is this a legal document? How do I prove there was no witness present?

we own our own business and got into a spot of bother with paying the rates, were the bailiffs came to take our stock. so our landlord came up with idea of document stating he owned the stock which we signed to make it look genuine . there were no witness present , Everything got sorted with the rates but now 1 year later we owe him rent arrears and he has suddenly pulled out this document that we had forgotten about and told us he owns stock until paid there is also a witnesses Signature, that has appeared,
p.s our copy is not even signed by anyone
Additional Details
we paid every penny after two weeks we needed to buy time to stop them taking our stock the very next day like they had threatened

Han

I am a student and there are lots of gaps in my knowledge but as far as I can see, this document is meaningless as it does not constitute a contract, neither was there any intention behind it for the stock to really be transferred to his ownership, it was merely a decoy to prevent the bailiffs from taking your stuff. This piece of paper would not stand up in court as a legal document saying he is the owner of the stock. You could try and scare him off by telling him that the piece of paper amounts to fraud and he should destroy it before he gets into trouble. I don't know if this would work but it might be worth a try.

In any event, this was signed a year ago and presumably the stock you had then is long gone, and the stock you have now is new and unrelated to what is written on the piece of paper you signed. He doesn't own your stock and you should go to the citizens advice bureau to get some practical advice on how to proceed with your landlord.

Just a thought, do you think he would go in and just take your stock? Maybe you should take precautions to prevent him from being able to do this as he sounds like he thinks he understands the law but actually hasn't got a clue. Be wary of this as there is a defence to theft if the person stealing genuinely thinks that it is valid means of recovering debt that is owed to him.

What ever you do, I would go and see the citizens advice bureau who are free and really helpful.

Kernow Lady

Well to start with you were both committing fraud, so you are both at fault. Where rent arrears are concerned if you do not pay him in full he can evict you through the courts and seize your assets ie: your stock, fixtures and fittings.. Sorry but it's a right old mess. I have known another business who this happened to. They lost everything.

LRonCupboard

It takes a certain type of person to own up to defrauding their own community. I'm looking for the right word but I'll settle for 2 - greedy and stupid.

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