mortgage arrears

maskean

I have got my self into arrears again this has happened a couple of times but i have always got myself straight,(i have got a lot of debt at the minute it seems everytime i sort one debt out i fall in arrears with anotherr)i will be paying the arrears of this week i have just rung them and told me they have sent for court papers for repossesion the lady on the phone was very helpfull and said as long as i have it paid before the court date then it will be stopped,the question i have is the mortgage deal ends 1st november after being with them for 3 years mortgage started 240 now 466 ,i want to change mortgage lenders when i get the arrears cleared and then take some equity out of my house to pay of all my debts will other lenders take me and my partner on and will we be able to take the equity out,we both have bad credit rating as we got ourselves into trouble with bills but we are on the up have made arrangments with our creditors,will ther lenders take us on.michelle

MortgageMamma

maskean wrote: »

I have got my self into arrears again this has happened a couple of times but i have always got myself straight,(i have got a lot of debt at the minute it seems everytime i sort one debt out i fall in arrears with anotherr)i will be paying the arrears of this week i have just rung them and told me they have sent for court papers for repossesion the lady on the phone was very helpfull and said as long as i have it paid before the court date then it will be stopped,the question i have is the mortgage deal ends 1st november after being with them for 3 years mortgage started 240 now 466 ,i want to change mortgage lenders when i get the arrears cleared and then take some equity out of my house to pay of all my debts will other lenders take me and my partner on and will we be able to take the equity out,we both have bad credit rating as we got ourselves into trouble with bills but we are on the up have made arrangments with our creditors,will ther lenders take us on.michelle

There are lots of lenders offering different products and rates for people of varying credit problems, both past and present. I cannot say 100% definitely there will be a lender willing to advance you more money to consolidate, and due to recent market volatility the sub prime market has undergone a lot of restrictive changes, however the best way to find out if this is possible is to undergo a full assessment of your circumstances by a whole of market mortgage adviser - who will then present you with the best product to do the job, if indeed there is one available to you.

Don't try and do this by yourself, as there are many lenders, especially those advertising on TV that will rip you off and tie you into unsuitable contracts, you need professional help.

MM

silvercar

I'm sorry but I think this is a bad idea.

You are having problems paying your mortgage at the moment, so you should not be thinking of increasing your loan to repay other debts. Fall behind with your mortgage payments and you risk losing your home. Putting all your unsecured debts onto your mortgage, increases your secured debt, increases your mortgage payments and increases the amount you will pay back in the long term.

By all means look for a better mortgage deal, fix your payments if that will help you budget, but don't add unsecured debts to your mortgage, you would end up repaying them over a longer period and risking your home if you fall behind with your payments.

Prioritise your payments. The mortgage should come first before all the other debts. Make sure that is paid as it is the roof over your head. Then worry about the other payments. Don't add to your mortgage as you risk losing your home if you can't manage the payments.

Conrad

Silvercar is in principle correct.

Try and secure a new remortgage then pay minimal amounts on unsecured debts or possibly go Bankcrupt if the Bankcruptcy will leave your home alone which is reasonably likely as they wont want you made homeless.

Crucially do what smart people do, avoid middle men (debt management firms) regards the unsecured debt. I've met plenty of people who have simply stopped paying unsecured debt and nothing ever happened to them, it just got written off. One of my brothers owed Bristol & West £52000 from a repossession. 10 years later they settled on £2500!

If you do remo make sure the broker is intelligent enough to consider 3 and 5 yr fixed rates. 2 years is often too short and remember when you remo the time after this you will likely face thousands in fees and interim interest again so a 2 year deal can be counter productive and you may well still have adverse credit history so remoing to a prime deal not all that likely.

Make sure the broker gives advice and is not just 'information only' - seek written evidence of this. Info only brokers are harder to get redress against!

Why are'nt other brokers on here mentioning this last part? Whole of market yes, but no mention of the advice giving status, mmmmmm

MortgageMamma

Conrad wrote: »

Silvercar is in principle correct.

Try and secure a new remortgage then pay minimal amounts on unsecured debts or possibly go Bankcrupt if the Bankcruptcy will leave your home alone which is reasonably likely as they wont want you made homeless.

That is a totally inappropriate and potentially dangerous comment. You know nothing of this person of their situation so should not be commenting that they should go bankrupt.

Crucially do what smart people do, avoid middle men (debt management firms) regards the unsecured debt. I've met plenty of people who have simply stopped paying unsecured debt and nothing ever happened to them, it just got written off. One of my brothers owed Bristol & West £52000 from a repossession. 10 years later they settled on £2500!

Again completely inappropriate. I'd be scared if I was one of your clients and receiving advice like that? are you on something? Telling someone to totally ignored unsecured debt? are you for real?

If you do remo make sure the broker is intelligent enough to consider 3 and 5 yr fixed rates. 2 years is often too short and remember when you remo the time after this you will likely face thousands in fees and interim interest again so a 2 year deal can be counter productive and you may well still have adverse credit history so remoing to a prime deal not all that likely.

A two year fixed rate could be the most suitable. just because a broker recommends a two year fixed rate does not mean that they are unintelligent and looking to churn, if that was the case then we'd all be shut down. Regarding the "thousands of pounds of fee's" this really needn't be the case, there are plenty of remortgage products with no or very reasonable fee's on the market, I can only assume you think the OP would be paying extortionate broker fee's?

Make sure the broker gives advice and is not just 'information only' - seek written evidence of this. Info only brokers are harder to get redress against!

Why are'nt other brokers on here mentioning this last part? Whole of market yes, but no mention of the advice giving status, mmmmmm[/quote]

Advice and guidance is best given in stages as opposed to blurting out at much information as possible. Since there is only one other broker who has replied to this thread, i.e. me, I am assuming that is directed at me and you are insinuating I have something to hide or I have done something wrong. Thats plain ridiculous. I'm afraid your self righteousness does not go down well conrad, and you will find most people like to take professional advice from a real person who gives time, due consideration and solid advice. Not from a gobby egotist.

Have a good day.

MM

Conrad

Mortgage Mamma - you I take are aware of the recent FSA advice to brokers?

They are urging brokers to consider debt consolodation only AFTER THE CLIENT HAS CONSDIERED OTHER OPTIONS TO INCLUDE ADVICE FROM THE CAB AND OTHER DEBT SPECIALISTS.

Now why do you think that is MM?

Conrad

Mortgage Mamma I suggest you take a look at recent FSA advice. Recommending debt consolodation which will put someones home at greater risk can be very poor advice indeed.

People in trouble need to consider ALL the options, even if that means less business for commission hungry brokers.

Bankcruptcy is a viable option TO BE EXPLORED - ANYONE WITH 1/2 A BRAIN RECOGNISES THIS. You are cleared after 1 year and have the weight of unsecured debt removed at a sroke, but of course you need to get advice before taking the plunge.

The days of automatically remortgaging debts into a secured enviroment are numbered but I guess happy clappy brokers wouldnt be aware of such. Again go read recent FSA updates on BEST PRACTICE.

MortgageMamma

Conrad wrote: »

Mortgage Mamma - you I take are aware of the recent FSA advice to brokers?

They are urging brokers to consider debt consolodation only AFTER THE CLIENT HAS CONSDIERED OTHER OPTIONS TO INCLUDE ADVICE FROM THE CAB AND OTHER DEBT SPECIALISTS.

Now why do you think that is MM?

but Conrad, you just told the OP in your own words to ignore the advice of the middle man debt management firms? Last time I checked you were a fee charging broker not an insolvency practitioner

You cannot possibly justify anything that you just said, I actually had to read the thread three times to ensure there was no underlying sarcasm or bad humour.

You are insinuating that all brokers are without principles and do what is best for themselves and not the client. I don't believe thats the case. Whilst inevitably there are some scoundrels who will make a quick buck, the majority of us are decent people with a great deal of integrity. Added to which, you try getting a file through a compliance check these days without having documented a client has been advised to explore other options than consolidation.

Stop demonising the entire broker profession.

toonfish

Conrad also stil banging the "2 year fixed rate is rubbish" drum as well - regardless of personal circumstances.

If the OP will be clear of bankruptcy in 12 months as you claim, why would they want to be tied into an adverse fixed rate for 5 years?

MortgageMamma

And can you point me to section in the FSA best practice document which states one should advise people to go bankrupt, ignore all middle men and ignore all unsecured debts when you know nothing of their personal circumstances? absolutely ludicrous. You cannot possibly be a real authorised broker - well if you are you won't be for long!

Conrad

MortgageMamma wrote: »

but Conrad, you just told the OP in your own words to ignore the advice of the middle man debt management firms? Last time I checked you were a fee charging broker not an insolvency practitioner

Thats right dont use middle men for debt advice, DO USE the Citizens Advice Bureau, and Government debt advice services. My brother got all the advice he needed from the local Goverment Bankcruptcy services - all free and to the letter.

Anyway, the main point I'm trying to get accross to clients is that they should at least explore whether the advice given by the broker was the most suitable.


WHY ARE YOU SO AGAINST THIS? Why be defensive, Im in the industry and perfectly happy to admit a big proportion of brokers are not meeting thier TCF obligations, in fact Im often on courses / events where they openly admit they know nothing of it. One broker I recenly met doesnt do factfind or RWL.

Apart from sharp practice the other area of concern is FIT AND PROPERNESS.
How can an advisor who knows nothing about economics be giving advice on the most important transaction Joe Public is likely to enter into? Such people let us all down and are the type most likely to make errors of judgement such as those who have been recommending variable rate loans to vulnerable people or selling 2 year deals without factoring - in the cost of remortgaging again in 2 years - that would'nt be you would it?