Flat Repossessed Without Any Notice or Warning!

PROSS18

My brother has a flat which he hasn't lived in despite having for 4 years. He has gutted the flat out to a shell and been spent money doing it up, fitting new boilers, kitchen, bathroom etc. Since he doesn't live there all his mortgage statements go to my mums house which is where he stays - always has, since his flat has never been lived in.

Anyway back in September he broke his arm and was off work while he was in a cast - off for about 12 weeks all together - he's only just gone back to work. As soon as he was off on sick leave he phoned Nothern Rock his mortgage provider and explained the situation and they agreed to a payment break for a few months until he was back working with the understanding he'd make up the shortfall later.

He hasn't been anywhere near his flat in this timeframe as he couldn't work on it with a broken arm. He cancelled his direct debits as he was worried about the mortgage company taking payments despite the payment break agreement - he didn't want to get charges for being overdrawn with his bank.

Today my mum was on the bus going past his flat and to her horror saw a FOR SALE sign up in the window. My brother immediately went to the flat to check this out to discover the locks changed and letterbox taped up. Rightly or wrongly he gained access to the flat through the close attic and discovered all his belongings gone, tools gone etc.

I actually know the owner of the estate agent that has the house on the market and he said it came to him 2 weeks ago as a repossession and is on the market at under £40,000 - over £20,000 less than my brother paid and his mortgage is for.

He has received no letters, notices or threats of repossession so as you can imagine this is a massive shock. I personally can't understand how Northern Rock can do this. Surely he has to know or be warned - is this even legal? Are threats/letters/notices of repossession not sent by Recorded Delivery so they can prove he has received them? He has received nothing from them!

As this was all discovered today (Saturday) we have no way of contacting Northern Rock. Can this be reversed or stopped?

ILW

He would have had a duty to let the lender know where to send any mail, why did he not do that?

GMS

He is risking arrest breaking into the flat for a start.

How long since a mortgage payment has been made?
Was the payment break agreed in writing?
If so how long for?

You state he cancelled the direct debit so has knowingly stopped payments to the lender.

A repossession takes a fair bit of time so to have got to the stage of actually up for sale is not an overnight process. Your brother broke his arm so had 3 months off work. 3 months of arrears would be difficult for a lender to repossess let alone 3 months of agreed payment break.

Sorry for being cynical but there must be more to this than you say. Was the account already in arrears? Had the flat been rented out whilst a residential mortgage?

PROSS18

ILW wrote: »

He would have had a duty to let the lender know where to send any mail, why did he not do that?

All his mail from Northern Rock ie mortgage statements are sent to my mums because thats where he lives.

ILW

Are you certain that he received no correspondence about starting proceedings?

opinions4u

He has received no letters, notices or threats of repossession

Don't believe a word he says.

If this is, however unlikely the tale sounds, true then he should see a solicitor immediately. Shelter or CAB may be able to help / point him in the right direction as well.

PROSS18

opinions4u wrote: »

Don't believe a word he says.

If this is, however unlikely the tale sounds, true then he should see a solicitor immediately. Shelter or CAB may be able to help / point him in the right direction as well.

Thing is my mum is on the ball with things like this and would open his mail when hes at work because he tends to leave his mail just sitting for days - so my mum would check everything that came for him (before he had a chance to get it) and sort it out for him.

Surely things as important as repossossion would need to be signed for? I can guarantee that he has received nothing.

SouthCoast

Lenders should follow the steps outlined in a special 'pre-action protocol' before they consider taking you to court to repossess your home because of mortgage arrears. If the pre-action protocol is not followed, you may be able to ask the court for an adjournment – this has the effect of delaying the repossession process until it has been complied with.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repossession/steps_before_court_action

ILW

PROSS18 wrote: »

Surely things as important as repossossion would need to be signed for? I can guarantee that he has received nothing.

If that were the case, by refusing to sign anything you would never get repossed, wouldn't work.

penguin83

For it to have happened so quick did he already have a suspended possession order on the property? xx

PROSS18

It turns out that he went into arrears about 2 years ago and had a court order for repossession which was stopped by him making a substantial payment and higher monthly payments since then.

According to his last annual mortgage statement earlier in the year he was about £900 in arrears, which would have been reduced even more by September when he went on the sick as he was paying about £100 extra per month.

Anyway my mum found the old court order and letter stating that the matter was closed as he sorted it out with them but it stated that if any further problems arose in future that the action can be carried out without obtaining a further court order. Fair enough.

BUT... he was sick and not earning a full wage and couldn't afford to pay his mortage for 2 months! He notified the bank of this right away.

But they have just went ahead and repossessed the flat without as much as letting him know.. surely thats wrong. He actually has the money sitting there to make up the shortfall as hes been working his a**e off to get back on track.