How long til repossession process starts?

wayforward_2

I am just about to miss my first mortgage payment - just wondered how long they chase/give you alternative plans etc before they start the legal repossession process?

fiveyearplan

It would be at least 3 months. Do you want to be repossessed?

tigerfeet2006

Some people have had it happen after 3 months and some on here have waited a year to be repo'd. Someone got so fed up with waiting that they put the house on the market and managed to sell it

mortgagemole2009

Don't let yourself be repossessed if you haven't even missed your first payment, TALK TO YOUR LENDER NOW! They are more likely to be able to work with you to make an arrangement so you keep your home. Not talking to them will only make repossession happen more quickly.

Also please follow the advice of the other posts and get free independant advice. If you don't want to wait for a face to face appointment, then National Debtline are probably best as they give advice over the phone - it might take a couple of tries to get through.

Even if you've lost your job and have no income, your lender might still give you a break for a few months until you find a new job, so you really do have options other than repossession.

eklynne

Just missed my 9th payment, still no repo.

We_Are_The_Mods

I've missed about 4 now I think without anything even being mentioned about repo.

Obviously it must be the difference between lenders (mine is BOS) what I would recommend is getting on the phone ASAP and explaining the situ, mine have been very good to me and when I thanked them for being so on the last call she said it was due to me keeping them fully informed of what was happening, some folks don't even contact them to say they wont be paying!

wayforward_2

thanks for the replies-this is not on our home though-is on the rental property we own that is in negative equity. Have had an offer on it for the market value but the lender won't allow us to sell it. I wondered if they may be more likely to accept a lower offer so to speak once they see that it is in arrears. Just wondered about the timing for the tenants notice etc

BDB1

We have missed 6 payments to date, i keep in regular contact with our mortgage company (Cheltenham & Gloucester) and they still honestly have no clue what is going on.

I usually receive 1 to 2 phone calls a week from different departments asking why i am not keeping up with my repayments, i explain patiently each time our circumstances and they usually say "oh yes, i see those details in your file" to which i reply "why didnt you read the file before phoning me at 8pm at night" they usually apologise and say they are going to update the records and pass it on to the relevant dept.

The crazy thing is that we had a buyer for the house who was offering a very good price, unfortunately FirstPlus said no to a sale because they would only get about 3k back! after the mortgage company take their share....well it looks like they will get less than that back when it gets repo'd.

To be honest we are just playing the waiting game now.

wayforward_2

they don't seem to take a bigger picture view do they?! I pointed out to them they'll end up with less if they have to go through a long repo process but no!

eklynne

10th payment missed, still no word on repo....

Radiantsoul

wayforward wrote: »

thanks for the replies-this is not on our home though-is on the rental property we own that is in negative equity. Have had an offer on it for the market value but the lender won't allow us to sell it. I wondered if they may be more likely to accept a lower offer so to speak once they see that it is in arrears. Just wondered about the timing for the tenants notice etc

Well the lender can wait as long as they want. And they might have a different view of the equity to you. Additionally the repo departments might be busy.

The lender does not necessarily have to repossess. Another option would be to appoint a law of property act receiver to collect the rent.

Regarding not letting you sell that seems a little odd. If it is at a market rate it is hard to see what they gain. You are still liable for the shortfall and perhaps they won't agree until they have sensible proposals. One solution would be that you give them a subsequent charge on your primary residence I suppose. The other option is that they repossess and then either get a charging order, seek regular repayments or move towards bankruptcy.