Repossesion looming. Advice Please.

shazza1979 · 8 October 2010 at 4:19PM

Hi folks,

Unsure if I am posting in the correct thread as I've not been on before but I need help soon as I am about to lose my house and friend recommended that I come on here.

Basically my partner was out of work from last Dec through until mid Aug. We have fallen behind in morgage payments, and much more, and when we called to pay this months mortgage we were told an eviction order was sent to the lawyers yesterday! We are horrified at the prospect of losing our home, especially since we have 2 young children and finally thought we would be on the road to recovery now that my partner has found employment. The mortgage lender simply said we need to pay a lump sum of the arrears we owe which are now £5000! Our monthly payments are just under £500 per month and we simply don't have any money to pay a lump sum. We tried to find out how much the lump sum would need to be but the advisor would not give a set figure.

I would appreciate any help regarding what we should do. Is losing the house now a formality?
If more information would help then let me know what info you require and I will post this on here.

Many Thanks
S

fermi · 8 October 2010 at 5:26PM

shazza1979 wrote: »

when we called to pay this months mortgage we were told an eviction order was sent to the lawyers yesterday!

An eviction order? Has this already been to court?

Or do you/they mean that the mortgage company has simply instructed their solicitors to start the initial repossession proceedings?

Can you pay anything off the arrears now?

How long do you estimate it would take you to catch up on the arrears if you were allowed to?

Hump · 9 October 2010 at 1:27PM

Try to make an arrangement with the lender along the lines of paying 'current mortgage' plus 'a bit off the arrears' - the bit needs to be realistic so seek some money advice to work out how much 'the bit' should be - as a rule of thumb it can't be so small that the arrears will not be cleared by the end of the term of the mortgage i.e. 20 years - hence £5k over 20 years = approx £21 pm, but if your income/ expenditure allows say £80 then it should be the higher figure (get the free and professional advice) etc. Ask them to suspend arrears charges and fees whilst you maintain your agreement with them.

If they won't agree to your proposal on the phone then post them a copy, get proof of posting and keep a copy of the letter. If your case gets to court there should be a free money advice 'court desk', take your letter and proof of posting and let the district judge set the arrangement. The 'money advice' court desk/ duty solicitor should help you on the day to put your case (the government funds these services to help reduce repossessions).

The lender might stick to their guns and insist on full settlement of the arrears - ultimately it'll be upto a district judge to decide.

This is all very scary but there are agencies out there that can help - money advisors like those found at the CABs - prior to court, and agencies/ solicitors if you qualify for legal aid funding, your local council's Housing Aid/ Housing Options centre - in addition to the legal representation at court on the day of the hearing.

If your lender is applying for a warrant of eviction (or bailiff's warrant) then get advice now from your local council's housing aid/ housing options team! - good luck

madeupname1 · 10 October 2010 at 7:54AM

I had a family member who was taken to court for an eviction order. They managed to get it put off by demonstrating that they were now able to make payments on the mortgage. If your husband has found a job and you are now able to start getting on track, that should make a world of difference.

shazza1979 · 11 October 2010 at 5:13PM

Thanks for the speedy replies.

My mortgage lender has enforced the decree for possession of my home and they are simply waiting for the sheriff to confirm the date when we are to be evicted.

My partner rang the mortgage lender again on Saturday and the advisor was much more helpful than the previous person. We've paid the £500 we were intending paying on Friday and agreed to pay a further £250 in the next 10 days. We also agreed to pay £500 at the end of the month when my partner gets paid.

We were instructed to forward 3 months bank statements, a copy of my partners employment contract and 3 months worth of wage slips (we only have 2 since he only started in mid Aug) all of which I sent today. We have also went through an income and expenditure with the mortgage lender and my partner intimated that we felt we could up our payment to £550 per month which is £60.70 above our normal monthly payment. The advisor however cannot inform us whether this will be enough to avoid eviction at this stage as it is down to another department.

Is it possible we are doing all this in vain as they have already decided we are getting evicted? The advisor said we may only get 48 hours notice of eviction! We are still worried sick and the fear that we are throwing all that we have right now into the mortgage and could still lose the house is terrifying.

shazza1979 · 15 October 2010 at 1:38PM

Hi again,

Received notice of eviction date. It is 26th October!

I contacted my mortgage lenders again and sent all the information which they asked for. I told them that we were able to pay the £250 and then a further £500 at the end of the month, which they had intimated would be ok, however they are now insisting that we pay £968 before the eviction date in order to get the eviction order cancelled and then pay £589 (£100 extra) per month from November onwards. My partner told them that he doesn't get paid until the last working day of the month (29th Oct) but they are unwilling to budge on this.

As we thought, they seem to be getting as much as they can from us as quickly as they can and when they get it the parameters are moving to hinder us even further. We feel we can cope with the extra on the monthly payments, however we have no means of getting the £968 in a week.

Better make plans to empty the house it would seem!

tkitmike · 15 October 2010 at 3:29PM

Hi there,

My suggestion is you go and speak to an Adviser at the Citizens Advice Bureau, they should be able to look through your paper work and find out if there any ways around this and perhaps speak to your lendor and arrange something.

I would act pretty quickly, as they can be very busy at times

madeupname1 · 15 October 2010 at 10:11PM

shazza1979 wrote: »

Hi again,

Received notice of eviction date. It is 26th October!

I contacted my mortgage lenders again and sent all the information which they asked for. I told them that we were able to pay the £250 and then a further £500 at the end of the month, which they had intimated would be ok, however they are now insisting that we pay £968 before the eviction date in order to get the eviction order cancelled and then pay £589 (£100 extra) per month from November onwards. My partner told them that he doesn't get paid until the last working day of the month (29th Oct) but they are unwilling to budge on this.

As we thought, they seem to be getting as much as they can from us as quickly as they can and when they get it the parameters are moving to hinder us even further. We feel we can cope with the extra on the monthly payments, however we have no means of getting the £968 in a week.

Better make plans to empty the house it would seem!

Could you (1) borrow the money from a close friend or family member or (2) borrow it on a credit card? I know that answer to getting out of debt is not getting into more debt, but from what you say, that you are initially about £720 short, but you will have £500 of that within a few days when your hubby gets paid

andysinclair · 15 October 2010 at 11:15PM

I agree with the previous poster, see if you can borrow the money from a family member or close friend, then at least you can stay in the house. Also, try to see your local Citizens Advice Adviser, they can be really helpful. Don't forget to take along any paperwork you have, and all the letters from the lender you have received.
Good luck, I hope you manage to sort something out.