Mortgage Lender admits failure to notify with notice of repossession

Sbotts

Hi,

My house was repossessed in 2014. I was not living at the address as I had an agreement to let and mortgage lender had my new address details.

Put simply, I was in a financial mess and got into arrears. They sent the repossession notice to my old address and therefore I was not made aware of impending court case for repossession. My lender has since admitted their fault, apologised and offered me £250 compensation(!)

My balance is £34k which is made up of charges, interest and a low sale price. I was not given the right to defend myself in court and they have admitted their fault.

I have contacted the ombudsman who have taken on my case. Can anyone advise me where to find information relating to “what happens if a mortgage lender does not notify you of repossession hearing.” They have to notify you in writing but the notice went to the wrong address as they did not update their details.

I simply could not afford my mortgage and I do not claim to innocent in that regards. However, I should have been able to defend my right to try and clear the property myself as well as try to get a realistic price for it.

Any help or advice would be most welcome.

Thanks.

KatieDee

Do you have proof that you supplied the lender with your new address? How did you provide this? (telephone, letter, online, etc).

davidmcn

Any claim is going to come down to what difference it would ultimately have made if you had received notice. I don't think missing the opportunity to make a defence which was bound to be futile is going to be worth anything.

Sbotts

Yes, they received notice of my new address which they have acknowledged. They also admit fault and that this was down to an error on their part.

Sbotts

That maybe so however we would never know as I wasn’t given an opportunity to attend. Just to be clear, I would’ve asked for time to sell and clear the property ultimately leaving a lower balance.

BoGoF

No doubt you want the £34k written off.

If you were that far in arrears why didn't you put it up for sale?

Sbotts

Great question. I had thought of this but decided to ask to rent it out whilst I went to an affordable accommodation. I was given a permission to let by the lender. All was going well until tenants got into arrears - ironic, I know, and somewhat a taste of my own medicine!

Thrugelmir

Sbotts wrote: »

I would’ve asked for time to sell and clear the property ultimately leaving a lower balance.

Weren't you already in communication with the lender regarding the arrears? Late in the day to start making proposals.

davidmcn

Sbotts wrote: »

Great question. I had thought of this but decided to ask to rent it out whilst I went to an affordable accommodation. I was given a permission to let by the lender. All was going well until tenants got into arrears - ironic, I know, and somewhat a taste of my own medicine!

Presumably you knew you were in arrears though? Had you discussed them with the lender? Had you taken any steps to market the property?

Sbotts

Yes I was in touch with the lender. Proposals were made but after the tenants left, I couldn’t afford to keep up with them.

Just to be clear, the house needed to be sold. My point is that I was not notified of the court hearing.

davidmcn

Sbotts wrote: »

Just to be clear, the house needed to be sold.

Yes, but I think you'd have a sounder case if you could show that you were already trying to sell it and only needed a bit more time - rather than arguing that you would have started from scratch if you had been prompted by the repossession action.