So with a heavy heart we asked the tenants if we could remove our possessions at the house when they left. They agreed and my wife and I packed our belongings and furniture ready for removal. The tenants told me that they were not due to hand over the keys for two days. I turned to my wife and told her that I would not give Uttoxeter Rd up, I would ‘squat in our former home. The tenants left. My wife went home to the children and returned the next day with provisions, bed linen, an old computer, printer and fax machine.
I immediately informed the Receivers Fisher Hargreaves Proctor, Bagshaws, their agents, and Barclays of the situation. The first reaction was from Graham Penny of Bagshaws who called to see me at the house. “I’ve had enough” he said. He told me that the sale of the property had fallen through anyway and that as of then he would no longer be acting for the Receivers.
The solicitors acting for the Receivers then sent a ‘private detective’ to see me with a letter ‘inviting’ me to leave!
I faxed Barclays’ solicitors asking them to withdraw the Receivers in view of the Bank’s offer to negotiate a settlement. Barclays refused but did give possible dates for the meeting. They also informed me that Karl Davies would again represent the Bank at the meeting.
My solicitor had no desire at all to meet with Karl Davies again, saying that he felt that he had been ‘used’ at the last meeting only to reinforce Barclays’ legal arguments against me.
A date was agreed and I arranged for two Chartered Accountants to accompany me this time.
At short notice the Bank faxed me to say that the date agreed was no longer suitable. It was the beginning of July, with holidays coming up, but luckily both of the Accountants were available for the following week and a fresh date was arranged, Friday 18th July 1997.
Experience had taught me that Barclays always wanted a ‘trump card’, an ‘edge’ and I expected ‘something’ ahead of the meeting but I was not prepared for what did happen!
On the 15th July, just a few days before the second meeting with Karl Davies, the ‘private detective’ called again at Uttoxeter Rd. “Bad news” he said and handed me two large, identical envelopes, one addressed to myself the other to my son – County Court Summonses for the repossession of Uttoxeter Rd! I felt sick to the stomach, it was my sons 9th birthday and the Receivers had dragged my child into the whole sordid mess! The following day the ‘private detective’ returned he’d “forgotten to give me some other papers” and handed me two identical bundles of documents – again one for me and one for my son. Each bundle contained 100 pages of sworn affidavits and other papers! The ‘private detective’ said that he had never seen so many documents used in any case that he had dealt with!
By now I was furious at Barclays and rang Angela Hardman at Edge & Ellison and gave her a piece of my mind!
Fortunately neither my son nor my wife were present and I decided to keep it all to myself until after the meeting. Out of everything that happened this is the one episode that I still find difficult to talk about, even on the telephone. I am sure any parent would feel the same
Sometime afterwards I read carefully through the 100 pages.
Included was a letter from the Receivers to the Court stating that the sale of the property had been prevented because of my harassment of the purchaser.
The sale had been lost, the tenants had gone and their selling agent Bagshaws had quit. There was no compelling reason for the Receivers to take Court Action at that time unless Were they acting on Instructions from Barclays?………. And anyway weren’t the Receivers supposed to be acting for me?