Repossession???.... please help

emos4607

Hi,

Am looking for any advice anyone can offer me about what to do next!.

Basically, my OH lost his job last week as the firm went into liquidation. It happened a day before pay day so he also didn't get his monthly salary - consequently we could not pay this months mortgage payment.

He has just been awarded JSA and today i completed a Common Finacial statement over the phone with our mortgage company. They have said that someone will review the information and come back to us within 48 hours. They also have said that they do not offer periods of interest only, will not allow payment holidays and will not do anything about our rate or term. They also said at three months arrears they will start court proceedings for possession.

We are in negative equity by about £5k and therefore putting the house on the market isn't an option especially as i have no means to pay estate agents or solicitors.

We have a good record of payments with the building society and no debts anywhere, we just need a breathing space to try and sort things out!. I can't believe that morally they do not have to even try to assist us - and wondered if anyone had any advice as to what thier obligations are or what i should do next?.

I have made an appointment with the homeless team at the council to see if they can help, we are a family with 2 children and another due just after xmas so obviously very scared and worried.

Many Thanks

xylophone

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/BuyingAndSellingYourHome/Mortgagesandrepossessions/index.htm

Road_Hog

I don't know what the level of qualified advice will be here, if you don't get get any proper advice then I'd suggest a trip over to consumer action group (Google it, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link to it). They have some excellent people who are well versed and can give you some factual information on exactly what courses of action are open to you and what you need to do and which forms to complete.

My own initial thoughts are that a mortgage company are unlikely to get a repossession order unless you're 6 months behind with the mortgage, especially if you have previously been on time with payments. They need to go to court to do this and the judge would usually be sympathetic if it was less than 6 months arrears, especially if you can show that you've tried to negotiate with the mortgage company and gone on to interest only.

Of course if there is anything that you have not mentioned it is best to say now, otherwise the advice you are given may not be applicable. Out of interest, is it a mainstream/high st. lender or less well known lender? But once again, those are only my thoughts and I'd get over to consumeractiongroup for some spot on advice. I'm not saying you won't get good advice here, I just know that the CAG people know their stuff.

emos4607

Hi,

Thanks for the replies so far, i will contact as you say and see what info i am given.

The situation is a described which is why i find it so hard to believe they won't help. We have been with them for 7 years, they have never had to chase us once for payment - i would hate to see how they treat thier "bad" customers!.

It is a midlands building society with quite a few local branches - assume that means its a high street lender?.

Thanks again

Thrugelmir

emos4607 wrote: »

We have a good record of payments with the building society and no debts anywhere, we just need a breathing space to try and sort things out!. I can't believe that morally they do not have to even try to assist us - and wondered if anyone had any advice as to what thier obligations are or what i should do next?.

I have empathy with your situation. However from the lenders point of view. If you have absolutely no savings at all. Then your finances are going to rapidly spiral out of control. Arrears will mount up. So their position has nothing to do with morals but a degree of realism. Three months is a reasonable length of time, and the process itself will take a while longer.

emos4607

Hi

We don't have any savings but i work part time (32 hours) and earn a reasonable wage - if they would just convert it to interest only for a short time then we could meet that commitment without defaulting any further. Hopefully it won't be long before my husband is back in work - he is doing everything humanly possible.

My income will decrease next year when i go on maternity leave (january), but i do get enhanced pay and in real terms won't see any decline in salary until June. We should also get a little help from a mortgage protection policy once we have waited the two months although this is only about £200 p/m. Tax credits have also advised that in the new financial year we would then qualify for help too - so i truly believe that with just a bit of help from the lender until we are back on our feet that we could keep our home.

It just doesn't make sense for them to be playing so rough!

opinions4u

It just doesn't make sense for them to be playing so rough!

Are they playing rough? Or are they just stating the facts before agreeing to a reduced payment? If you end up paying 75% of the mortgage payment, it will take 12 months before you are 3 months in arrears.

I would expect them to make an arrangement for a reduced monthly payment with you. The amount will take in to account your priority bills (council tax, heating, food etc) but will not allow you to prioritise payments for unsecured credit ahead of your mortgage commitment. It could be that they propose a payment less than interest only would be.

In the meantime, you may want to start taking action to up your income and reduce other outgoings.

Visit www.makesenseofcards.co.uk and complete a statement of affairs (SOA). Feel free to post it on the Debt-free Wannabe forum where others may suggest savings that you can make.

Here's some immediate thoughts from me.

1) Pay something towards the mortgage for this month, even if it's only £1. That way you will be less than a full month in arrears. This might buy you time in 3 months.

2) What work can hubby get? Temporary Christmas work in a shop or at the Post Office? Paper round (I'm not joking - my daughter used to get £25 a week which, at the moment, could make a huge difference to you). Oh, and don't rule out the possibility of a permanant job.

3) Strip back the mobile phone contracts, television subscriptions and internet packages to the absolute basics. Cut out entertainment that has to be paid for (board games are great fun). Freeview and a PAYG mobile that you only use for incoming calls.

4) Register for survey sites (Pure Profile, Valued Opinions, Global Test Market, IPSOS Panel) and get paid a couple of quid a day each for completing surveys. Dull, but it's a smaller income that is better than nothing.

5) Be boring with food. Basic rice and pasta dishes can be cheap. Own brand breakfast cereals. No need for cakes, biscuits etc. Don't cut back on fruit and veg, but perhaps buy cheaper fruit and veg. Make sure you use discount vouchers highlighted by sites like this. Use up those tins of soup that have been in the cupboard for a couple of years.

6) Can you get any overtime before you start maternity leave? (Don't do this if there are health issues).

7) Make sure lights are turned off in unused rooms. If you're on a water meter, make sure taps are off and not dripping; only flush after a number 2. Jumpers on and only heat the rooms you need to heat. Don't leave telly on standby. Turn everything off and go to bed an hour earlier - sharing body heat is good .

8) Cancel Christmas as a commercial event. Get invited round to somebody else's house for the day.

9) Cash in the Clubcard points, Nectar points, Boots points etc.

10) Get in to being a market researcher - be paid to have a takeaway.

11) Make sure your parents understand there's a problem. They can be remarkably helpful in difficult times. Even if they can't pay your bills for you, they can invite you round for tea, bring food round and cook for you, take the kids off your hands occasionally and provide other practical support.

12) Consider the way you drive (more fuel friendly driving habits). Consider car sharing to get to work, or public transport if cheaper. Could you walk one day a week to save fuel? Or every day? Can you work from home more often to save on travel costs? Can you change your working pattern so that you can save a journey a fortnight?

13) Can you take holidays for the year prior to maternity leave, to save on travel costs?

14) Can you defer maternity leave longer than planned, to keep income rolling in a bit longer?

15) Sell stuff on eBay. Get rid of CDs to MusicMagpie. Trade in your old phones.

16) Do the supermarket run with a friend and split BOGOF deals. Check prices at www.mysupermarket.co.uk and choose a cheaper supermarket if needed. Or head to Aldi. Or shop in the 15 minutes before they close and pick up the out of date bargains - Mrs o4u used to get a 10p rotiserie chicken from Somerfield at 7.45pm a couple of nights a week and five of us would eat it with a 10p bag of lettuce that was still green, but wouldn't have been the following moring.

I wish you luck. It's a tough place to be but hopefully hubby will find work soon and you'll pull through it together.

Time to be really tight though. You need to preserve every penny that you can. I can't see your full financial position, but if you can cut back a bit and up the income by a bit (even if it's a tiny bit) you give yourselves more chance.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=145

opinions4u

Emos, has your lender come back to you with a reduced payment proposal yet?