Repossession / vol reposession

Coco114

On the advice of a lovely person from my debt free wannabe thread - I am here to get some last ditch advice .....
To cut a very long story short : I am separated with 2 children.
We live at the family home but , not for much longer.

Having struggled by for months I have finally reached the end of the road & no amount of juggling is going to save me this month.

I have pared my bills down & cut back , I have ebayed & also sold my new phone. My car is off the road as I cannot afford tax & MOT now making it difficult (though not impossible ) to get to work.
Now , we went to court after Christmas as we fell behind with mortgage due to ex being out of work for nearly a year. Judge was very understanding , refused to give a suspended possession but we had to agree an increase in monthly payment to cover arrears & costs over 3 years.
My salary is £1800 a month - my mort & sec loan are £1100 a month - my bills come in @ approx £600 a month - so that's my money gone. My ex gives me £300 a month for kids (always on time & I never have to ask for it - and £270 towards the mort/loan - leaving his 1/2 "short" by about £250. I can no longer sustain these payments. I should explain that ex now has a good job , very cheap rent & has just taken HP on a new car @£300 a month - which would all be fine if he would just pay his half as he wants me to keep the house & hopefully one day make some money. We are in negative equity of approx £25k so I cannot sell. Myself & kids are barely scraping by and it only takes something like a vet/dentist bill to mess the whole thing up.
We have remained amicable & I am not here to bad mouth him in any way but - I have come as far as I can & can't do anymore. He will not pay anymore & says I should do what I have to do with the house .... My instinct is to hand in the keys & walk away. I am aware there will be a shortfall etc to deal with.... This month I can only pay 1/2 the mortgage so it's all coming at me rather quickly now...
Any advice would be appreciated.
Coco x

Thrugelmir

Make an appointment with your lender. Voluntary repossession at least would save the court fees and related costs.

Coco114

Many thanks - I greatly appreciate you taking the time to reply. I will talk to them this week - I genuinely cannot see any way around this.
Coco x

Thrugelmir

If the outgoings are unaffordable then there's nothing you can do. Suggest that you look forward a new beginning.

holly_hobby

Good advice from Thruls.

Ordinarilly I will try and persuade peeps to avoid any type of reposession, as its tentacles are far reaching for a long, long time .. (just as with bankruptcy). And a court & the lender, especially where there are children involved, will attempt anything other than repo .... but there has to be a tipping point.

Now your ex has a better paid job, can you not go back to court and re-negotiate his contribution ?

Are you in reciept of all social assistance (benefits) that you are entitled to ?

Failing this, obv you can only tread water for so long before you start to sink ... So have you tried to sell it ? It may realise more than you think (even with EA fees), and although the lender will instruct their selling agt to obtain the best possible price, they are after a quick sale at the end of the day, and invariably repo properties sell at a discount to those which are still in private ownership and being marketed. In both cases there may be a shortfall to the mge, but marketing it whilst you still live there and can control offers to some degree, may lessen the loss, and the amount that the lender may continue to pursue you for for up to 12 yrs.

If the above isn't of concern to you, then you need to firstly start putting out feelers for alternative accomodation, you will be classed as emergency for social housing, as you will be involuntary homeless i.e you are a case of either jump or be pushed (and have not just elected to sell your home and go into social housing so to speak). The presence of children will also strengthen your case and urgency for housing.

Go and see your local council housing officer/CAB, get on the list fast .... once you know of a date of eviction, you call them and will get pushed to emergency housing status ....

Its a sad position to be in, but the best thing is to try and remain positive, armed with as much info as possible, and seeking as much assistance as available ... the future will hopefully be brighter ..

Hope this helps .... with my best wishes to you

Holly x

Coco114

Thanks Holly. Can afford to rent privately on my money just about.
I dont get any benefits. Nothing I can do regards ex as he pays above minimum for CSA - he just won't pay his half of mortgage/loan and , ultimately , no one can make him - they will just take the house. I am aware that I am in a better position than some.

I hope I can make up the shortfall on mortgage at the end of June (I get a summer bonus which should barely cover it) so next month I could pay the mortgage but not the loan ?!
2 (immaculate) houses in same sold this week for £27k less than I would need to break even & mine needs a lot of work !

Anyway - thanks again , much appreciated & I guess there is nothing I can do until next week now.

Coco x

holly_hobby

You need to be aware that evidence of repossession (forced or voluntary) will seriously affect your chance of private rental - as letting agents perform credit checks on woodbe tenants.

If immaculate similar homes are selling at -27k, then you can expect a much bigger shortfall that that, if you allow the lender market it, or let them take it to auction. The shortfall may be pursued for up to 12 yrs, so it won't go away, and they would still look for you to make a repayment arrangement (if of course there is disposible income to do so).

My advice ..

Speak to your loan provider try and get a reduced payment arrangement in place (although it will result in a default being registered which will also mess up your credit record)

Speak to your lender, see if there is anything they can do to help.

Get to the CAB after the bank hol, and start setting some positive action in motion ...

Good luck

Holly

DVardysShadow

Previous thread for context https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3799521. Coco have you done a Statement of Affairs? Somewhere in that thread?

No doubt you have been through a lot of Moneysaving advice - but I am just wondering if you could get by by defaulting on something else?

Coco114

At the moment there is nothing else I can default on. I have a little arrears on g&e etc , there are also 2 CCJ. I have halved my grocery bill, cut back where I can - my point is I cannot do this for another 3 yrs. What happens when I run out of things to sell for instance ? Or Christmas or birthdays or new clothes come up ?

My commute will now take me 1 & half hours each way as 2 buses so will be leaving at 7.30am & back @ 7.00 so can't really do a 2nd job ?

Thanks for your help though - I will speak to mortgage company next week. I also applied to council for MRS (about 3 months ago) and they told me I had too much disposable income ??!! Not sure how they work that out !

Thanks again.
Coco x

holly_hobby

Coco,

With CCJ's, arrears and other payment profile issues - private letting in the shortterm will not an option for you I feel (esp if we then throw a repo into the mix).

From what you have said, your leaving of the property is only a matter of time .... get yourself some CAB debt assistance on the social housing register now .... then when the date of your moving out is known, you can as I say contact the HA or housing officer to advise of the urgency in respect of your re-housing.

You want to try and have everything calmly in hand before all hell brakes loose, to make the transition of moving home under the circs, a little less traumatic for both the children and yourself.

Please, please take some proactive steps on this, and start planning for future events by contacting the relevent agencies asap after the BH.

Holly

DVardysShadow

Coco114 wrote: »

At the moment there is nothing else I can default on. I have a little arrears on g&e etc , there are also 2 CCJ. I have halved my grocery bill, cut back where I can - my point is I cannot do this for another 3 yrs. What happens when I run out of things to sell for instance ? Or Christmas or birthdays or new clothes come up ?

Coco, I have had another look. It seems to me that you have not done a Statement of Affairs. You admitted as much in April, and I cannot find one.

Now, people are poised to help, especially when it comes to something as big as losing your home. I appreciate that it is hard work and potentially so very depressing that you see very little point. But to give yourself the best chance and to give everyone the best chance of helping, before you give up on the house, would you not want to do one?

If youu have done one, please say so. Or if you will do one, go to http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html and fill it out. When you have filled it in, click 'Calculate' on the Statement of Affairs form, click 'Format for MSE'. This gives you a popup window. Click 'highlight text', right click on the highlighted text and copy the highlighted text including all formatting codes. Paste the copied text into a post for other posters to comment.

At this stage, it is more important to give the details of your loans and debts than your day to day budget. No promises that there is a way through, but sometimes something gets overlooked which changes the situation.