Northern Rock/NRAM. How to tackle?

pjg_2

Long time since I posted so forgive me if this has been answered elsewhere.

My Ex-wife and I had a Buy to Let mortgage with Northern Rock,:mad: everything was working fine, until the crisis we all know about.

Basically, we were up to date with payments, but we got a letter from Northern Rock that the property was to be repossessed and sold at auction!!

This essentially has left us with a debt of £58000 because they sold well below market price.

Now this has been on my credit file for over 3 years, I'm not sure of the exact date, the ex has the paperwork, but no one has ever pursued this debt, even though it now lives in the hands of NRAM.

I feel badly treated in the first place by Northern Rock, but now confused as to why nobody is after money from me?!?!

I'd really like to start a fresh financially, but have this on my credit report and I'm a little worried about approaching them first in case I get myself into something I don't understand.

I'd therefore be grateful for any advice any of you could give to get this resolved.

Thanks in advance. PJG

National_Debtline

Hi PJG,


First of all, it is strange for a property to be repossessed when there are no arrears. The letter should've outlined the reasons for this and, presumably, there was some other breach of the terms and conditions but it may help if you can post more details about that.


Mortgage shortfalls can be chased for 12 years (6 years for the interest and 12 years for the capital). Most lenders will put the money received from the sale towards the interest meaning they can chase you for 12 years through the county court for the debt. Even if they haven't chased you for 3 years they would still have plenty of time I am afraid.


If you feel the shortfall is incorrect you can write and request a breakdown of the debt but just be aware that this will restart the 12 year clock under the limitation clock.


Laura
@natdebtline

pjg_2

Thankyou,

I recall an incident involving the ground rent, which initially the management company said we hadn't paid, and so lodged a default against us, but after many phone calls and letters, I proved we had paid the ground rent, and they removed it from our file.
I must admit to being a bit lacks in managing this property, because of the pressure of work, but we still we're left feeling like we had no say in what happened. It was all very quick.

Given that a fresh start is wanted by my ex and me what would you advise?

National_Debtline

Hello again,


If you are after a fresh start with a £58k shortfall, the most likely solution would be bankruptcy. However, you would both have to go bankrupt to get the debt completely written off because of the joint and several liability issue; and bankruptcy is obviously a big decision and can affect any properties/ assets you have and can still involve payments for up to 3 years under an Income Payment Arrangement (IPA). You need to consider this option carefully and make sure you get free advice from one of the reputable charities to discuss all of the potential consequences of bankruptcy.


If bankruptcy is unsuitable you would be looking at repayment options, this could be done yourself, through a DMP or an IVA. Unfortunately all of these would take time. Ideally you could post a SOA to help us assess the options in more detail for you. Best of luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

pjg_2

Thankyou Laura,

Whats an SOA please?

Would someone like StepChange be able to help us through this process?

Regards

PJG

National_Debtline

A SOA is a Statement of Affairs or budget plan. You can find the sticky here - http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php


Any of the free debt charities could go through a budget with you to help. What is important is you create a realistic list of your expenses to determine what money you have spare. If you want to post it here for more advice, we will try and help you.


Laura
@natdebtline

pjg_2

Thankyou Laura

Things will be much clearer after the finish of my divorce, end of September I hope.
Thankyou and will be in touch soon.
Kind Regards Pjg

pjg_2

Quick update, I've just started receiving mail at my new address from NRAM, Like I began this thread, It still leaves a bitter taste, because we both felt detached from the process of accruing this debt.

It was like they just did a spring clean!

I will try and find out when the flat was sold at auction, because then I can compare it to property prices at the time, and maybe argue the shortfall.

Any developments on this would be gratefully received.

Kind Regarda

pjg_2

I found this from some years ago, sent to them, looking at contact, I got no response.

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to you having received a letter yesterday 7th July 2014, dated 2nd July 2014, regarding placing the above account in the hands of a 3rd Party Debt Collection Agency.

Your opening statement, albeit standard, is that you have tried to contact me on numerous occasions to discuss the debt. This is clearly untrue, as this is the first communication I have had from you in over a year! And you have all my contact details.

Fact is that I wrote to you last year, detailing ‘Our’ position, yes there are 2 people’s names on this account, that being of my estranged wife K, who informs me that she has received no such letter from you on this matter in this timeframe, and outlining my disgust at the way you company had treated us during the process of repossession, etc.

I detailed the fact that we had a sitting tenant, that was willing to buy, at ‘Market Rate’, but we were ignored by yourselves, who then went on to sell, without keeping us in the loop at well below market rate.

Considering the FACTS above, I think we would have a very good case to have the debt made void, and I will be making that case to our representative. I also think that a company of your size and reputation would have better customer facing skills.

With that in mind, and now that a dialogue has been opened, I suggest we continue this 2 way communication, negating the need for a 3rd Party Collection agency.

I look forward to your response in 7 days.

Kind Regards

PJG

s1985

NRAM are an absolute nightmare to deal with, some of my experiences are that they seemingly have no internal communication - so there is crossover in the correspondence sent from different people, letters sent to them get 'lost', some of their letters were accidently not sent to me, they send generic letters not answering questions until it reaches complaint stage, etc, etc.
Good luck trying to sort this, I hope you have better luck sorting it with them.

I would recommend looking at the mortgage shortfall information/fact sheet and letters on the national debtline website.