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[MSE Dan]

This is the discussion area for the

Mortgage Arrears Help Guide

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If you want to discuss a specific aspect of mortgage arrears help, jump to the Support for Mortgage Interest, Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme, or Mortgage Rescue.

[amersall]

i think its awfull that the only help the government will give is if you have disabled. elderly or children living with you. what about people like us who earn under 60000, we got behind with mortgage as i lost my job. where is the help for us? sometimes i dont think it pays you to work we would be better off on benefits.(sorry just needed a moan)

[mullinp]

My Dad's got into a bit of a strange situation. He has been self employed for the past 5 years and been paying for MPPI. He had to give up in January as he was not earning enough to pay the outgoings. Unable to find another job after a couple of weeks, he contacted his MPPI company who send him some forms to fill out. One of the requirements is for him to get a letter from the Inland Revenue to prove that he has ceased trading. Upon contacting the Inland Revenue they refused, saying that they don't issue such letters as he is Self Employed. The MPPI company say that they cannot process his claim without the letter.

In the meantime, my Dad had run out of money to live on (to buy food). Mortgage, utility bills, council tax, direct debits etc have not been paid for 4 months now. Due to this situation, my Dad attempted to claim Job Seekers Allowance. After going through the "process", they are refusing to give him any money as they say that he has MPPI. He has told the JSA people that the MPPI people are not paying out but nothing seems to be happening.

So now he finds himself in this triangle of hell. Any advise would be appreciated.

[KERENSA]

Originally Posted by amersall

i think its awfull that the only help the government will give is if you have disabled. elderly or children living with you. what about people like us who earn under 60000, we got behind with mortgage as i lost my job. where is the help for us? sometimes i dont think it pays you to work we would be better off on benefits.(sorry just needed a moan)

I just wanted to say that that isn't strictly true - we have a 15 month old, I work for less than £550 a month take home, we do get wtc and ctc, and my other half was self employed, work ran out, and was refused income based JSA as apparently I earn enough to keep us and pay hte bills etc. We're struggling to pay the mortgage big time and the building society are only letting us have reduced payments for 2 months before we have to resume normal payments plus what we reduced by on top. There is no government help for us as our building society (Chelsea) hasn't signed up to the govt scheme, we don't have any equity anymore and my OH doesn't get JSA - we will be repossessed eventually at this rate if no work comes in for my other half or if we don't sell our flat (been on market for a year now and dropped asking price by 25k)

[darkandsparkling]

Yep - my reply is along similar lines......the company I work for have taken the decision to "ask" everyone (thousands of us) to agree to cutting each individual's wages by 2.5% - it will mean a lot of people will be in the postion of having a "reduction in income" and not being able to afford mortgage payments as many have been struggling already as there have been no rises to meet the rising costs of everything else for the last 18 months!
I'm very thankful as I'm in rented and have a lovely landlord! - I've been very lucky to be able to negotiate a reduction in my rent with him as he understands the situation, and with his portfolio, it turns out he was in a position to be able to do this for me! Have to admit I found it very embarrassing having to ask, however if anyone else is in this position it may be worth a try!

[lavender789]

Hi All,

Just thought I would pot this to give some of you a bit of hope. (By the way, I am also after some advice and have posted a thread on the Mortgage Forum, so if anybody would kindly take a look?)

Personally I think that the Government help for mortages is a little after the horse has bolted. The Mortgage Rescue Scheme appears very difficult for Local Authorities to administer, and is estimated to only help 6000 families across the UK. Which really is a drop in the ocean compared to the sheer numbers of people experiencing or facing problems - myself included.

What I will say however, is that there is now a new little peice of policy, which allegedly has a little bit of law behind it, this is called the Mortgage Pre-Action protocol, this means that lenders HAVE to have applied their hardship options prior to going for possession of a property. Hardship options include switching to interest only payments, deferring payments, adding the arrears to the back of the loan, extending the term of the loan etc etc. I would suggest that if anybody is facing action or is attending Court that you make sure that you ask your lender to discuss the hardship options with you, and if they havn't or they won't then mention the Pre-Action Protocol to them or to the Judge and ask for it to be considered, this may just save you your homes, buy you some time to get back on your feet, and save your worries and stress.

i hope this is of some help to some people.
x

[mcneilj]

Dear Sirs,

My mortgage is with the NatWest Bank. Would taking a 3 month mortgage holiday affect my credit rating?

[juneandon]

Originally Posted by lavender789

Hi All,

Just thought I would pot this to give some of you a bit of hope. (By the way, I am also after some advice and have posted a thread on the Mortgage Forum, so if anybody would kindly take a look?)

Personally I think that the Government help for mortages is a little after the horse has bolted. The Mortgage Rescue Scheme appears very difficult for Local Authorities to administer, and is estimated to only help 6000 families across the UK. Which really is a drop in the ocean compared to the sheer numbers of people experiencing or facing problems - myself included.

What I will say however, is that there is now a new little peice of policy, which allegedly has a little bit of law behind it, this is called the Mortgage Pre-Action protocol, this means that lenders HAVE to have applied their hardship options prior to going for possession of a property. Hardship options include switching to interest only payments, deferring payments, adding the arrears to the back of the loan, extending the term of the loan etc etc. I would suggest that if anybody is facing action or is attending Court that you make sure that you ask your lender to discuss the hardship options with you, and if they havn't or they won't then mention the Pre-Action Protocol to them or to the Judge and ask for it to be considered, this may just save you your homes, buy you some time to get back on your feet, and save your worries and stress.

i hope this is of some help to some people.
x

I am an advisor in a local authority. In my limited experience there seems to me very few scenarios when repossession is necessary. The lenders are complaining that borrowers are not engaging and contacting them. If contact is made I am convinced that the vast majority of problems can be resolved. The lenders dont want to repossess, not because they care but because they cant sell the houses they take back. IF YOU ARE IN ARREARS - CONTACT YOUR LENDER AND/OR LOCAL AUTHORITY. If this is done there are so many ways to avoid legal action so repossession is really not necessary.

[juneandon]

I am an advisor in a local authority. In my limited experience there seems to me very few scenarios when repossession is necessary. The lenders are complaining that borrowers are not engaging and contacting them. If contact is made I am convinced that the vast majority of problems can be resolved. The lenders dont want to repossess, not because they care but because they cant sell the houses they take back. IF YOU ARE IN ARREARS - CONTACT YOUR LENDER AND/OR LOCAL AUTHORITY. If this is done there are so many ways to avoid legal action so repossession is really not necessary.

[juneandon]

REPLY TO MULLINP

Is your father sole-trader or limited. He can ask Inland Revenue to change status to PAYE - if limited, wind up the company at companies house and confirm to MPPI

[juneandon]

Originally Posted by darkandsparkling

Yep - my reply is along similar lines......the company I work for have taken the decision to "ask" everyone (thousands of us) to agree to cutting each individual's wages by 2.5% - it will mean a lot of people will be in the postion of having a "reduction in income" and not being able to afford mortgage payments as many have been struggling already as there have been no rises to meet the rising costs of everything else for the last 18 months!
I'm very thankful as I'm in rented and have a lovely landlord! - I've been very lucky to be able to negotiate a reduction in my rent with him as he understands the situation, and with his portfolio, it turns out he was in a position to be able to do this for me! Have to admit I found it very embarrassing having to ask, however if anyone else is in this position it may be worth a try!

Did you try applying for Housing Benefits??

[killearn]

Interest rate drop from my mortgage company.... get this they wanted to keep it and knock it off my arrears each month !!!!
A Sea full of Sharks.....

[mattard]

my brother had a mortgage with RBS which he got arrears of 3 months.Back in March they sold his mortgage to another lender who now want the arrears paid or they will reposses. he has applied for help from govt under the new scheme but the new lender has not yet subscribed to this unlike RBS. Have they pulled a fast one?

[jamieT]

ive just fallen 2 months behind on my mortgage as lost my job back in december and they basically told me if i miss the nxt 1 i will be taken to court for repossesion

[di3004]

Originally Posted by jamieT

ive just fallen 2 months behind on my mortgage as lost my job back in december and they basically told me if i miss the nxt 1 i will be taken to court for repossesion

Hi there

In this situation there are various ways this can be dealt with.

If you are signing for JSA, I believe after 13 weeks, which used to be 39 weeks, but this is a new government support scheme to help with the interest of mortgages.

I'm sure others on here with knowledge on how this works will be able to give you some advice.

However, another way is, if you have any unsecured loans, credit cards etc, these are not classed as priority like the mortgage or secured debt, you can contact free organisations for help, they will arrange a payment plan, so you have more to pay towards the mortgage, such as arranging to pay token payments only to unsecured creditors.

For more information you could post on the DFW thread on here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...play.html?f=76
You should receive good advice on this matter.

There are free organisations such as the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS), you will also find that on the link I posted above, that CCCS help is onhand on that thread.

There is payplan, and the National debtline, and they are all there to help as much as possible.

Here is a website to the CCCS, and they are very good:
http://www.cccs.co.uk/

If you decide to go to these, ring them and they will arrange for someone to call you back in your own time, they go through your expenditure for you, and work out a plan, where more money is available towards your arrears.
You will also be given a client ref number, so when you contact or write to unsecured creditors, they know your at least trying to deal with your matter.

Have you tried by paying just what you can for now, for example £50 or whatever you can afford until this is sorted out, its better than nothing and if this goes to court, they will obviously see that you are trying your best.
Check them out, good luck.

[MarkSixtyOne]

Hi
We have just received notice that the holder of a second charge on our property is taking us to court to repossess.
My question is this; As the property is currently in negative equity, and not even covering the first primary mortgage chargeholders liability, can the secondary charge holder still successfully repossess, even if they are unable to get any proceeds from the subsequent sale of the property due to the total lack of equity, and being in a queue behind the first charge holder?
Thanks.

[opinions4u]

Originally Posted by MarkSixtyOne

Hi
We have just received notice that the holder of a second charge on our property is taking us to court to repossess.
My question is this; As the property is currently in negative equity, and not even covering the first primary mortgage chargeholders liability, can the secondary charge holder still successfully repossess, even if they are unable to get any proceeds from the subsequent sale of the property due to the total lack of equity, and being in a queue behind the first charge holder?
Thanks.

Yes they can. Both lenders can then pursue you for any losses incurred as a result of negative equity and repossession costs etc.

[gerryscot]

Due to my disability i am currently on oxygen waiting for a lung transplant. I have no arrears on my mortgage payments however unfortunately i am unable to pay the monthly payments on my secured loan i currently have with Black horse finance. They are aware of my severe health issue's however the only communication i receive from them is in the form of sheriff officers. I received a letter from them this morning informing me they will evict me from the property next week.

Can anyone please offer me some urgent advise!!!!

[Joolz307]

Hi,

Hope you can help me out.

My Hubby was made redundant and we have asked the bank to allow us to go interest only - they have refused.

We rang again and asked what other options we had and we were told the only thing they will offer us is a 6 month payment holiday - but this affects our credit rating.

I am so annoyed as we have never fallen behind in payments, never been overdrawn - we have been model clients. Now we want something they have turned their backs on us...well that's how it feels! To make matter worse were fixed at 5.7% so have been paying a small fortune

Soon enough all our savings will be gone and we won't have any other way of paying our mortgage. The house is now going up for sale - but we don't expect to sell any time soon.

Is this right? And if not who do I go and see to plead our case?

Many Thanks,

[mark581]

Hi, After struggling to make the payments on my mortgage for the last year with Abbey/Santander I have finally come to the stage where I can no longer afford to keep the house. I bought the house at the hieght of the housing boom and so now I am sitting on negative equity. To try and resolve the issue I contacted Abbey and asked if they would let me sell the house and arrange to lend me the shortfall on a personal loan basis. This question was met very positively and I was assured that Abbey had a dedicated department that dealt with this very issue. After this conversation I went ahead and put my home on the market paying for the HIP and appointing an agent, to my delight I recieced an offer from my first viewing for only £10k short of the total outstanding mortgage, I was over the moon. Then when contacting Abbey the third time (the second was to ask what to do next, they told me they needed the name of a solicitor acting for the sale) they pointed out that there was no such department and that any shortfall would have to be met by a personal loan of which I won't credit score. This has left me sunk! Abbey have now told me that they will not transfer secured lending to unsecured lending and that if I continue to miss paying my mortgage they will reposses and sell the proporty themselves leading to an even bigger shortfall and then persuing me through the courts for the difference. Question is Can I make them see sense and allow me to sell the house??? If I can't them I'm in massive trouble, I work for another Bank who will view my financial problems as gross miss conduct and sack me, plus I am due to start my training as a Police Special constable and again that will end if I have court proceedings. I'm at the end of my tether and really need some help!!!! Thanks for reading. Mark!