Repossession or Voluntary Repossession?

sch3ll

I've just been repossessed myself after having to give up my house for similar reasons. I stopped paying the mortgage in March 2011 and my first court hearing was December. The final repossession was February and I have a bankruptcy hearing this month. right up until the end the solicitors will try and make payment arrangements for your mortgage which is great if you genuinely wanted to keep the house but unfortunately not an option for me. The paperwork from the courts are quite misleading and i thought I'd been repossessed at the first hearing until i received further letters giving me options to prevent repossession. They do not finally repossess out until after they send you a bailiffs appointment date and time. If you were occupying the property this is when you'd be evicted and locks changed. I was with the Halifax so don't know if other companies take more or less time. One thing to be aware of is that you are responsible for the properties council tax even if you don't occupy the house until it is finally repossessed. If you call them there is a 6 month period where you don't have to pay if the house is empty but you are responsible if it takes longer to go through and the council will go to court after you miss one payment and within a very short space of time. Keep them informed and often they can put a hold on proceedings if you are honest with them. Good luck, the letters and calls can be stressful but they can't hurt you!! Oh and give the mortgage company your new address etc so you know what stage its at, i wasn't threatened with bailiffs or anything at my new home. I kept correspondence in my old address until near the end and just went there to collect mail every few weeks. Also utility bills etc get final meter readings as soon as you leave and turn off heating etc. You will continue to get estimated bills even after you inform them the property is empty. Very annoying!!

confuzzled2012

Should I let mortgage company know now i'm moving at the end of the month and to start repossession or wait until i've moved out?
Thank you for advice re bills, what about water ?
I'll sort council tax out for 6 months, and keep building ins.

sch3ll

averagemummy wrote: »

Thank you to you all, we are just contemplating this at present but it's very comforting to hear other people's experiences.

I have a question - might seem a bit weird in the circimstances - when you were repossed did they put a notice in the local papers or on the front door? We are in a small location and everyone knows our house! It's also right opposite the school so all the other parents would guess. I would hope to keep this private from our family and most of our friends, but is it just inevitable they will find out?

I'm not sure about the notice in window as I've not been past since but there was nothing in the paper that I know of. I would say its inevitable people will know, they'll see it empty and ask questions. I told everybody I was voluntarily letting it go due to my circumstances which didn't make it seem so bad for me.

sch3ll

confuzzled2012 wrote: »

Should I let mortgage company know now i'm moving at the end of the month and to start repossession or wait until i've moved out?
Thank you for advice re bills, what about water ?
I'll sort council tax out for 6 months, and keep building ins.

I'm not sure whether they will start proceedings without missed payments to be honest but wouldn't hurt to tell them you've moved and have no intention of paying. They might take action sooner instead of thinking you'll start paying again. For water if its metered get readings and tell them your moving or just tell them the date you moved and that its empty. They weren't as bad as the gas/electric for me.

Anondebtadvisor

They dont advertise that the house is a repo but the lender usually has an agent they will use in the local area to sell the property - if someone phones up about the property they may find out.

If the agent gets an offer they will advertise this in the back of the paper saying they have an offer and inviting further offers by x date

IF

Just some info to add on to this thread :beer:

Voluntary repossession forms and bankruptcy - click here

Dawlish’s thread - Click here

How long does it take to repo a property - Click here

Tim's post is important too

BB&B wrote: »

When you leave a property that is going back to repossession, it is up to you to have the utilities CLOSED* down, that is they should physically come out and shut them off.

If you don't do this then, you can be liable for any and all costs until the property is sold.

Just moving out and telling the utilities that you have handed it back to a mortgage company doesn't count until, as they say, there is either a court order or letter from the mortgage comapny accepting liability.

The same applies with Council Tax, which you remain liable for, but you can get an exemption on, unfortunately utilities don't normally give the same exemptions.

*Closed down means:

Electric - The Electric Company comes out and removes the master fuse.
Gas - The Gas company comes out and caps the supply.
Water - The water company normally agree a cut off, they really actually cut the water off

BB&B wrote: »

An unoccupied property dwelling is exempt indefinitely where the liable Council Tax payer has been made bankrupt and liability would fall to a trustee in bankruptcy.

Again something Councils fail to tell people.

Ref SI 1993/150

Tim

Best wishes
If...x

Maizy

Our house was recently repossessed, we didn't sign a thing, let the mortgage company take the action. Took 6 months to first go to court (bottled out of moving then) so got a suspended repo order for the arrears. Then decided to take the plunge again (plucked up courage to move) and then less than 6 months the house was gone.

Regarding the notice in the window.

Our house had a legal notice put up in the window 2 weeks before repo took place.

We put BR/moving off due to feeling too proud and worrying about what others think in this small area. Many whom we know/work with, will now know about the repo, its obvious from the notice and wording of the estate agent. I havent shouted the BR from the roof tops but had to confide in my manager and glad I did, I received truly amazing support and a couple of mates, none of whom have anything but respect for my decision. Took me a long time to come clean after first realising the path I would have to eventually take.

We are extremely proud people but now we are settled in rented, feel like the cloud has been lifted, do we really care what others think, after all many a person is in the same boat, more than you probably can imagine. More importantly, they dont live our lives, we do.

Good luck all

SteveABC

Hi

Your situation sounds quite similar to mine. You can tell the mortgage lender very little.

I moved into rented accommodation, went BR and simply wrote saying I had left the property and would not be returning (I enclosed the key, although they wrote back to say they would destroy it after 7 days!). I didn't mention voluntary repossession specifically - just let things take their natural course.

Be careful not to sign anything though - specifically a "deed of acknowledgement". This would make you liable for any shortfall after the repo.

Also, ensure that the mortgage debt and "any resulting shortfall" are included in your list of creditors on your BR froms.

I had to apply to the council though to get the property rated nil for council tax. Simply write to them to say the property is empty and unfurnished.

In my case the lender (NRAM) didn't actually repossess for 10 months. There were a lot of letters and legal documents from their solicitors and court documents, (and a home visit - I was out), but they were all a formailty. I didn't attend court and completed none of the forms I was sent.

One thing though, I was advised to keep the buildings insurance going on the property until it was repossessed, as any structural damage would still have been my responsibility.

So, if you do write, keep it very brief and just let things take their course with the lender, which could be several months. AND DON'T SIGN ANYTHING.

Good luck.

hisandhers1978

Hello Again,

Yes- re the buildings we made sure we were covered and then included it in the bankruptcy.

Unfortunately ours was also very public. Nothing in the paper but they taped up the letterbox and put the notice in the window but it was there only for about a week. Then when the house went on the market, the photos showed that the taps had been taped up etc. It went on massively underpriced and kept dropping!! The agent selling it was just around the corner from our new house and we had to see it in the window every time we walked past. People must have seen it but no one ever asked! We were always straight that we were handing the keys back and people probably assumed it was part of that.

As others have said, the relief and new life you get afterwards makes it all worthwhile. You never think you will say or feel like that but you do. Today is my automatic discharge and I can honestly say its flown by and been nowhere near as bad as I thought. Infact it's the best (but admittedly bravest and hardest) thing I ever did.

Good luck!!

confuzzled2012

Thanks very much, that's all very helpful, i'm looking forward to moving and getting rid of the noose around my neck :-)