Trustee wants to visit us

Scaredforfuture

Hi

We were made bankrupt in November 2015. No equity in the house at that time and were told the trustee would contact us after 2 years 3 months to re value . We heard nothing about re valuation so have been just getting in with life with this hanging over us constantly in the background. Today 2 weeks before the 3 years are up we have had a letter from the trustee asking us to call to make an appointment for him to come out to visit us to discuss our bankruptcy. We ate terrified now that he is going to come and ask for huge amounts of money we just don’t have or to put the house up for sale . We haven’t had the house valued for approx 2 years and have no idea if prices have gone up , Why does he want to visit us at home instead of us visiting him? Is this normal? Has anyone else had a home visit? Any help or stories will be appreciated , thank you

PasturesNew

If they visit you they can spot one of two things:

1/ You've not a pot to pee in and the area's rough ... and any increase in house price is likely to be just £2k, so "not worth pursuing".

2/ OMG ... had to pick my way past the three brand new BMWs on the driveway, which were all on the drive as the boat was also on the front. The houses in the road are typically worth £400k, but this one's exceptional and magnificent.... so probably worth £600k and has risen by £300k in the last 2 years...

Somewhere between 1 and 2 they will be casting a small eye on to help them to determine if they think they've got a chance of getting a bean out of you.

If you go to them you could turn up in a trackie and hoodie, carrying a can of Stella ... saying "Got nuffin"

silvercar

Very humorous, Pastures!

Seriously, you need to find out what your property is worth. use zoopla/ rightmove websites to get an idea. This link from zoopla https://www.zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/ should help you.

Then see how much equity there could be and report back here.

Do nothing in response to the trustee at this point. My view is that they have left it very late and two weeks may not be long enough for them.

Yankeecandle111

Had to reregister for some reason I was unable to rep,y

Thanks for your replies, in our eyes there is no equity due to mortgage amount and other charges, there are 12 days left until the 3 year deadline is up. The house is very difficult to value as it was built by the last owners 40 years ago and is quite individual, . If he visits us next week what can he do at this stage? If he decides he wants to put a charging order against the house does he have to have done this before the 3 years is up ? What about if he wanted to sell ?

I noticed you said to do nothing in response to the trustee at this stage and I did consider that but would we get into trouble for not co operating ?

We are so stressed , we have got so far and with only 12 days to go we feel like we did in the beginning ,

Anyone else’s trustee leave it so late before they made contact?

silvercar

The house is very difficult to value as it was built by the last owners 40 years ago and is quite individual,

Zoopla will give you an estimate, even if it is a rubbish estimate it would be based on the increase in house prices in your area. It's a reasonable starting point if you haven't done any major work.

Other than the mortgage, what other charges do you have?

I noticed you said to do nothing in response to the trustee at this stage and I did consider that but would we get into trouble for not co operating ?

Co-operate in a reasonable manner. You received a letter, it is reasonable to reply within 3-5 working days. Reply back in writing, say that you would prefer everything being in writing. Answer any questions asked. Post your letter with proof of posting (from the Post Office); this will be your proof that you are cooperating.

If you are confident there is no equity, then you could call and arrange a visit. Even if there is a small amount of equity, they wouldn't force you to sell if their gain was less than ~£10k. They may want a charging order for that sort of amount, but don't feel obliged and pressurised to agree.

debt_doctor

Hi,

Looking at the date of your first post I assume that you are now 8 days from your 3 year bankruptcy anniversary?

As has been said, the OR / Trustee has 3 years to deal with the family home under the 'use it or lose it' rules.

This means that the OR must START to take action against the property within 3 years of being notified of the existence of the property (normally the date BR was approved if property was mentioned within the SOA.)

By the 3 yr anniversary date they will need to have either;

Served upon the court an application to take possession and sale of the property.
or
Served upon the court an application to apply for a charging order on the property.

If they do nothing then if the anniversary date is correct and this property falls within the scope of 'the family home' then the OR will have lost any interest in your property in 8 days time. At any point until then, the OR can begin action.

As has been said, you need to be ready to demonstrate proofs that the property has no equity.

A 'speculative' application for a charging order if you genuinely believe no equity exists should be challenged, as if the bankrupts share is nil then a CO should not be allowed as a charge on nothing is nothing.

If equity is up to £10k, then normal practice is to apply for a CO rather than sell the property. This would sit there until you sold the property, but would attract statutory interest at 8%.

DD