Keys handed back - how long before house up for sale?

MarkGreaves

Does any one know how long it could be expected to take for a house to come onto the market after it has been repossessed because the keys have been handed back? I realise that this is a bit of a "how long's a piece of string?" question but here are the details:

I am not personally involved in having handed back the keys. I need to know because last December we were about to exchange contracts to buy a house when, instead, the vendors handed the keys back to their mortgage lender (Halifax).

Fortunately we were able to find rented accommodation at short notice so the sale of our property went ahead OK. So, we are now waiting in the wings as cash buyers with no chain and all the surveys etc… done on the property in question.

I have tried to contact the Halifax but they cannot tell me anything (data protection etc…). We understand that the eventual sale is likely to be handled by the local Halifax estate agent so have been in contact with them so they know which property we are interested in. We even drive past the property on a regular basis to check if a sign has gone up or if there is a notice in the window.

It’s been 3 months now and I thought we would have heard something by now.

Following return of the keys does the repossession process involve court proceedings or the serving of papers on the owner? I ask this because the owners emigrated to Australia in September last year so I assume this would complicate and delay any proceedings or serving of papers.

Any advice, info or experiences are gratefully welcome.

Cheers

Mark

silvercar

If the owners handed back the keys without acknoweldging in writing that they would be responsible for any shortfall from the sale, some lenders will not accept the keys as voluntary repossession and will continue their normal procedure for repossession ie they will wait for sufficient arrears to build up and then go for repossession through the courts.

I'm surprised that the seller's solicitor didn't take steps to stop the repossession, given that there were able and willing buyers ready to purchase. It may be that your purchase wasn't enough to clear all the debts.

MarkGreaves

Thanks silvercar,

We do now know that they weren't going to get enough from selling to us to clear all their debt.

We are pretty sure that the first thing their solicitor knew about the keys going back was after they had been sent in. As far as I am aware their solicitor was going to chase them for unpaid fees.

When the keys were sent back the sale was being handled by a sister of the owners since they had emigrated. I spoke to the sister and she said she was just instructed to send the keys to the Halifax so I doubt there was a written acknowledgement of responsibiity for the shortfall.

Any body know how long a "normal" repossession should take once sufficient arrears have been built up? Given that the owners are now on the other side of the world (and in my opinon are likely to ignore communication on this matter) will this delay the repossession process even further?

Cheers

Mark

Trollfever

A lot of HBOS properties go to auction.

Try this

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=85267

MarkGreaves

Thanks for that - I will start trawling the lists of the local auction houses.

When houses go for auction do they still put a "for sale" type board outside or a notice in the window? We drive past the house once a week so that would be the biggest clue that something was happening.

Cheers

Mark