**Repossession/outstanding sum some 12 years later**

pennypinching_2

The exact same thing happened to me. I received my demand for approx. £20,000 two days before I was due to get married. I had house reposessed in 1989 and i was only 18. Some 8 yrs later and as they couldnt find my ex they expected me to pay the whole amount of the shortfall. In tears I took the letter to the CAB who wrote to the company on my behalf and said I could pay the debt back at £5 per month. The CAB informed me that due to the interest rate increase around that time that most lenders had written off the shortfalls. They told me that all debt would be written off after 12 years, and I havent heard a thing since! I know how you must be feeling because I have been there but dont worry the expert will guide you to whats the best thing to do. Good luck.

Tootsie_Roll

saver_sam wrote:

Sorry to say but your husband appears liable for the shortfall. I believe these are the parts of the law the building society may rely on to press their case.

Limitation: Section 29 (7) of the Limitation Act 1980 states limitation periods may be repeatedly extended by acknowledgement of payments.

Therefore if any payments have been made towards this shortfall then each payment acts as a fresh accrual of the right to receive the balance of the mortgage under section 29 of the Act 1980. Accordingly the 12 year period starts again from the date of the last payment. Also case Wilkinson v West bromwich Building Society [2005] UKHL 44 supports this.

Section 31 substantiates the above and provides that : "a payment made in respect of any debt or liquidated pecuniary claim shall bind all persons liable in respect of the debt or claim"

Pursuant to Section 20 of the Limitation Act 1980 and Bristol & West plc v Robert Wayne Bartlett & Anor [2002] EWCA Civ 1181 the limitation period applying to a mortgagee's claim against a mortgagor for the principal amount of a shortfall debt following the sale by the mortgagee of the property is 12 years.

Probably the bank has applied any sales proceeds to the contractual interest firstly, then the conveyancing costs and finally to the capital sum. The capital sum is then know as the principle.

Joint and Several Liability: Under a clause in the terms and conditions contained in the legal charge, the mortgage debt is a joint and several liability of your husband and the other party. Therefore they are both liable individually (as well as together) for the full amount of the mortgage debt and therefore also the shortfall.

If it goes to court you may find they apply interest as well under Section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984.

Please see my post above - CML Lenders(including Abbey) have agreed to only pursue for 6 years and ignore the 12 year rule.

Tootsie_Roll

jamesd wrote:

90% was a fairly common maximum lending amount and also not an uncommon amount to get on a repo sale, leaving 10% of the property value to recover.

At that time 100% mortgages were very common too. But leaving 10% of the value to recover - you just made that up ! Remember prices dropped like a stone, some properties were virtually worthless with whole streets going for a few quid so they could easily have had very serious negative equity meaning they had a lot more than 10% of the original balance left to pay before interest started accruing.

jamesd wrote:

LTV is relevant because 100% less LTV is the unsecured amount at risk. This gives us some estimate of the possible original debt amount. Only an estimate, since we don't know the original number and JJ27 hasn't supplied it and may not know it, since it sounds as though no real examining and questioning of the lender's figures has been carried out..

As above all guess work.

jamesd wrote:

I used compound interest on the estimated capital for 12 years. To get from 2000 to 23178 in one year would take an interest rate above 1100%. To get there from 4000 would take above 500%.

All irrelevant as you don't know and can't guess the starting point. In addition you have only allowed 1 year for the sale - could have taken 5, 6, etc.

jamesd wrote:

High costs for debt collection letters, statements, late payments and such have been judged to be penalties, not true costs, from banks and credit cards. I don't see a reason for mortgage lenders to be treated differently. We don't know how much of the claimed debt might be due to such charges.

As I mentioned no penalty charges get added on cases like this. It is possible that some collection fees have been added if the account has been farmed out but very easy to prove and not a penalty in the same way as a bank or credit card charge so no case to answer here.

bootman

I as well had to hand back the keys in the 80's for a house that I could no longer afford bought it at 18 with then boyfriend. I had a letter arrive 7 years later. It was the day I went back to work after maternity leave. I was devistated. Rebuilt a new life and just had a baby. saying house sold and shortfall of £24k

Anyway I was hounded by a company instructed to collect the debt. I made the mistake of going to see a solicitor who charged me £500 to send a letter telling them my earnings and everything!!! disaster.

Long and short They settled for 4K from me. They did persue the ex I don't know what he ended up paying. That was 9 years ago and it still haunts me. It has to be the worst experience ever.

If this site was around then I think I would have saved myself all the money and worry it caused. Don't make the mistake and get in touch like I did.

sukey13

Acoording to this guide

http://www.a-quick-sale.co.uk/repossession/after/

It is 12 years in UK and only 5 in Scotland.