Debt Collection Agency

Guys can you help me out on this one. Boyf got a loan about 4/5 years ago (7,000 - he says it was punts) from a financial lending institution (not a bank but a leading lending agency to purchase, say, a car) paid it for a year, left enough money to cover another year in his bank account and went to England. When he came back he was told that there were arrears and the loan was back up to the original amount. He rang them and ask for info to see how this happened and got nowhere. When he even asked the name of the person he was dealing with the girl got very snotty and said "institution's name". He offered to pay his original monthly figure, together wtih an extra €20 per week but was refused. They said no they weren't interested in this and they then sent him a letter saying they sold his loan to a debt collection agency in Wicklow. The collection agency, when he contacted them, told him to make them an offer regarding the loan which he did - same one as above - however, they didn't want to know about this either and probably wanted full settlement of the loan. He got some letters after this. His brother went guarantor for him and also got some letters but nothing for ages. This was all 3 years ago and nothing has been heard since. Boyf has moved from original address that bank had, twice now, but his brother (guarantor) is still at the same address. My queries are: what does it mean when your loan is sold to a debt collection agency? will he have a judgment against him for this amount? Would he have been taken to court and not known about it? How do I do a credit search against his name for him? Can they still come looking for him for these monies (bearing in mind he now lives with me in my house which I purchased 18 months before I met him)? What would happen if this was the case? Can this affect me in any way given we are getting married in October? any help/advice/opinions much appreciated. Am awake half the night worrying and stressing over this and have given boyf pain in his chest making him doubly worry aswell.

what does it mean when your loan is sold to a debt collection agency?
Financial institutions will sell debt they see as unrecoverable to collection agencies who will then try to collect as much of the original debt as they can. That way, the bank gets some return on the money they now consider unrecoverable and do not have to waste further resources.

will he have a judgment against him for this amount?

Am not sure about this one - fairly certain that he won`t as he has to receive a court summons by hand, but I`m not a legal expert.

How do I do a credit search against his name for him?

You can't. Data protection means he has to do it. He has to fill out an enquiry form with his details and send it off to the irish credit bureau. Have a look at www.ifha.ie and it will give you instuctions on what to do.


Can they still come looking for him for these monies (bearing in mind he now lives with me in my house which I purchased 18 months before I met him)?

Yes, but if you have not heard from them in a few years, then they have probably written it off. Whatever happens, your house is safe as it is in your name. Even if they were to knock on your door tomorrow, they cannot do anything with possessions / property owned by you.
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Best bet is to get your boyfriend to fill in the enquiry form for the ICB and make decisions based on that. The enquiry will tell you if any legal proceedings have been initiated and what the status of them is, but again, I cannot answer the question about the judgement being registered against him without his knowledge.