chased for old mortgage debt help please

markdornan1

H ALL
Sorry if this is wrong forum but we need some help with this please.
In late 1997 early 1998 my wife had her house repossessed, this was a 50% equity share
Despite her efforts and those of the local CAB the repossession went ahead and the last she heard was from the man at the CAB who had been trying to get a settlement figure from the Halifax which was not forthcoming, he said that, “ because you are a single parent and a student, and have little chance of repaying this”…. his gut feeling was that Halifax would drop it and you would probably never hear from them again.
My wife did not hear anything during the course of the next 2 years where she resided at the address that she had given the Halifax, on finishing her course she moved away and in 2002 purchased a house in Devon, at the time she mentioned the earlier business to the mortgage person at the bank (NatWest) and their advice was to wait and see what came back on the credit check, when it came back clear, she assumed that there had been no shortfall. She also remained on the electoral register from that time on.
We met and purchased a house together in 2006, again no credit reference issues.
Out of the blue in 2007/8 we received a letter from the Halifax saying they were pursuing the debt from 1998 and my wife owed in excess of £15000 after some research we contacted the Halifax, disputing the debt as they were outside the FSA guidelines. The Halifax agreed and stated that they would take no further action.
In June of this year (2015) we were contacted by a debt agency to say that they we owed this debt and they would be taking action to recover it and invited us to contact them to discuss this, after a couple of these we have sought advice from CAB and have an appointment next week, but wonder if anyone on this forum can give us some advice here.
Upon investigation it appears that the repossessed house was not resold, it possibly went back into the Housing Association stock and was let out. This may have been why there was no contact during this time.
so any thoughts on the following.
No ccj in the first place
A repossession but no sale so how is shortfall arrived at.
If the fsa say the Halifax shouldn’t pursue a debt after 2005/6, and they agree in 2007/8 then how can they sell a debt to someone else so long afterward.
Can a debt agency take any legal action or is this just a scare to try and force us into agreein some form of repayment. Thanks in advance for your help

cakeforbrains

I don't know the answer but I think you might have some luck on the Debt Free Wannabe board as there are some very knowledgeable people there when it comes too old debts and collection agencies.

makes-sense

Once you tell them you successfully disputed this some years ago, they will probably drop it. It's also be worth speaking to a debt charity who can give you some free advice, like National Debtline or StepChange - I'm new, so I couldn't put links.

Good luck!