[21] The rest of the transaction appeared to proceed in a straightforward and routine manner. Significantly the reclaimers accepted that in each case the security transaction had been conducted according to normal good practice. In considering whether or to what extent interest should be awarded on the damages figure, I am, at best, doubtful that the court is entitled to consider arrangements which may or may not have been made in regard to the charging of interest on a discrete sum of money which is distinct from the award made by the court. Please contact the clients' solicitor as soon as possible and keep us updated at all times.". The application, which was on a Blemain Finance Application Form, was submitted by Mr Hodges-White, a commercial finance broker then trading as Cestrain Business Finance. All that the agent is warranting is that he has a client and that client has given him authority to act. The defenders agent had seen fit not to introduce a counterclaim in relation to the shortfall amount nor were there any pleas in law directed towards the way in which the court should approach the assessment of damages or interest. The fraudsters, in the event, have disappeared. (2) Every person who purports to act as an agent is deemed by his conduct to represent that he has in fact been duly authorised so to act, except where the purported agent expressly disclaims authority or where the nature and extent of his authority, or the material facts from which its nature and extent may be inferred, are known to the other contracting party". [16] The application to BFL for a loan came via their website on 9 August 2004 and was for a loan for 203,000 repayable with interest over a period of 12 months. That is made clear in Bowstead and Reynolds at para 9-066 where the writers state: "The basic warranty is only that the agent has authority from his principal: this is something particularly within the agent's knowledge. The case has been quoted in an number of legal commentaries including Lexis, Practical Law and Civil Litigation Brief. 3 pages) Ask a . Please revert this information back to us.". 09220332. 449153. The judgment raises issues that could affect thousands of people, and is likely to be studied closely by other borrowers, including customers of other subprime lenders. The case of Blemain Finance Limited v Ridley [June 2012 Darlington County Court] is such an example. [21] The principle underlying an award of interest on the sum decerned for by way of damages is that of wrongful withholding. She stressed the absence of evidence from a marketing expert as to which other steps the defenders might reasonably have taken. [5] In advancing the appeal for the pursuer, Mr Allison challenged the manner in which the sheriff had arrived at the figure of 160,000. A modern statement of the position in Scotland is to be found in the current edition of Gloag and Henderson The Law of Scotland (12th Edition) at para 19.26 where the following can be found: "If he (the agent) honestly thought he had the principal's authority, as where an auctioneer, by mere mistake, sold a horse which was not for sale (Anderson v Croall (1903) 6F 153), or solicitors believed that they were representing a trust when in fact there were no trustees (Scott v J.B Livingston and Nicol 1990 SLT 305) the agent will incur liability on the theory that an agent impliedly warrants that he has the authority of the principal whom he names, and is liable in damages for breach of that warranty if it turns out that he has no authority. In a case where the parties themselves had agreed to dispense with shorthand notes (and, consequently, no transcript of the evidence was available for the purposes of the appeal) I would be slow to interfere with the decision of the sheriff at first instance unless it could be demonstrated, clearly, that he had misunderstood the facts, applied the wrong principles or arrived at a conclusion which was manifestly unjust (see, generally, [18] Accordingly, I reject the first ground of appeal for the pursuer. National law firm Stephensons represented the family of Claire Louise Morris who died after an act of self-harm in her home in Wythenshawe where she was receiving 24-hour supervision under the care of Jigsaw Hospital, which was run by Equilibrium Stephensons Solicitors LLP is a full service law firm withsolicitors in Manchester,solicitors in London, solicitors in St Helens, solicitors in Warringtonand solicitors in Wigan. The interest rate will now be fixed at 11.45%, and Blemain must pay 75% of the legal costs that Charles incurred. . 2. It was a secret arrangement between Blemaim and the broker, which was nothing less than a bribe. However having gone on to look at the background of the case before him, and having described at para 99 the transaction as proceeding as an "ordinary conveyancing transaction", he concluded at para 100: "In those circumstances, I am quite unpersuaded that BM Solicitors impliedly warranted either the identity of their client or his title to the property in question. VAT number: 144 4752 12. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Blemain Finance. Firstly, under reference to paragraph [9] in the sheriffs Note, having explicitly precluded consideration of the shortfall for the purposes of determining the principal sum due to the pursuer, the sheriff then decided that the existence of the shortfall should be taken into account when consideration was being given to what, if any, award of interest should be made. General consumer tips and guidance; Consumer Rights Act 2015; Consumer Contracts Regs; Consumer finance. There is no detail as to the date upon which interest had been frozen or as to the rate of interest involved. He also enclosed a draft of their letter of obligation. There was also reference to the price recommended by Aberdein Considine at the beginning of the sale process. The factual situation in that case had strong similarities with the situations in the present actions. [10] On 25 November 2004 Mellicks wrote to CMC in the following terms: We write to advise that we have will (sic) receive the Credit Agreement signed by Mr & Mrs Cheetham the Standard Security duly signed together with a Standing Order Mandate on Friday 26th November 2004. Compare SEB Trygg and compare Frank Houlgate Investment Co Limited v Biggart Baillie LLP 2010 SLT 527 at paras 27-28. However, while this is a good result for her, it will still have proved to be a very expensive loan. 711. (It should be noted that while the substantive law in both England and Scotland is the same in its effect the English tend to classify the liability as resulting from a collateral contract and the English system has also been concerned with judging as to whether there was consideration in respect of it, a factor that does not trouble the law of Scotland. It also oversees the operation of several specialized courts known as problem solving courts. [6] In the CMC case the fraudsters presented themselves as Christopher Paul Cheetham and Mrs Juliet Cheetham of 34 Danube Street, Stockbridge, Edinburgh, EH4 1NT. He handed over to Mr Longmuir's secretary a driving licence and electricity bill to be photocopied for identification purposes. Jane Charles is out of pocket despite a court ruling that some of her lenders terms and conditions were unfair. It appears, however, to highlight the limitations placed on an implied warranty of authority in such a situation as it was understood in at least that case. The respondents in the action at the instance of Blemain Finance Limited ("BFL") are Balfour & Manson LLP a firm of solicitors who acted in a security transaction with which the action at BFL's instance is concerned. My costs. To do so risks summarily judging the value of the claim. There are various funding options open to people, including legal aid and conditional fee arrangements, also known as no-win, no-fee. He also advised the secretary that payment of the funds was to be made electronically to "Elmwood Contracts". In late 2016 she contacted a lawyer, Paul Tilley, and decided to start the legal process. The judgment will be of interest to other Blemain customers, as well as those of other specialist mortgage and secured lending firms. In each case the respondents have been the victims of mortgage fraud. Whilst as per the belief that he was instructed by the husband, which he was, and for the wife, which he was not. Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world For. [98] BM Solicitors, on the other hand, were a firm providing professional services and, as such, would not normally be expected to do more than carry out those services with reasonable professional skill and care [99] In the present case, BM Solicitors were almost certainly instructed by the self same impostor as had been dealing directly with Excel itself. The judge said he did not accept that Blemain knew about the real purpose of the loan. We have had sight of the necessary Searches in respect of the properties. [36] The peculiarities of the Cheshire Mortgage letter do not end with the terms in which the obligation is stated. But we require to say that the submissions that were made in that respect failed completely to focus on the concept of authority and what was implied by that word. Call urgently as time is running out for customers to claim as it can be no longer than 6 years from when you paid your loan off to claim. [22] At all odds, I have given effect to the proposition that the sheriff ought to have awarded interest in favour of the pursuer principally for the reasons set out in her second ground of appeal. Rachelle Nuttall , an associate solicitor in the firms Probate department has developed her career at Stephensons over the past ten Jury find mental health unit made a number of failures. Registered no: OC322962. Mr Allison contended that that approach to matters was entirely illegitimate and that interest should have been allowed. Vat no: 294 8327 19Authorised and regulated by theSolicitors Regulation Authority-Stephensons Solicitors LLP - No. [15] In reaching his decision, the sheriff mentions in his Note that he was influenced by the evidence of Mr Dougan. The sheriff records therein that, to some extent, he was influenced by the evidence given by John Dougan, chartered surveyor. On the next day, 3 December, they forwarded to Messrs Mellicks the letter of obligation dated 2 December together with extracts of a disposition and discharge "in our clients favour" these being the title deeds already shown to Mellicks under cover of their letter of 17 November. Mrs Thomas maintained the repayments on her loans until July 2007 when she suffered an accident at work and could no longer work. Having done so, it decided to proceed with the proposal and enter into a transaction with the impostor, albeit on the mistaken footing that his name was James Charles Whittaker Golding, the owner of the property in question. In addition, two of the agreements contained Payment Protection Insurance, known as PPI, costing between 800 and 1,500. The terms of the loan were set out in the letter. Mr Longmuir wrote down a mobile telephone number which they gave him for the purposes of contacting them. I am not persuaded that any of these features have been made out. However, it seems to me that the approach approved of by the Extra Division of the Inner House is not dissimilar to that adopted by the sheriff in the present case. [2] After proof before answer the Lord Ordinary, Lord Glennie granted decree of absolvitor in both actions. [24] It should be noted that before this court counsel for the reclaimers and respondents did not seek to attack the Lord Ordinary's findings in fact. Both companies are in the business of secured lending. England and Wales Cases page 45. We have dealt with at least one case involving Blemain. That Note set out the basis for his decision. The stated value is also relevant to the wider issue of proportionality when allocating the claim [16]. Please switch to another browser like Chrome, Firefox, or Edge for a better experience. On 30 November Messrs Mellicks sent Longmuir & Company a cheque in the sum of 350,220.50 representing the loan of 354,868 less certain fees and dues. You can learn more detailed information in our Privacy Policy. The frauds perpetrated upon them as a result of fraudsters, each of the reclaimers involved two different pairs of individuals applying for a loan, pretending to be husband and wife who were owners of heritable property which was to institute the security for the loans. He did so at paras 73 and 74 of his opinion by saying that the letter of obligation was collateral to the principal transaction and "could not be enforced if that principal transaction was void (as it was here)" and that, in any event, the pursuers could show no damage flowing from any failure by Longmuir & Company to produce a title encumbered with the standard security "since the standard security referred to in the Letter of Obligation was itself void". Google Analytics cookies help us to understand your experience of the website and do not store any personal data. Mr Allison submitted that had the issue of the shortfall and any consequences said to flow from its existence been focused in the defenders pleadings, that would have afforded him the opportunity to table certain discrete counter propositions in response. Counsel for the reclaimers accepted that if the decision in that case fell to be considered to be good law for Scotland then they would fail on the main point raised by them in both cases, namely the scope of any implied warranty of authority by the respondents. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Complaints Procedure | But some months after taking out the loan, Charles got into difficulties with her payments to Blemain, and in August 2007 the company issued possession proceedings against her. A woman has had three loans, which were secured against her home, written off thanks to a leading North West law firm, giving renewed hope to thousands of others facing a daily debt nightmare. The Defendant says that rescission as a remedy is fanciful in this case, that the Court will have to look at all the circumstances, that the borrowing was actually used for consolidation of other loans and that in reality what the Court will be doing is looking at an appropriate remedy probably of damages based on commission and charges most likely in the region of around 2,500. Have you had a loan with Blemain Finance? The Particulars of Claim estimated the claim to be up to 21,325.67. It was marked for the attention of Akay Ahmet. The agency also defends suits contesting its dismissals of administrative complaints, petitions for review of Commission decisions regarding the presidential public funding program and civil suits challenging the constitutionality of provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and the validity of the Commission's regulations. The starting point is the pleaded value of the claim pursuant to CPR 26.8(1)(a). Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Court Procedure. Key court cases relating to the campaign finance law. We confirm that they are in order. Stephensons consumer team is one of the leading specialists in the country in dealing with debt problems on behalf of clients. Please note we wish to take a 1st charge over the property. The case was re-allocated to the fast track. 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