They want me to sell my house!

homeworkgirl

Having paid off most of my, priority debts at Christmas, I am just left with three unsecured loans but because of Santander taking over Abbey and A & L it means that all three debts are now payable to them. My biggest worry is a £10k joint loan which my partner and I took out with A & L shortly before he died. They initially accepted payments of £5 per month but just before Santander took them over they said this was not acceptable and wanted £200 per month which was the original payment. I just kept paying the £5 and then I got a letter from Santander saying unless I started paying the £200 per month they will take me to court and force the sale of my house which they had found out I owned (well mortgaged anyway). The other two loans are actually frozen overdrafts which I had with Abbey on our joint account and on my personal account, one is £2000 and the other £1500. I don't think Santander have linked these debts with the loan but I am sure it wont be long before they do.

I thought the idea of taking out an unsecured loan was so that you couldn't lose your home but it seems that it's not very different from a secured loan after all.

I am worried sick about them making me sell my house and can't sleep at night. I would be grateful for any advice please

I have been out of work for a year and just receive JSA and Child Benefit so am unable to increase the payment of £5 per month..

DVardysShadow

Ooh! Someone here who knows about harassment?

I think that the worst they can do is put a charging order on your property - certainly in the first instance. So threatening to sell the house from under you may be out of line.

DarkConvict

Benifits are protected, they are to be used for you to live not to pay debts so they should not kick up much of a fuss.

As DVardysShadow says, they could get a CCJ with a forewith judgement to make it a charging order. This is different to a secured debt, but no far off it. They won't be able to force sale the house for a small amount, but it would mean when you sell the house they would get paid out of the proceeds first before you can buy another house.
They would have to give a very good reason to get a charging order, but im not sure what would class as a good reason. 10past6 might be able to shed some of his experience here.

Tixy

They do seem to be trying to frighten you. Although what they say is possible in the long run, making you sell your house is quite a long way down the line. Even if they got a CCJ and you didn't keep up with payments and then then were granted a charging order, it is still pretty rare for a judge to force a sale, especially as you obviously have children.

I'd suggest you get some professional advice on what can happen, and what steps you should be taking instead.
I assume they don't actually have a CCJ for the loan yet? Have you worked out to see what you could afford each month after paying priority costs and basic living costs? (even if it is only £5)?

You might want to get advice from one of the debt charities about setting out a budget and what you can afford to send an offer to your creditors, that way if they did take you to court you can show you are acting reasonably.

Edit - this might be worth a read http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=15_charging_orders_in_the_county_court

GeorgeUK

Can you tell us exactly what the letter said? Was it vague saying that you MAY be required to sell you property or was it more direct?

It may be a standard letter that is sent out but the bottom line is you can't pay more than you can afford.

Have you looked at reclaiming any PPI or charges?
Was there part of the PPI that covered the death of one of the signatories?
(Sorry for your loss homeworkgirl)

homeworkgirl

GeorgeUK wrote: »

Can you tell us exactly what the letter said? Was it vague saying that you MAY be required to sell you property or was it more direct?

It may be a standard letter that is sent out but the bottom line is you can't pay more than you can afford.

Have you looked at reclaiming any PPI or charges?
Was there part of the PPI that covered the death of one of the signatories?
(Sorry for your loss homeworkgirl)

Hi, it said that if they didn't start receiving monthly payments of £200 with immediate effect they would be taking legal action which could result in the sale of my house to pay off the amount owed.

No there was no insurance cover on the loan at all (yes, with hindsight I realise there should have been but it was quite a bit extra that we could just could not pay).

hermum

Have you had any bank charges that you could try reclaiming on hardship grounds?

RAS

homeworkgirl wrote: »

Hi, it said that if they didn't start receiving monthly payments of £200 with immediate effect they would be taking legal action which could result in the sale of my house to pay off the amount owed.

The operative word here is "could".

First they have to get eh CCj, then the forthwith judegement, then the ICo them the charging order. That will require you to pay an affordable monthl;y payment. If you persistantly fail to meet that, they copuld ask for an order for sale, but the chance of that are miniscule and since you have a child, effectively non-existant.

What is very important is that you must come here if you get a default letter, asking you to repay the whole sum.

Take care, sleep tight and concentrate on trying to get yourself a job if you can.

fermi

RAS wrote: »

The operative word here is "could"

Indeed. "could"

There are many many many people on these forums over the years that have had charging orders placed on their properties.

I honestly can't think of one single case where the sale of the property has been forced by the creditor.

Sort of in the same league as:

Santander's head office COULD be destroyed by a direct meteorite hit tomorrow.

Betcha it doesn't though.

homeworkgirl

Thank you all for your helpful replies. I received another letter from them this morning with practically identical wording. In fact they write to me about once a week threatening the same thing. I did sleep a little easier last night though my blood pressure has risen quite a bit again due to the stress.

DVardysShadow

fermi wrote: »

Sort of in the same league as:

Santander's head office COULD be destroyed by a direct meteorite hit tomorrow.

Betcha it doesn't though.

Wishful thinking?