To what extent (if at all) can the lack of equity in a property be taken into account by the court...
To what extent (if at all) can the lack of equity in a property be taken into account by the court when deciding whether to make final an interim charging order as opposed to ordering a sale subsequent to a final charging order?
The view held by the majority of us is that the court would be most unlikely to make a final charging order where the negative equity is large either in amount or proportionate to the value of the property. The charging order procedure should not be used by a creditor as a method unnecessarily to hound the debtor and if the negative equity is so large that any order would not give the creditor any real security then they should not expect to obtain a final charging order or their costs.
However, if the negative equity is only modest the court may well make a final charging order on the basis that a rise in property prices may give the creditor some
