Santander repossession

markhalling

My daughter is in the process of buying her first flat but the flat had a tenant who was refusing to leave and stopped paying his rent. She has waited 6 months for the courts to get him out, to cut a long story short, the court case became void because the vendors solicitor had given the wrong postcode, it then transpired that no rent had been paid for 13 months, the flat has now been repossessed by Santander bank, who.. coincidentally is who my daughter has her mortgage with, we have tried contacting Santander but we just get passed from pilar to post and are unable to speak to someone who can actually help us. My daughter has her heart set on this flat and we just want to speak to someone from Santander who could help her achieve this of find out if it’s even possible to acquire it from the bank.

Bookworm105

if the person is still in occupation then technically Santander has become their landlord and must follow due legal process to get them physically removed (ie court then bailiff). Action undertaken to date by the previous landlord may now be null and void.

user1977

They will also need to market the property, they can't just do a private deal with the "current" buyer.

Albermarle

As above she will just have to wait for it to come on the market for sale again. Maybe via an auction this time.
Could be a long wait.

FreeBear

Start looking for alternative properties. This one could drag on for a very long time. And the tenant could trash the place before moving out, leaving a very expensive repair bill behind.

Hoenir

Santander will be obliged to market the property to achieve the best possible financial outcome. Suggest that  plan B is commenced. As there's zero certainty of future events. 

silvercar

Hoenir said:

Santander will be obliged to market the property to achieve the best possible financial outcome. Suggest that  plan B is commenced. As there's zero certainty of future events. 

Achieving the best possible financial outcome could mean selling to OP, if the price is a reasonable market value and means securing a speedy sale. It could be argued that marketing from scratch causes a delay that will incur many months of mortgage interest and isn’t in the interests of the repossessed.

user1977

silvercar said:

Hoenir said:

Santander will be obliged to market the property to achieve the best possible financial outcome. Suggest that  plan B is commenced. As there's zero certainty of future events. 

Achieving the best possible financial outcome could mean selling to OP, if the price is a reasonable market value and means securing a speedy sale. It could be argued that marketing from scratch causes a delay that will incur many months of mortgage interest and isn’t in the interests of the repossessed.

Even if a buyer is waiting in the wings, I've never known a repossessing lender not to make at least a token effort to expose it to the open market.

Hoenir

silvercar said:

Hoenir said:

Santander will be obliged to market the property to achieve the best possible financial outcome. Suggest that  plan B is commenced. As there's zero certainty of future events. 

Achieving the best possible financial outcome could mean selling to OP, if the price is a reasonable market value and means securing a speedy sale. 

Santander has a duty to the defaulting borrower and has to take such action to be seen to do so. This will result in listing the property and considering all offers. 

RHemmings

Albermarle said:

As above she will just have to wait for it to come on the market for sale again. Maybe via an auction this time.
Could be a long wait.

Creating a saved search via RightMove may help find it when/if it's sold. I don't know for sure if there are other portals by which it may be sold that don't turn up. If the flat is nearby, regular passes to check for 'for sale' boards may help. 

Santander are legally required to obtain the best possible price as @Hoenir says. Hence, if the OP's sister makes an offer, that offer may be made public for others to be able to gazump.

Keep an eye on the local press as well. Though, I would hope that few if any lenders will sell properties like that nowadays - as the open market including online will surely attract the most buyers and give the best chance for a high sale. 

Albermarle

silvercar said:

Hoenir said:

Santander will be obliged to market the property to achieve the best possible financial outcome. Suggest that  plan B is commenced. As there's zero certainty of future events. 

Achieving the best possible financial outcome could mean selling to OP, if the price is a reasonable market value and means securing a speedy sale. It could be argued that marketing from scratch causes a delay that will incur many months of mortgage interest and isn’t in the interests of the repossessed.

Santander, being a large company, will have procedures they have to follow, legally but also internally.