The potential costs to secured lenders from illegal Personal Guarantees will dwarf the costs to the banks of PPI.

diyLAW, the legal information hub is launching its new website this week.

Founded in 2011 (as Help4LiPs) by Jeff Lampert, diyLAW aims to help Litigants in Person (LiPs), who are trying to resolve their legal disputes using the legal process despite being unable to afford legal representation.

Mr Lampert has been a LiP for twenty years.

Mr Lampert founded the website (diyLAW formerly H4L) after his company (Heritage PLC) was closed by its bankers Lloyds Bank, when it was within all of its banking covenants, Mr Lampert then uncovered that Lloyds Bank had misled the Courts and that his Personal Guarantee (PG) had been illegally called on. He has since discovered that PGs are frequently abused by secured lenders. In the case of Heritage plc, there was more than sufficient funds to meet the debt, yet the guarantee was still called on.

As a result of this illegal call Mr Lampert and his family were evicted from their family home and was personally made bankrupt. Mr Lampert is fighting a legal battle, through the courts, to obtain the release of the documents compiled by the Financial Service Authority (FSA) during their investigation into his case. Mr Lampert is advised that many other SME owners have been evicted from their homes due to the precedent set by the decision reached in his case. That decision was based on a perjured Affidavit by a Lloyds Bank employee.

diyLAW is actively engaging with many SME owners, who are increasingly aware of Personal Guarantee issues.

SME borrowings are decreasing. SME Research and Development investment is decreasing. SME productivity is suffering.

In the last week, Mr Lampert has written to both the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) and the head of the two financial services regulators (The Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority) seeking details of the formers FSA’s investigation.

A copy of this letter can be found here.

This blogpost is for information purposes and should not be relied upon as legal advice because it does not consider or take into account your own personal circumstances. If in doubt, seek legal advice.