Stuck with a mortgage

TAJD

When I was 14 my mother decided to take out a mortgage after a guy knocked on the door and persuaded her to do it. I was against it because even at 14, my mother had 4 children (me being the youngest and one with a learning disability) and did not have a job. (She did not work because she is dyslexic which has affected her confidence and this was never picked up when she was in school).

Fast forward to 2017 my mom was still struggling to pay for the mortgage always asking for money from who ever she could get it from. This time last year she was found slumped at the side of a gambling machine... It turned out she had a stroke. This was very upsetting experience. She recovered quickly and only has the odd problem with remembering things.

Late this year she had a fall which caused her lip to split. It then transpired that she no longer is taking her tablets, cannot see out of her left eye, lost some strength in her right arm (has not done anything about it), struggling to maintain the home and move around the home as well as pay for the mortgage.

My mom is very secretive when it comes to gathering information but for the first time in years she have given me letter to establish what the situation is in regards to her mortgage.

She took £46,000 in 2004 but now the figure is £48,000… 14 years later! She has missed some payments but I just do not understand how it has risen in 14 years?

I recently moved 112 miles when all of these incidents occurred so this has caused me a great deal of stress settling into a new place, area and job. I have been overwhelmed by it all; I haven’t slept and I have lost a stone in less than 2 months.

I need to get this resolved somehow… I have not a clue about mortgages so I wonder if anyone could help me with the following…

1. Why would have risen from £46,000 to £48,000 plus?
2. Do you think it would be a good idea I take on the mortgage? (According to the company it will cost £600 for 131 months to pay it off. There is a lot of work that needs to be done however I am 30 years old with no commitments such as children and I do not have any investments myself)
3. I have bad credit so would it be likely I could take over the mortgage?
4. Is it a long process to for me to take over my mother mortgage?
5. My mom needs to be in supported accommodation due to her health condition and managing in a home. Would the council support her or would they say she has not made herself homeless?

Any advice would be great.

Thank you for reading.

VintageHistorian

I would have thought it would be difficult to get a long (10+ years) mortgage without having to remortgage at least once. Unless your Mum had a mortgage with a relatively low interest rate, which has since expired and now has a higher interest rate that is above her monthly repayments.

Who is the mortgage provider? Do you recognise their name? Have you tried Googling them to find out more about them? I can't imagine any of the major banks doing something like selling mortgages door to door, which makes me think that what your mother has actually signed up to is some kind of dodgy private mortgage company.

Did she go to a solicitor while doing all this? Was the house she bought the one she was living in when the salesman came by? There's a lot of gaps in your story that make it difficult to give you any kind of serious advice.

The only thing I can say is that you absolutely should not taken on the mortgage for your Mum. It sounds like it'll end up being an enormous millstone around your neck.

TAJD

She could have remortgaged it but when I called the company called Swift they spoke an awful amount of jargon and they stated that my mom has missed payments, which would make sense but if shes paid towards the mortgage then why has it risen... He did not mention a remortgage.

There is a solicitors letter in a file she gave me and yes it is the same house from when the sales man came to this address.

It is all a big mess to be honest. Letters everywhere. Some opened. Some not. I am at a lost what to do because she cannot not live in this situation because she simply cannot afford to pay for it and maintain it.

I am overwhelmed by this so just unsure what direction to take

csgohan4

she must make a decision sooner rather than later,


sell the house or find the money to pay off the mortgage




Missing more payments and repossession will be a very real reality in the future




When is the mortgage due to finish?




Consider getting a POA sooner rather than later as your mother's health is declining it seems. Without and when she loses capacity, you will find it difficult to deal with her financial affairs

trailingspouse

One thing is puzzling me - you say she is in the same house she was in when the salesperson called? So, what was the mortgage for? Did she already own the house, or did she move? Or was it a council house that she bought? What did she do with the £46,000?


I wonder if the Citizens Advice Bureau would be able to help you and your Mum?

HampshireH

Sounds like she was paying interest only. A bit like the people on this recent thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5940829/elderly-parents-misold-a-loan-linked-to-their-mortgage-help&highlight=swift+mortgage

Need to take a proper look at what she took out, the terms and what they are requesting now.

Your original post doesn't explain what she took it out for or if she already owned a property.

If the house isn't suitable or able to be maintained perhaps its time to sell so mum has more suitable accommodation.

You have at least 2 older siblings who can share this responsibility with you (I say at least as you say your 3rd has a disbility & I wouldnt like to presume). Don't carry the burden alone. Its noble but it is not your responsibility, so make sure you have help.

Pixie5740

TAJD wrote: »

When I was 14 my mother decided to take out a mortgage after a guy knocked on the door and persuaded her to do it. I was against it because even at 14, my mother had 4 children (me being the youngest and one with a learning disability) and did not have a job. (She did not work because she is dyslexic which has affected her confidence and this was never picked up when she was in school).

Fast forward to 2017 my mom was still struggling to pay for the mortgage always asking for money from who ever she could get it from. This time last year she was found slumped at the side of a gambling machine... It turned out she had a stroke. This was very upsetting experience. She recovered quickly and only has the odd problem with remembering things.

Late this year she had a fall which caused her lip to split. It then transpired that she no longer is taking her tablets, cannot see out of her left eye, lost some strength in her right arm (has not done anything about it), struggling to maintain the home and move around the home as well as pay for the mortgage.

My mom is very secretive when it comes to gathering information but for the first time in years she have given me letter to establish what the situation is in regards to her mortgage.

She took £46,000 in 2004 but now the figure is £48,000… 14 years later! She has missed some payments but I just do not understand how it has risen in 14 years?

I recently moved 112 miles when all of these incidents occurred so this has caused me a great deal of stress settling into a new place, area and job. I have been overwhelmed by it all; I haven’t slept and I have lost a stone in less than 2 months.

I need to get this resolved somehow… I have not a clue about mortgages so I wonder if anyone could help me with the following…

1. Why would have risen from £46,000 to £48,000 plus?
2. Do you think it would be a good idea I take on the mortgage? (According to the company it will cost £600 for 131 months to pay it off. There is a lot of work that needs to be done however I am 30 years old with no commitments such as children and I do not have any investments myself)
3. I have bad credit so would it be likely I could take over the mortgage?
4. Is it a long process to for me to take over my mother mortgage?
5. My mom needs to be in supported accommodation due to her health condition and managing in a home. Would the council support her or would they say she has not made herself homeless?

Any advice would be great.

Thank you for reading.

It does sound like an interest only mortgage couple that with missed payments and it's very possible she owes more than originally borrowed 14 years ago.

If your mother needs to be in supported accommodation why doesn't she just sell the house to clear the loan?

goodwithsaving

I have no other answers in addition to the above, but please do not take on your mum's mortgage. You have to look after YOU. Selfish though that may seem, you will (hopefully) be here long after she is gone and need to protect yourself. Also, if you took on the mortgage your siblings would likely have a claim on the house on death.

[Deleted User]

Is there any way you can make an appt with the CAB? They might be able to help.

If your mum wasn't working, I'm wondering how she'd manage to get a mortgage. I did find this website https://www.swift.co.uk/customer-information/

getmore4less

Round up as much paper work as you can

you need to find out the full terms of the loan

Important current info.
1. Amount owing.
2. Interest rate.
3. date of full term
4. payment
5. any other charges, early payment, PPI life cover etc.

if you can get together any statement or info going further back even better

---

looking at the numbers.

£600pm for 131 months £78,600

£48,000 £600pm 131 months is a rate of 9.85%

That rate is something that need looking into.

She took £46,000 in 2004 but now the figure is £48,000… 14 years later! She has missed some payments but I just do not understand how it has risen in 14 years?

You need to look at the annual statements to see where it went wrong. If they added the missing payments but adjusted the monthly payment that would be 6+ missing payments

£46k to £48k to give you an idea of how it can grow if they don't adjust the payment

Using 9% the interest only payment on £46k would be £345pm
if we said 3 missed payment at year 7 over the next 7 years the debt would go up to near £48k.

Given the circumstances there are a number of things that will need to be looked at.

LPA should there be a need to take over or help with the finances.
Review the debt and the house value.
Decide what to do with the house if mum needs to move out.
Try to get your mum to open up and accept help.
See if you can rope in the siblings to help.

it may be that you would benefit getting help from one of the free debt management places that can help trying to sort out the debt, it may be that options like getting the debt frozen pending a sale may be possible.

AdrianC

TAJD wrote: »

When I was 14 (in 2004) my mother decided to take out a mortgage after a guy knocked on the door and persuaded her to do it.

Ah, the wild-west days before the crash...

Fast forward to 2017 my mom was still struggling to pay for the mortgage


My mom is very secretive when it comes to gathering information but for the first time in years she have given me letter to establish what the situation is in regards to her mortgage.

I don't know what this "letter" is, but you need to get power of attorney in place.

She took £46,000 in 2004 but now the figure is £48,000… 14 years later! She has missed some payments but I just do not understand how it has risen in 14 years?

Simple. It was an interest-only mortgage. She's just been paying the interest on the £46k, none of the actual £46k.
At 5% interest, that'd be about £190/month.

2. Do you think it would be a good idea I take on the mortgage?
3. I have bad credit so would it be likely I could take over the mortgage?
4. Is it a long process to for me to take over my mother mortgage?
5. My mom needs to be in supported accommodation due to her health condition and managing in a home. Would the council support her or would they say she has not made herself homeless?

There is an obvious answer to all of these... (And I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but...)
She sells the place and moves into the supported accommodation she needs. The mortgage gets paid off, and what little she may have left goes towards her care needs until such time as she reaches the point the local authority take over her funding. (Or she comes and lives with you or one of your siblings, who provide the care she needs)



Why are you even thinking about "taking over the mortgage", when it's fairly clear she shouldn't be living there anyway?

OK, what do you mean by "take over the mortgage"? You can't just do that.
You could get a mortgage in your own name - but you don't live there, and BtL mortgages where the tenant is a close family member are not common. And your credit history means it's unlikely anyway.
You could just start transferring the money to pay it every month. Can you afford it...?

But what's the benefit? What's the intention? Why do you want to own this house she cannot live in any more, and you don't want to live in?