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[MSE Dan]

This threads specifically for discussing the Mortgage Rescue benefit, available to homeowners struggling to repay the mortgage.

Read the Mortgage Rescue
section of the full Mortgage Arrears Help Guide

Click reply to discuss this.

If you want to discuss a different aspect of mortgage arrears help, jump to the Support for Mortgage Interest, Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme, or General Mortgage Arrears Help threads.

[Air-Wolf]

Here are my notes made after attending a meeting of a West Midlands Local Authority on the governments MRS:-

The main point not mentioend in the front article is that there are regional caps on property values - the West Midlands is £145,000.

The main aims are:-

• prevent homelessness by preventing repossession
• assist 6000 families over a two year period in England and Wales
• It's a discretionary fund
• 2 main options
  • shared equity - equity loan to reduce mortgage payment or eradicate it
  • mortgage to rent - purchase and let back
• Partners to include
  • Lenders
  • Money Advice
  • LAs
  • RSL (Zone Agents)

There are six main steps to obtaining this support - they are not for the faint hearted!

1. Enquiry Stage. Provide initial assistance
2. Seek lenders position - has the lender exhausted all other hardship options with the customer?
3. Involve money advice - obtain and up to date financial assessment showing the homeowner can afford to stay in the property with MRS assistance
4. LA assessment - is the owner really the owner? What's the risk of homelessness? Area they eligible for assistance - are they a priority (family) is their any other outstanding charge or ownership dispute on the property, what is the owners income (£60,000 cap), what is the value of the property (£145,000 cap) is the property appropriate for future continued occupation (size/ overcrowding issues)?:
5. Go to lender - freeze any additional interest charges and all repossession proceedings for 3 months
6. Go to Zone Agent - gathers yet more evidence and assess them again!

Special requirements:-

• not for houses in negative equity
• not for owners earning more than £60,000
• not for houses costing more than £145,000

[palflat]

When you first approach you local authority they should contact your lender straight away to hold off any repossession action whilst they assess your eligibity for mortgage rescue. Amongst other things I manage a housing options team and there is a specialist mortgage rescue advisor there. We have helped many people with mortgage problems, including attending court to defend possession where it was clear the lender had not exhausted all the tools they have to help those in debt. In many cases in fact we refer people back to the lenders because they are too hasty to threaten posession without making the borrower aware of the help they can give. All council of mortgate lender members, who have lent about 98% of all mortages in the UK are signed up to offer assistance packages before they will take possession action.

The money/debt advice is part of the process because often people's outgoings can be reduced to a point where they are able to pay their mortgage. Anyone who watches 'it pays to watch' will understand how this is done.

The mortgage rescue scheme has received a bad press because so few rescues have been done, but in my experience this because people can get help before they get to the end of the process. That is what the process is for though, most people would prefer to keep owning thier property if possible.