Santander Repossession

Janejh · 1 May 2017 at 9:40PM

I have had a mortgage with Santander on the same property since 2006. In 2015 I got into arrears by about £1,000. Santander got a repossession order in approximately June 2015. This was suspended because I repaid my arrears in full. Over the last 18 months or so I have accrued arrears again due to several personal issues - breakdown of my long term relationship, health issues leading to surgery and the subject of harassment and intimidation by a member of staff within the DWP. Due to all this I became very low and unable to cope with spiralling finance issues. The main being mortgage arrears and not looking at all my post. Santander applied to the court and obtain a repossession order. I came home last Wednesday to find my locks change and unable to get any personal items. I hadn't received a notice of eviction. Fortunately my mum lives nearby so I had somewhere for the night. I managed to gain access to my house the next day to get some clothes and a few other possessions. Whilst at my house I thought to check a mail box I have attached to the exterior wall of my house. I looked in it and found a hand delivered letter from the court which turned out to be the notice of eviction.
I thought this notice had to be handed to me personally or at the very least put through the letterbox in the door. FYI the letterbox in the door is fully functional.
The agents want everything moved out the house by Friday this week.
I want to keep my house and I am able to pay the arrears of £1.800 in full and prove my ability to sustain mortgage payments of £75 per month in the future.
Basically have I any chance of turning this around at all and how do I go about this. Do I need to go straight to the court first or Santander? If it's the court how do word the form N244 to achieve a favourable outcome?
Life had just started to become manageable and move forward positively and this happens. I would be very grateful for any advice.

Thrugelmir · 1 May 2017 at 9:54PM

Try and get an appointment with the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Janejh · 1 May 2017 at 11:00PM

I've already rung them. I live in a small village and the local CAB is stretched to its limits. I'm on a waiting list for a call back never mind an actual face to face. But thanks for the idea.

silvercar · 2 May 2017 at 8:07AM

You need to act quickly as the repossession has already occurred.

I suggest going to the court and contacting Santander.

Forget the details of which letter box was used, the fact is that they delivered to a letter box on the property that is there to receive mail.

Concentrate on demonstrating that you can clear the arrears and can pay the monthly repayments going forward.

If the monthly repayments are only £75, then £1800 of arrears is 2 years of non-payment. How did this happen and how can you ensure it won't repeat? To be in with a chance of getting it overturned, you really need to show that you won't get into arrears again.

The court officials should help you complete the forms.

TrickyDicky101 · 2 May 2017 at 8:55AM

What's the total mortgage outstanding?

Do you have the £1800 immediately available to clear the arrears or do you mean you want to be on a payment plan to clear them at £75 per month (over whatever is your mortgage payment)?

What charges/fees have been applied as a result of your arrears? It is possible this could substantially increase your outstanding mortgage debt beyond what you consider you owe (so please do check what Santander are saying you owe in total).

Janejh · 2 May 2017 at 11:41AM

Thank you silvercar and Trickydicky101

Silvercar - Monthly payments are £75 per month. The arrears are £1800 the majority of which are fees/charges. Although this is equivalent to 2 years payments the last payment was in fact less than a year ago.
Arrears occurred due to myself and partner unemployed and made redundant. I was unemployed due to ill health and major surgery. Then my long term relationship ended and my partner moved out. I was signed off by my doctors as unfit for work. I applied for benefits and had about 3 months of payments made by benefits. I then became the victim of harassment and intimidation by a member of the DWP staff. This person was a woman who had a very brief (matter of weeks) liaison with my ex partner. It got to the point that I made a complaint about her. My partner and I then had to seek the help of the local police and had her served with a police Notice for harassment. Her behaviour within her job at the DWP left me in fear on renewing my benefits claim as she divulged my personal and health information to a third party. All this just snowballed and left me unable to cope and deal with financial matters.
My partner and I attempted several reconciliations but in the end gave up because the continual contact and harassment became too much for both of us to cope with.
I have the money to pay the £1,800 arrears plus 6 months mortgage up front. My partner and I are back together now and we are both working. He has a salary plus a small naval pension and I also have a job now too. Our combine income based on basic hours is £25,500 but my partner has regular overtime equating to another £3,500 per year giving us a total income of approximately £29,000. I know that jobs are not 100% guaranteed but we both work for stable well known companies with good prospects of being secure.

Trickydicky101 - Mortgage outstanding is £92,000 and the house is valued in the region of £145,000.
The £92,000 includes the arrears and charges to date.

I have the £1,800 available immediately plus 6 months mortgage to pay upfront plus a guarantor if required.

I have been in contact with a company online that deal with nothing but repossession cases who I am calling back later. Do you think I should engage there help is it something I could do myself? They are advising so far that it might not be worth taking the court Form N244 route but to try and negotiate with Santander first.
My instinct is telling me to just get the N244 into court to get an emergency hearing straight away.

Alarae · 2 May 2017 at 12:07PM

Contact Santander immediately and state you can pay off the arrears in full and your plan going doing forward.

In a prior job, I worked in marketing repossessions (not as an Estate Agent more the person telling the EAs and solicitors what to do) and Santander was one of my clients.

When a borrower demonstrated to a client they could clear the arrears and afford the payments going forward, then they would normally consider handing the house back because it is easier than going through with a sale. Plus it means they are treating the customer fairly by not accruing extra charges they will foot when they could instead just continue with the mortgage as before.

Please, call them now. The quicker it is done the less work will have put into marketing it and the higher chance you have getting it back (if you can satisfy Santander re payments going forward).

Good luck OP. From my experience the Santander team were quite rational about things given a reasonable explanation.

TrickyDicky101 · 2 May 2017 at 12:46PM

I think talking to Santander is a good idea - you won't lose anything by doing so.

How much longer is left on your mortgage? I presume you are paying interest-only rather than a repayment mortgage. Do you have a repayment vehicle in place to pay off the mortgage at end of term?

Sandtander may well have concerns about how you mean to repay the mortgage debt once the mortgage reaches maturity.

I have a deal of sympathy for you - what you have gone through really sounds unpleasant.

NOVAMET21 · 2 May 2017 at 5:27PM

Janejh wrote: »

Thank you silvercar and Trickydicky101

Silvercar - Monthly payments are £75 per month. The arrears are £1800 the majority of which are fees/charges. Although this is equivalent to 2 years payments the last payment was in fact less than a year ago.

Trickydicky101 - Mortgage outstanding is £92,000 and the house is valued in the region of £145,000.
The £92,000 includes the arrears and charges to date.

Hold on a sec...monthly mortgage payment of £75 and the outstanding balance on the mortgage is £92,000? How does that work? or have I missed something?

Janejh · 3 May 2017 at 11:04AM

Thank you Alarae.
Your post and info really helped and me some confidence to contact Santander again.
When I spoke to them the day after eviction they extremely unhelpful and standoffish.
Anyway I rang again straight after I'd read your post.
They were a lot more approachable this time.
I explained my history and why arrears has accrued in the first place. I told them I could pay arrears immediately so didn't need a repayment plan. Also told them I could pay 6 months mortgage up front to use as a safety net but start a direct debit immediately for ongoing payments. Also gave them info on how I could sustain future payments because myself and my partner were now back in permanent employment.
She asked me to email her details of every I'd just said setting out reasons for arrears. Once she received this she said she would talk to their solicitors this morning and then come back to me.
i know I could still get a no but at least they are reviewing it.
Thank you once again for your post.

Janejh · 4 May 2017 at 12:04PM

Update. Santander have refused my offer. They say only options are to redeem mortgage in full or go back to court. I'm assuming court option is Form N244 to request an emergency hearing.
I'm reasonably happy about completing the form but do indeed legal representation for the court hearing iris fairly straightforward?
Any advice very much appreciated.

Santander Repossession

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