Voluntary Repossed House and massive Negative Equity

Sazzlebee

Hi,
Wonder if you could help?
Me and my husband split up and neither one of us could afford to pay the mortgage on our own so we handed the keys back and had a voluntary respossesion. Never of us have really kept in contact with the mortgage company since, a couple of weeks ago we both received letters at our new addresses stating the house had been sold and there was a £78k deficit that was still outstanding. Since then we have had multiple phone calls each per day from the mortgage company, neither of us have answered the phone as we dont know what is going to happen.
There is no way either of us can afford to pay that amount or even contribute more that £20 each per month to the debt. Does anyone know what will happen next or what we need to do to resolve this as it is causing many a sleepless night
Thank you in advance for any help you can give x

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Sazzlebee wrote: »

Does anyone know what will happen next or what we need to do to resolve this

Why would anyone "hand the keys back"? That's the absolute worst thing you can do. Selling the house, or one of you keeping it and taking in lodgers, or renting it out to pay some or all of the mortgage, are far better solutions.

Anyway, you're liable for any shortfall so go see a debt counselling service or charity right away.

At the end of the day, you now owe them £78,000. That's not going to change.

You'll have to pay it, or file for bankruptcy.

Peelerfart

I'd get myself over to CAB if I were you.

As good as we are here,and some of us (not me) are very good, £78K,or even half of, is a lot of money, and proper advice is what's needed here.

CapJ

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

At the end of the day, you now owe them £78,000. That's not going to change.

You'll have to pay it, or file for bankruptcy.

Or come to an agreement with the bank to pay a proportion of it over a period of time. Many banks are realistic about this. But you have to be willing to pay something.

Talk to the bank. Explain your circumstances. Have proof to hand of your income and expenses.

pinkteapot

Have a look at the Debt-Free Wannabe board and maybe post your situation there too. Above posters are correct - you owe the money jointly and severally, so the bank can pursue one or both of you for the full amount. Ignoring their calls will only make the situation worse. The DFW board will have lots of advice on how to approach the bank.

silvercar

Its a lot of money and lenders realise that you wouldn't have repo'd the house if you had money.

At this point in time the lender is looking for an acknowledgement of the debt* and a repayment plan. They will not expect you to produce £78k. Additionally they will not force you into bankruptcy as them will give them nothing.

At this point I would send them your income and expenditure and agree a token payment of £20 a month or similar.

If at any point in the future you are in a position to do this then offer a one off payment in full and final settlement of the debt. In these circumstances you will be surprised how little they would expect.

You and your ex are in this together, if one of you decides on bankruptcy, then the other is saddled with all the debt.

*Option B is to duck and dive for the next 12 years and hope the lender doesn't find you!

TAF

Ive had dealings with NRAM and negative equity etc..To cut a long story short, owed 48k when they came looking for us, they asked us for income and expenditure etc... i didnt want to go down that route as i kinda felt i'd be paying the full 48 plus interest, so i offered them 16k as a final settlement they accepted.

Caroline73_2

Neither if you are answering the phone as you don't know what is going to happen, answering your phones would give you a better idea.

If you haven't got the shortfall then they can't have it so explaining your situations would help considerably. Communication is always vital in any situation like this. You'll probably find speaking to them will actually make you feel much more secure.

Sit back, take a deep breath and call them. If the conversation gets too much just say "thanks for your time, I need to process what you've said" and hang up. For most people the worst part would be leaving the house, but you've done that.

It's only money. No-one has died. You haven't hurt anyone.

SouthCoast

Advice on mortgage shortfalls from National Debtline:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=11_mortgage_shortfalls