Girlfriends parents losing house. Need Help!

ian_jamieson

hcb42 wrote: »

I suspect there is more to this than tells the tale. how long will the £5K buy them...seems crazy the bank would repossess for that - can they service the debts long term, this is not a massive amount of money, can they not downsize to rid themselves of the debt, be very clear about what you are doing here

I'll have to speak to them to find out more. The 5k seems very little, but for all I know, it could have been 5k in arrears for some time, and just not been able to catch up.

JQ.

I totally agree with the cautionary comments on this thread.

If you really are desperate to help them, why not buy it off them for £100,000 and pay off their mortgage. Put in place a legally binding agreement that the house needs to be sold within the next 12 months and that you will give them all the net proceeds from the sale, after deducting your mortgage payments and any other costs, such as repairs or legal fees if they chose not to leave and you have to evict them. They would end up walking away with alot more money than if the property were repossessed, but you still have a level of comfort as you'd have considerable equity in the property to deal with any issues that appear.

KRB2725

Do you know why their rate was 8%. That seems exceptionally high, have they refinanced already and got into more difficulty. I don't know that much about historical rates so I may be totally wrong, but that looks as though it may be an adverse credit rate which may indicate the problems may have been going on some time?

SouthCoast

Shelter provides a free, national telephone advice line staffed by trained housing advisers. We have helped thousands of people, from finding them a place to sleep to suggesting how to handle mortgage arrears.
Ring 0808 800 4444

8am-8pm Monday-Friday
8am-5pm Saturday-Sunday
Calls are free from UK landlines and main
mobile networks (Virgin, Orange, 3, T-mobile, Vodafone and O2).

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

theartfullodger

What other debts does he have either as an individual or as a (builder) business? Has he told his wife & your girlfriend??

Many men in that position might not tell daughter's bloke - sorry to be blunt.

theartfullodger

PS Good for you wanting to help. Hope it works out.

dancingfairy

Hi - I'd advise phoing Shelter as SouthCoast said.
Also you need to find out from the parents if possible exactly what the situation is - has there been a court order or is it just the bank threatenign to take it to court? is it the bailiffs appointment? Also as others have said is it arrears over several months? have they made arrangements and then failed to keep them?
We need a bit more detail.
Also are they paying other less important debts whilst risking their house? Perhaps they need to get help from a debt charity and set out a plan to get on top of the arrears (and stick to it) - if this means making token payments to unsecured debts - ie unsecured loans and credit cards then they may have to do this. Try National Debtline, CCCS or your local CAB but make sure you let them know it is urgent due to the repossession.
Best of Luck
df

hazyjo

Definitely lots you're not being told. Debts must be huge to be in that mess. They could have remortgaged on a lower rate - cheaper doing that and paying any penalty, or increased the mortgage term. It just doesn't add up that they're saying it's only £5k they need. I reckon that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Very sad situation. Really don't know how they've let it get to this stage when they have a large asset - the house. Why on earth didn't they sell privately sooner. Do they have cars? As above, why not take in a lodger or three? Not ideal, but I'd definitely have done that over having my house repossessed! Even if they decided to go rent a studio and rent their house out. Definitely more to this.

Good on you for trying to help - but, tbh, I think you're best off out of this.

Jx

sonastin

If you are going to help them, you need to see EVERYTHING. Every last bank statement, credit card bill, loan agreement, demand letter, court appointment -everything.

When you have a complete picture of the reality of their finances, only then should you consider using any of your own money to help them, and only then if you understand exactly how they got into the mess and you're in the position where you can risk losing your money and/or relationship if they still haven't learnt their lesson.

In any other situation, the only help you can afford to offer is emotional support and advice. Keep your finances out of their mess.

Mojisola

Work through Martin's advice with them - https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan

Get them an appointment with a free debt counselling agency. Ask advice from the agency about whether you can help without getting yourself into a mess.