Able to pay before repossession hearing

Wanna_retire

We have a repossession hearing due next week, but are now in a position to pay the full amount (balance of an interest only mortgage that has gone beyond term) this week. As the hearing will presumably not be necessary, will there be any saving on legal fees? (I'm guessing not)

fatbelly

You can try - talk to the lender tomorrow.

It's unlikely though

You should probably still attend as I have known lenders say they will cancel the hearing but in practice the 'chain of command' is so long that the poor minion at the end doesn't get the message and just turns up and gets a possession order in your absence.

Wanna_retire

fatbelly wrote: »

You should probably still attend as I have known lenders say they will cancel the hearing but in practice the 'chain of command' is so long that the poor minion at the end doesn't get the message and just turns up and gets a possession order in your absence.

Or check with solicitor and court before the date?

fatbelly

If the court confirms that the hearing has been cancelled, preferably in writing, that may be OK. I doubt you have enough time to get that.

But the Mortgage lender appoints a firm of solicitors who send the details to a company of legal reps who find out who is the poor sod who will be at that court with 20 cases that day and give the file to him (or her). That person will probably already have the file, date and time and the instruction to get a possession order against you.

So I'd be cautious and turn up.

Wanna_retire

fatbelly wrote: »

If the court confirms that the hearing has been cancelled, preferably in writing, that may be OK. I doubt you have enough time to get that.

But the Mortgage lender appoints a firm of solicitors who send the details to a company of legal reps who find out who is the poor sod who will be at that court with 20 cases that day and give the file to him (or her). That person will probably already have the file, date and time and the instruction to get a possession order against you.

So I'd be cautious and turn up.

How would I prove that we've paid? Insist on the "poor sod" phoning our lender? Or our lender's solicitors?

Hoping to pay tomorrow (Wednesday) but may be unable to until Thursday depending on when I receive last of the funds. Hearing is next Wednesday, so with Easter weekend may be unable to get anything in writing from them. Would an email from them to me suffice. Or could they or their solicitors maybe be persuaded to fax the court?

fatbelly

Wanna_retire wrote: »

How would I prove that we've paid? Insist on the "poor sod" phoning our lender? Or our lender's solicitors?

Hoping to pay tomorrow (Wednesday) but may be unable to until Thursday depending on when I receive last of the funds. Hearing is next Wednesday, so with Easter weekend may be unable to get anything in writing from them. Would an email from them to me suffice. Or could they or their solicitors maybe be persuaded to fax the court?

I've been in hearings where the judge has adjourned for 15 minutes so that the rep can do just that.

Of course you need to be there to prompt that.

I've also had reps come back and say that the client has paid but funds have not cleared yet so they still want the Possession Order. (If that happens you ask for a 28-day adjournment)

Of course none of this should happen. It should be 'you pay, they tell the court to cancel the hearing'. I'm just pointing out what I've seen happen in practice.

It's not as scary as you think. Turn up 15 minutes early and find the usher who will probably point you to the rep and also tell you where to wait. Dress smartly, call the judge 'sir' or 'maam', and answer any questions as briefly as possible (most will be yes/no) and you'll be OK.

You'll be surprised at the speed of processing these things and how little time is allocated to each case. In my court we used to list 6 cases every half hour, so five minutes per case, for 4 hours. Then realise it probably takes a minute to get everyone into the room, and a minute to get everyone out, and whether someone can keep their house or not is being decided in 3 minutes.

Silver_Queen

I would suggest that you liaise with the solicitor, tell them that you are in a position to pay, ask if their client would agree to pay their own costs (unlikely but worth a shot) and then sort it out with them. Make sure you have it in writing that you've paid, make sure you keep confirmation of payment - can be your bank statement, can be screenshot of payment etc. Then see if the solicitor will write to the Court to withdraw on basis that the sum has been settled. Be prepared to go to the hearing anyway because the chances are, someone at the solicitors or Court will mess up and the message won't get to the relevant people in time, especially since it's over the Easter period. Basically, cover all bases.

Wanna_retire

Silver_Queen wrote: »

I would suggest that you liaise with the solicitor, tell them that you are in a position to pay, ask if their client would agree to pay their own costs (unlikely but worth a shot) and then sort it out with them.

We're not really negotiating from a position of strength, are we? I'd imagine the conversation going along the lines of

"If we pay in full today will your client waive their costs?"

"No, but if you don't we'll be going ahead with the hearing"

Is there any actual saving to the lender from cancelling the hearing? The claim form quotes "£556.00 payable for solicitor's costs and administration charges". Will that include the £355 court fee and is that fee payable regardless?

Should I anticipate paying into our mortgage account in the normal way, or paying the solicitor?

Silver_Queen

Sorry, I've only just seen your post. Not sure if my response is still helpful.

The court fee will remain the same and the solicitors costs incurred so far will remain the same, the reason why I suggested that you try asking for them to cover their own cost is that occasionally, very occasionally, they'll agree. This way if you settle before the hearing they'll save on the attendance fee for the solicitor/barrister attending the actual court hearing which is usually a few hundred.

For them it's a case of cutting the losses and you might get lucky. Don't get your hopes up but it's worth a try as it does happen sometimes.

You might have to file a consent order at the court confirming you'll withdraw (sorry not sure - this is not specifically my area of law) but you should be able to check with the court on the correct procedure.

I would strongly suggest you ask on legal beagles for more specific advice.

too_much_debt

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Can I just ask how long after your term ended they started repossession proceedings only I have a relative who will be in a similar position later this year when their interest only mortgage term ends and they don't have the funds to pay it off. How long do the bank give (roughly) for the money to be paid please? Thanks for any info.

Good luck for next week!

TMD

Wanna_retire

Silver_Queen wrote: »

Sorry, I've only just seen your post. Not sure if my response is still helpful.

The court fee will remain the same and the solicitors costs incurred so far will remain the same, the reason why I suggested that you try asking for them to cover their own cost is that occasionally, very occasionally, they'll agree. This way if you settle before the hearing they'll save on the attendance fee for the solicitor/barrister attending the actual court hearing which is usually a few hundred.

For them it's a case of cutting the losses and you might get lucky. Don't get your hopes up but it's worth a try as it does happen sometimes.

You might have to file a consent order at the court confirming you'll withdraw (sorry not sure - this is not specifically my area of law) but you should be able to check with the court on the correct procedure.

I would strongly suggest you ask on legal beagles for more specific advice.

I'm afraid I went ahead and paid the full amount on the claim form direct to the lender (actually as they couldn't produce a settlement figure on the spot I overpaid a little and they'll repay the overpayment). Would the attendance fee be included in the "£556.00 payable for solicitor's costs and administration charges"? or would it have been added on after the hearing to give a higher total to be taken from the eventual sale proceeds?