Repossession

tryinghardtosurvive

We have decied that we are going to go bankrupt around October time, my question is one of we currently have a large mortgage on our current property which will always be difficult to meet in the current climate so are quite prepared for it to be taken by the mortgage company.

My question is as we are going bankrupt and want the house to be repossessed should we just stop paying the mortgage and associated bills except council tax?

Is it advisable to go bankrupt first or allow them to start the process for repossession?

If we stop paying how long realistically before we are evicted? We have somewhere else to live as and when it happens.

Have to say the advice and support from people on this site is excellent, if only officialdom was as helpful this country would be a lot nicer place to be.

payingtheprice

Hi tryinghardtosurvive,

If you are going Bankrupt and are prepared to lose your house then i would stop your Mortgage payments, these payments could be used to save for your BR fees.

I dont think it makes a diference if you go BR before or after, we went BR before we had a repossession hearing and the mortgage and secured loan was included in the BR.

We stopped paying our mortgage in March and we have to be out of our house end of September.

HTH

PP

skint_chick

Make sure you keep contents insurance in place to protect your stuff against theft/fire. If you have life insurance/income protection/redundancy cover in place think carefully about cancelling this as it may cost you more to take out cover in the future, also just because you're not a homeowner doesn't mean you don't need cover in place especially if you have a family. These things should become more affordable if you don't have a big mortgage to pay:D

Do you have other debts other than the mortgage? The sooner you go bankrupt the sooner you are free from worrying about other debt too. My best friend is in the process of being repossessed -she can't get rehoused until she is evicted. It's been just over 8 months since she stopped paying. If you have somewhere else to go and it's going to cost you money I wouldn't be in a rush to leave your house, give yourself time to get organised. What I would suggest is changing your home/mobile number so creditors can only send letters, and sorting yourself out a new bank account that is suitable for post BR and not connected to any financial institutions you owe money to - so you can save for BR fees without the right of offset being applied.

Good luck with your future

tryinghardtosurvive

Thanks for the replies, we do have other debts to include. At the moment we are uptodate with everything but it is going to be impossible from the end of the month to keep up with these.

The house we are going to is owned by a very old friend whom is delighted we are renting it and he is aware of our situation so no issues there.

Just wanted to understand roughly how long we had and to be honest will be glad when the house is gone. We feel quite relieved to have made the decision and are starting to look to our future lives without the weight around our neck.

Thinking we will go bankrupt late October early November.

I really appreciate the advice and knowing not the only ones in this position.

skint_chick

If you think it'll give you a fresh start and the rent is less than the mortgage then get cracking with the post BR bank account and switching direct debits you need to keep. There's no point in paying your unsecured debt if you're going BR - just council tax and utilities (so when you move you can keep your suppliers if that's what you want/need to do) Make sure you notify anyone who pays money into your account that you have changed bank details so you have time before your BR to make sure everything switches over ok.

It really depends on your lender how long it will take them to repossess -months or years - but any shortfall will be covered by the BR even if you're discharged by the time it happens:D As I keep seeing on this forum- don't sign anything the mortgage lender sends you even if they tell you it will speed things up.

Change is scary and it's hard sometimes to see that what you have to do is the right thing. Don't feel that you're alone there are thousands of people in the same position, you're lucky to have a good friend to help you with your new home.

asbestos2008

Hi,

When we decided to go BR we walked away from our house straight into rented property. We missed our first mortgage payment in May, our house repo is in court this month.

We havent looked back, we dont miss the house one bit! We always moved every 2-3 years and a house is just a building which our family is in!!

We had a large mortgage of £235K on a £280K house and we think they will be lucky to get £210 for it at the mo.

It depends on the mortgage company, a judge can always grant you 12mths in the house, depending if you turn up and plead your case, we are happy to see ours go.

Family means more than bricks xx

tryinghardtosurvive

I have to say hearing everyones comments makes me feel a lot better as got it into my head that as soon as missed the payment the mortgage company would be straight onto trying to repossess the house - silly I know but having never missed a payment on the mortgage in 17 years sort of goes against everything I have ever had installed in me.

I do not see any other way out and I always believe once you close the door its what is inside the house that matters. Sitting with my 4 year old earlier tonight, who does not care about how much money Mummy or Daddy has only is she going to get an extra bedtime story for being good today put things into a little perspective.:D

As my wife pointed out as well we were happiest when we were first married and had nothing but managed to smile everyday.

Thanks again for all your advice.

BDB1

We are in exactly the same boat, however as well as a mortgage we also have a secured loan.

We went bankrupt on the 1st April this year and moved into a rental property on 1st May, we have now missed 4 sets of payments on the mortgage and loan and last week received a letter from a recoveries company acting on behalf of the secured loan company.

Ideally i would just like the court date to come through so we can get it over and done with and then the fresh start can properly begin.

I really am glad that i didnt hand the house back after gaining some excellent advise from this website:j