charging Order?

It is a Court Order placing a 'charge' on the judgement debtor's property, such as a house or a piece of land. The charge awarded will be the same amount of money that you are owed. In most cases the charging order will not get you your money immediately, but more importantly it may safeguard your money for the future.

If the judgement debtor has funds, money held in Court or owns stocks or shares, then the court is also able to place a charge on these in much the same way as on property.

A charging order is an order of the court placing a ‘charge’ on the tenant’s property (such as a house or piece of land). The charge will be the amount you are owed. Usually this order will not get you your money immediately, but it will safeguard your money in the future.

The procedure is that if the property owned by the tenant/guarantor is sold then the charge has to be paid before any of the proceeds of sale can be taken by the tenant/guarantor.

Note: If the tenant owns stocks or shares, additional funds or has money in Court, then the Court is able to place a charge on these in much the same way as on property. You must complete Court Form N380 if you are seeking a charging order against stocks or shares. This document focusses solely on how to complete Court Form N379, as these two forms are near enough the same.

In order to fill in this form you will need details about the property including who owns it (the majority of land or property is registered at HM Land Registry). If you are able to find the registation details then obtain a copy of the entry and attach it to your application. To find out more about the procedures and fees charged by the Land Registry, ring their General Enquiry Line on 02079178888 or go to their website at http://www.landreg.gov.uk/ Note: both Title Plans and File Plans can be obtained online from the Land Registry – to make a “Property Enquiry”.

If the judge is satisfied with the information you have provided in your Court Form N379, they will then make an Interim Charging Order on Form N86 and copies of this will be sent to you and the tenant.

The order will include the date and time of a hearing at which the judge will decide on whether or not to make a Final Charging Order. Once you have received the Interim Charging Order you should make sure the charge is effective by registering it immediately. Just to make sure that you have all the information needed to make the Interim order effective, it is always best to ring the Land Registry’s General Enquiry Line on 02079178888.

At the hearing the judge will consider your application and any evidence the tenant has filed and if the judge feels the tenant’s objection is possibly justified, then your application may be dismissed. If your application is successful then any fees you paid are usually recoverable from the tenant by being added to the judgement. An order will then be drawn on Form N87 and both you and the tenant will be sent a copy.

One final thing that you must do is to contact the Land Registry after the hearing to make them aware of the Final Charging Order.


	Fill in Court Form N379 and send it off to the Court with the appropriate fee (or Form N380 for charges on shares)

	Judge will grant an Interim Charging Order on Form N86 and send a copy to you and the tenant

	Make sure the charge is effective by registering it immediately with the Land Registry

	The Interim Charging Order will include the date and time of the hearing at which the judge will decide whether or not to make a Final Charging Order (you must attend this hearing otherwise the judge may dismiss your application)

	At the hearing, if your application is successful, any fees you paid are usually recoverable from the tenant by being added to the judgement (an order will be drawn on Form N87 and you and the tenant will be sent a copy)

	After the hearing, contact the Land Registry as they must be made aware of the making of the Final Charging Order (also contact them if your application is dismissed so the Interim Charging Order is removed from the Register)

	Now the ‘charge’ is in place to the amount you are owed so if the tenant sells the property, the charge has to be paid first before any of the proceeds of the sale can be given to the tenant

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