In a Real Financial Mess & Don’t Know What to do or How to Cope

Arrianna

ManyWays said:

See https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/home_ownership/leasehold_and_commonhold/repossession_of_leasehold_property#preventing-forfeiture 

I am not saying this will happen but the mortgage lender may be alarmed at the service arrears.

Mmm but the service charges are not attached to the mortgage repayments they are both separate payments and the leasing agent are not currently asking me to attach/consolidate the service charges to my mortgage so that they can have payment… this could of course all change, but it is not how things stand at the moment. 

In fact the leasing agent is being surprisingly understanding and want to come to an arrangement without going through the courts or via my mortgage provider. 

But you have now got me worried so I have posted a message to Step-change just to double check.

molerat

There may not be a problem at the moment but if the lease is forfeit the property reverts back to the landlord and the bank lose out.  The bank may want to try to protect their interests by paying off the service charge and repossessing the property to recoup that cost.  That could partly be why they are taking court action for a relatively small mortgage arrears, the service charge arrears are a bigger threat to their security than the mortgage arrears.

Arrianna

molerat said:

There may not be a problem at the moment but if the lease is forfeit the property reverts back to the landlord and the bank lose out.  The bank may want to try to protect their interests by paying off the service charge and repossessing the property to recoup that cost.  That could partly be why they are taking court action for a relatively small mortgage arrears, the service charge arrears are a bigger threat to their security than the mortgage arrears.

Thank you for an interesting take on the situation, I’ll explore the issue further with Step-change

TheAble

You need to get your income up somehow. There must be some part time work you can get? Appreciate it may be tough but explore all opportunities.

Arrianna

TheAble said:

You need to get your income up somehow. There must be some part time work you can get? Appreciate it may be tough but explore all opportunities.

Thank you for that advice. I’ve joined an agency and I’m also actively applying for P/T roles directly with employers

ManyWays

Are you currently working with Step Change? They typically dont advise the self-employed which is why Business Debtline is probably better to to talk to.