Moorcroft letters Mortgage shortfall

mot1987

Hi all

around 9 years ago I had a mortgage with the Halifax, me and my wife both got made redundant and we were both out of work for some time. long story short we could not cope fell behind and handed back the keys before repossession was about to start its proceedings. we left a £40k debt after the sale of the house.

I have never had any contact from the Halifax until a letter 3 weeks ago from Moorcroft chasing the shortfall. 1st letter was a 'is this you' letter and now I have received a 2nd letter offering payment options, I have not replied to either letter which have been sent to my mother in laws address which is where we gave the Halifax as forwarding address when we gave up the house 9 years ago. They have not sent any letters to our current address.


My situation is very different now I run my own business which gives me a decent income, and my wife also in work, we have rebuilt our credit and its A1 with no debts or this mortgage showing on our files as it dropped off years ago. we would like to buy a home in the next 18 months as we have a substantial deposit we have saved up but this action from the Halifax has made us think again.

my questions are

should I be worried about the letters from Moorcroft ?
is this a fishing exercise ?
Does anyone have and experience with dealing with them and how they operate ?
any advise on what to do next ?

I know mortgage debts are 12 years so not going to get around it that way but I thought it was 6 years if the lender was a member of the mortgage council ?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

sourcrates

Mortgage shortfall debts (Capital) can be chased for 12 years.

Interest shortfall debts can be chased for 6 years.

Most shortfall debts are made up of capital.

Moorcroft are just managing the debt for the Halifax, they are acting as a collector, they do not buy debts.

Halifax have 3 more years to pursue you or take legal action to recover the debt, if legal action is taken, you will receive a letter before action, so plenty of warning hopefully.

Up to you how you proceed now.