Possesion Hearing no show - what now?

broadpaws

Hello

A question if I may -

Bit of background - Partner went BR in November, we vacated house and wrote returning keys giving vol repo to lender, heard nothing apart from standard letter saying we had missed 3 payments etc (as if they had not received our vol.repo) then letter from their solictiors for it to go to court to take repo, we did not object and wrote to the court explaining we were not contesting and in fact asked them to take it 5 months ago - well hearing was this week and we get this letter from the court which says

"Upon "lender" not attending and upon "borrower" not attending it is ordered that

Adjourned generally with liberty to restore, if not restored by 23rd feb 2010 claim do stand dismissed"

Ok So I am reading it that the lender did not show? Why would this be? What will happen now? OR has been great, we are slowly rebuilding our life, our mail is NO longer being re-directed from old address, and about 4 weeks before the hearing the locks have been changed at the house - so lender must have taken possesion?

What should we do??

Thanks in advance !
BP x

nervousmother

I wouldnt do anything. Including worry about it. The debt is part of your BR. let the mortgage company worry about it. If you want you could write to your mortgage co, sending a copy of court letter and tell them to get their butts into gear!

debt_doctor

Hi BP,

Im afraid you have fallen foul of 'doing the decent thing' and voluntarily given possession so the lender has thought "thanks very much, we'll save our solicitors costs" and in the process leave you in limbo for a year !

It is also a worry that you may liable for the c/tax on the property as it is exempt whilst empty for 6 months and then exempt without time limit if 'in possession of the lender'. Thing is, that is generally when the court grants possession to the lender, so you could have a fight with your council in that you are still responsible. ( do NOT approach the council to ask !)

I really would like to push the idea on this forum that it is never ever a good idea to give up your property voluntarily or to sign anything in the process, such as a deed of acknowledgement.

I hear peoples reasons for voluntary repo, and they are very noble; " it's the decent thing to do" or" ive been with them a long time" or " I might want another mortgage sometime".

In return your lender will stuff you by leaving you in limbo and 'at risk' like BP, get you to sign a document saying you still owe them £1000's after you BR, chase with a vengance any non bankrupt joint owner / partner for a shortfall and then stick you on the possession register!

Sory to slightly hi jack your post BP, your post is helpful in highlighting yet another pit fall of voluntary repo.

DD

Lensman_2

Thanks for a very informative reply.

I now understand why my CAB adviser told me to use the words "I therefore ask you to consider repossessing the property" when I wrote to them.

Would the court have been able to proceed if BP had been there and stated no objection? My hearing is 24th March and I will be there. But I had no idea that this could be an outcome.

TIA.

affluenza

Whoa - maybe I have misunderstood but that looks like a massive loophole!

Strange how on the one hand as a debtor, if you fail to show they find against you and yet if the creditor doesn't it gets adjourned.

It sounds very much that the creditor is using this unfairly to prevent wiping the slate clean - is there no way for the debtor to force the situation?

Surely that is something which needs to be publicised and that loophole closed because that is hamstringing the bankrupt!

debt_doctor

Lensman wrote: »

Thanks for a very informative reply.

I now understand why my CAB adviser told me to use the words "I therefore ask you to consider repossessing the property" when I wrote to them.

Would the court have been able to proceed if BP had been there and stated no objection? My hearing is 24th March and I will be there. But I had no idea that this could be an outcome.

TIA.

Hi Lensman,

Generally the court, if one side does not turn up, will give the other side exactly what they want. When neither side turn up then they are likely to adjourn, although the court could have granted possession.

If the DJ on the day does not hear " I can afford the contractual payment plus something off the arrears the the judge has no choice but to grant possession.

BP could apply to the court on form N244 informing the court that they cannot afford the contractual payment and asking the court to grant possession, but its untried as far as I know.

DD

affluenza

This loophole can only appear after you become bankrupt - I am wondering exactly how often people have ended up in this situation?

I always thought that Bankruptcy was the last resort to clear everything, not to suddenly find that you are now liable for yet more debt due to the lender refusing to accept the repossession.

What kind of behaviour is that? They push you over the edge, you comply with everything and they then draw it out? That is not acceptable and I dare to suggest it's completely immoral if not illegal!

fiveyearplan

The only debt you could be liable for is the council tax - the house has gone into the BR.

nervousmother

surly something can be done here. The lender HAS changed the locks. The home owner now has no access. If the lender changed the locks and has not repossessed are they not breaking the law?
If the council did make contact with you for the tax I would argue that it was repossessed as you have no access.

Trollfever

Interesting tactic.

Is the mortgage lender doing this to keep their published repo numbers low?

P.S. My local authority regards a vol repo as being intentionally homeless and a very low priority for social housing.

Lensman_2

TBH, it's much more likely to be that their solicitor took the day off sick than some devious tactic by the lender was taking place.

I remeber Startagain's OR's car broke down on the day of her first interview.

This sort of sh*t happens day to day...

Still, thanks to Debt Doctor, I know what to do if it happens to me a week Tuesday. .