Lloyds threatening repossession but refusing payment!

getmore4less

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Your niece requires the legal authority to act in behalf of the Estate. That's the bottom line.

The will does that, all authority for executors come from the will,

Stop phoning, she needs to deal with the debt in her capacity as executor.

A letter from the executor(s) to the lender for details of the mortgage account balance at DOD, current balance and how the executors make payment to keep the account in order or get written notice that the interest has been frozen.

.....................................................................

If the house is already in the name of the niece that means something has been going on.

What is the ownership history was the house previously joint owned and the share of the other party passed into trust or inherited by the niece

If she was added as a legal owner previously then she would become the sole legal owner of the property.

getmore4less

We WANT to pay, but Lloyds refuse to accept payment. They refuse to send any letters to any address except the property itself, which we can't access.

why not?

You say the Niece is the sole legal and beneficial owners and the squater ex of the aunt has left.

Postal redirection by the executors is the next move if you can't/won't collect from the house.

getmore4less

Was there a request for the solicitor to step down and alternative doit like a relative?

Is the niece really capable of acting as a executor, would it not be better for someone to act on her behalf(applying for the grant)?

Sea_Shell

Could the ownership of the property have been amended without Lloyds agreeing to it, as surely they have a charge on the property (outstanding mortgage)?

Thrugelmir

getmore4less wrote: »

The will does that, all authority for executors come from the will,

Not as far as Lloyds is concerned.......... at least until probate is granted.

As an extended period of time has passed perhaps Lloyds simply wish the matter resolved.

getmore4less

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Not as far as Lloyds is concerned.......... at least until probate is granted.

As an extended period of time has passed perhaps Lloyds simply wish the matter resolved.

The executors need to communicate in writing and go through the process of responding to the letters dealing with the mortgage which is now the responsibility of the estate

The communication by phone is failing and it is not clear in what capacity the niece is phoning.

Brock_and_Roll

I have experience of going through a long and complicated probate where there were lots of debts....



Last year my sister-in-law died, leaving her house to her daughter (my niece) who is autistic and severely mentally ill.

Irrelevant unless you believe your niece does not have legal capacity in which case you should apply for Power of Attorney. Without a POA Lloyds will not speak to you (quite rightly) even after probate is granted.


She owned the house solo with a small mortgage of a few thousand pounds held by Lloyds Bank.

Lloyds are not going to repossess in such circumstances as long as the probate process is progressing even at a glacial pace. The debt will have been frozen on death and no interest charged (at least for the 1st 6 months).


My SIL was in a relationship an abusive pedo who squatted in her house after she died, meaning my niece is too terrified to set foot there. (He has now left so we don't need advice on eviction, but it's still a scary and traumatic environment.)

Not really relevant - she might be scared but surely you could pop round to pick up the mail? I changed all the locks in my case.


Since my SIL died Lloyds have been sending threatening letters threatening repossession and court dates due to non-payment. But whenever we try to phone up to pay, they say our names are not on the account and that they can't take payment or even speak to us!

Rightly so. Need probate first - that's how probate, banking and data protection works. If I had a £1 for every letter I received from the bank in my case threatening repos, I could have re papered the living room. Was told to just ignore them by "humans" at the bank probate dept.

We've sent them the death certificate and the will so they know the account holder is dead but they say they can't add my niece's name or address to their file at all until probate is granted. But they refuse to put the account on hold until probate is granted.


It will be on hold from the point of death - just automated nonsense. Again need the grant of probate. From the bank's perspective, the niece is "nobody" at the moment - could be just trying it on.

We WANT to pay, but Lloyds refuse to accept payment.

Why? Need to protect yourselves, if it turned out that the estate was massively in debt or there are counterclaims (e.g. unknown lover/spouse with a claim etc), you could be throwing your money away. Need to do it by the book. If the niece is not living there anyway it is not like there is a risk of being made homeless.


They refuse to send any letters to any address except the property itself, which we can't access.

Why not?

What on earth do we do?

Speak to the solicitor and ask him what the delay is and to get a shift on!


My case took several years so a year is not that long, albeit probate was obtained fairly quickly.

desperateauntie

Thanks for your help and advice.

To clarify a few things:

I live in Scotland (in a retirement community, otherwise I'd have niece live with me). House is in south London. Niece currently lives in Birmingham in a rented bedsit but she has to leave in January. She has been homeless before and is at risk of homelessness so securing the house is essential for her longterm security.


My sister-in-law bought the property solo after she divorced my brother, niece is now sole owner of the property, there has never been any joint owner situation with anyone. There are no debts to the estate except the mortgage which is under £10k, and no possibility of anyone making a claim.


I don't know anything about the executor other than what niece has told me. She "doesn't think" probate has been granted because she "doesn't remember anyone telling her it had been" but it's very possible probate has been granted and she just doesn't know or doesn't remember.


Niece and I attended a meeting in-person at a Lloyds bank branch, and she took with her a copy of the death certificate, a copy of the Will, her own passport as ID, and later sent a copy of the land registry title deeds showing that she is the legal owner of the property. Lloyds photocopied all these documents. All the letters and threats of imminent court action are addressed to her by name, not her late mother's name. So clearly her name is on file somewhere otherwise how would they know her name to be sending these letters?


"perhaps Lloyds simply wish the matter resolved."
Then why do they refuse to speak to the legal owner of the property who is trying to pay them?

"Without a POA Lloyds will not speak to you (quite rightly)"
It's my niece that Lloyds are refusing to speak to, not me.

Thrugelmir

You need to speak to the other executor ASAP. The whole situation needs clarification.

MovingForwards

The niece is not the legal owner until probate has been granted, the property cannot be transferred without the mortgage being paid off.

Phone the executor and ask him what the position is and whether probate has been granted.

If it hasn't then go about getting him removed as the executor and your niece, with the help of yourself, a current practicing solicitor or other family member.

You can have a look online to see if probate has been granted.