Help!

bellevuesmile

Can anyone help please?
My sister and brother-in-law are struggling. He went missing last week and when the police found him he had taken an overdose. He is extremely ill and disclosed that he is a gambling addict, he has taken out a mortgage for £170k and is in arrears of £11k with a possession order from the courts against their home. My sister knew nothing about this.

They are both now signed off work sick, he for severe mental illness and my sister as at the moment she needs to be with him incase he attempts to take his life again. It is a real mess.
She has written to both the lender and courts to explain the situation but has yet to hear back from them.

Any advice gratefully accepted.
Thanks

fatbelly

If they didn't attend the hearing then they would not know the details of the possession order.

The fact that they do means they have have had the written confirmation

Let's assume it is the default option of possession within 28 days. Once that expires the lender can apply for a warrant to evict.

What they can do depends now on where they are financially. Briefly they could apply to the court to vary the present order or wait and then apply to suspend the warrant.

If they can get someone to help them run through the figures and work out whether any of the options to stay in the property (or remortgage?) are realistic that would help. Otherwise they need to be looking at alternative accommodation and consider trying to sell quickly maybe under an Assisted Voluntary Sale scheme.

I would trust Shelter for advice, probably National Debtline, maybe CAB if they have a local experienced specialist. But don't wait too long on this as the clock is now ticking fast

ManyWays

I agree with @fatbelly - Shelter or National Debtline will probably be easier to talk to quickly that a local Citizens Advice service, who may not have a specialist anyway. 

There is also the possibility of a Mental Health Breathing Space, I havent dealt with one for mortgage arrears so I have no useful experience. 

Although the possession order is clearly the most pressing issue, he may well have a stack of other debts which need to be put on hold. 

This is very specialist stuff, asking for help on internet forums can be dangerous as many people may guess.