Urgent advice required! Sister-in-law threatened with repossesion.

NickC_4

My Sister-in-law has recently struggled with money due to a divorce.

She has put her house up for sale (2-3 weeks ago) to clear all the debts, but the last payment bounced and the mortgatge company (EMX(?)) has phoned her and threatened to reposses her house next weekend if she does not make a payment now. She has never missed another payment but cannot afford to make a payment before next weekend.

Surely they cannot take her house this quick and under these circumstances?

How can she ensure that they do not take the house before it has had a suitable time on the market?

Any advice appreciated.

Nick.

cattie

I don't think it's possible for a house to be repossessed so quickly. First of all they would need to apply for an repossession order, which I believe they will need to do through the courts.

Somebody more knowlegeable than me will be along soon to give you a more comprehensive answer & hopefully some good advice, but for now just wanted to put yours & your sis in law's mind at rest on this point.

Maybe Shelter will be able to give some good advice too. https://www.shelter.org.uk

AndrewSmith

Hi,

Firstly don't panic.

The lender will, as correctly said above, have to apply to the courts for a posession order. This can take months.

Also, as she has not missed any other payments except the last one the courts would simply refuse to grant posession.

Lenders hve a duty to treat cases of hardship with sympathy and to work together with the borrower to reach a mutually agreeable solution before posession is even discussed.

If it does get as far as a court hearing, as long as your sister has been trying to pay the full amount and is in contact with the lender hoping for help and a resolution it is unlikely that they will be awarded posession.

If she is on a repayment mortgage, switch it to interest only or extend the term. This will bring the monthly payments down. Also, ask the lender to capitalise (add on) the missed payment but give them assurance that future payments will be met.

Most importantly is speak to the lender. Also speak to the CAB for further help.

The only way that the lender could gain posession that quickly is if they have already taken the case to court and have a suspended posession order, which is where a payment plan is agreed by the courts. Defaulting on this agreement could mean reposession within 30 days.

Communication is the key though. The majority of reposessions occur due to the borrower burying their head in the sand and not speaking to the lender.

Before anything else though, get her to call the CAB immediately to get FREE impartial advice and guidance on what to do next.

Hope this helps

Andy

NickC_4

Thanks for the reply Andrew,

What you have said is what I expected / hoped. The SIL was understandably getting quite upset and CAB had already closed for the weekend. I needed to have some reliable reasurance, and I'm sure this will help.

Nick.

AndrewSmith

My pleasure Nick