GE Money Lenders - repossession???

homeworkgirl · 12 July 2009 at 11:42PM

For once I am able to forget my own woes and am posting on behalf of friends of mine. They have a repossession hearing this Thursday, lenders are GE Money Lenders. They got into 3 months arrears last year and have not been able to catch up, they asked if arrears could be capitalised but lender said no. They did let them start paying interest only but they are still the 3 months in arrears from before. They have been late paying for the past 3 months (by 2 or 3 weeks but always within the month it is due).

The husband has a well paid job but has a back problem and has to take odd days off work for which he does not get paid. His GP has written a letter for the court to back this up. The wife works part-time. They have two dependent children.

Their joint earnings can well support the mortgage they have so there is no problem there.

They would like your honest opinions about the likelihood of the repossession being granted please.

fatbelly · 13 July 2009 at 12:25AM

They need to show that they can pay the contractual monthly instalment plus something towards the arrears. They may need to stop paying non-priority debts to achieve this.

The judge will award a suspended possession order. They stay in the property for as long as they stick to the order.

Toni23 · 13 July 2009 at 9:00AM

A court will always look to see that the Lender has considered all options before issuing a possession order.

If your friends are still paying on an interest only basis, then perhaps they can continue to pay the normal monthly payments as they can then reduce the arrears until GE revert the account back to capital and interest.

If they are not paying on the due date, and this is by direct debit then it is likely that they will be incurring charges for a failed direct debit. Ask for a change in the repayment date, if the payment is still being made in the month it seems a shame to be penalised.

Go back and ask for them to reconsider the capitalisation on the basis that the circumstances which occured at the time of the arrears has been resolved and normal monthly payments can be maintained. The court would take a dim view of the lender pushing the case to court and incurring extra charges unnecessarily.

The Court could adjorn the case to allow time for the arrears to be paid off between the two court dates if there is a real possibility that this can be done or issue a suspended possession order, which would only be enforced if the agreement made in the court was not maintained.

Lenders always have to treat customers fairly, it is part of the FSA guidelines. If your friends think that there request has been unreasonably refused, then they should complain in writing to GE in the first instance but then take the matter through to the FSA if necessary ( It may be worth mentioning the amount of charges being made ). However, these things take time which may not be on their side, but I have found that lenders do not want negative attention from FSA and may be more likely to reconsider the capitalisation.

RAS · 13 July 2009 at 9:58AM

Hi

have they taken advice from any of the debt charities, if they have other debts? See http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

Have they spoken to anyone like shelter?

In the immediate aftermath of Thursday, do they have anythig that they can cut back, sell on amazon, e-bay or at a card boot sale?

They might benefit from putting their SOA on here and seeing what could be done.

And stop paying non-priority debts until the arrears is cleared.

homeworkgirl · 13 July 2009 at 10:13PM

A bit more info.....they have been paying interest only for 6mths. Also they have today made this month's payment over the phone which was due on 4th. They could not afford the full amount but have paid about 80% of it.

Any more opinions on what might happen on Thurs would be greatly appreciated as obviously they are extremely worried about it.

fatbelly · 13 July 2009 at 10:42PM

homeworkgirl wrote: »

A bit more info.....they have been paying interest only for 6mths. Also they have today made this month's payment over the phone which was due on 4th. They could not afford the full amount but have paid about 80% of it.

This is not good news - it looks like they cannot afford the contractual monthly instalment, let alone anything to the arrears.

I just read your post more carefully. I take it this is a second loan, a secured loan, separate from the mortgage.

If it was originally for under 25k, and taken out 1998-2008, it will be a loan regulated by the Consumer Credit Act. And this gives the possibility of an adjournment to give time to prepare a Time Order. I suggest they run their case past National Debtline even if this isn't true, and look at this factsheet.

Factsheet | Time Orders

They also have good advice on mortgage arrears

Phone them for advice 0808 808 4000

homeworkgirl · 13 July 2009 at 11:49PM

fatbelly wrote: »

This is not good news - it looks like they cannot afford the contractual monthly instalment, let alone anything to the arrears.

I just read your post more carefully. I take it this is a second loan, a secured loan, separate from the mortgage.

If it was originally for under 25k, and taken out 1998-2008, it will be a loan regulated by the Consumer Credit Act. And this gives the possibility of an adjournment to give time to prepare a Time Order. I suggest they run their case past National Debtline even if this isn't true, and look at this factsheet.

Factsheet | Time Orders

They also have good advice on mortgage arrears

Phone them for advice 0808 808 4000

Hi, no this is their main mortgage we are talking about. They admit the arrears and the late payments but the amount of charges that GE have been adding on is absolutely disgraceful and all the time that is happening they can't catch up.

fatbelly · 14 July 2009 at 1:04PM

homeworkgirl wrote: »

Their joint earnings can well support the mortgage they have so there is no problem there..

I think it was that sentence that confused me

GE Money Lenders - repossession???

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