Losing the House

hugedebt

Hi,

We are probably going to be going BR, & can't decide on the best course of action with our property. We have a 260k mortgage, & a 55k SL. The house is worth approx 300k (at a push) & there is a 10k redemption penalty if we sell too :eek:

Can anyone please advise me of their experiences/opinions on our options?

I guess the choices are:

1) Sell if SL let us & go into rented

2) Voluntary Repossession (is this where you hand the property back to lender?)

3) Go BR & be repossessed

Also, when should we go into rented, & how would the OR view this with spending the money for deposit etc as we will be spending it knowing we will be going BR?

We have 2 young children, & I cannot bear the thought of us ending up in a B&B or worse.

Toon_Dave

Hi HugeDebt,

firstly welcome and good morning.
Have you contacted any of the free charities out there for advice, either CAB or the CCCS can give excellent free advice on housing. Property and BR is a legal minefield so proper legal advice is a must.

Just a few questions first for you.

Are both you and OH going BR at the same time?

If yes then any option should suffice, if only one goes BR but items are joined they would automatically pass to the other party who is joint and severally liable - this would include any debts.

my advice from both an independent IP and the CCCS was bankruptcy as i have 140,000 debt including joint mortgage and SL with my Ex GF of £83,000
I pay £1000 PM on both of these from a £1500 Salary so i have decided to 'hand the property back'. In order to do this as i am going BR i need to stop paying all items to save the money and rent before going to the BR court so that have roof over head. I dont have any dependents so as i said above having legal advice is the first thing i would advise if you havnt done so already.

With regards to the OR and renting, that is what is expected. everyone has a right to a roof over their head and as long as the rental costs are proportionate to the area and that you havent rented a penthouse appartment then everything will be fine.

I hope this has assisited, but again seek further advice. The guys on here have given me fantastic support and advise this week to make a decision with the help of the CAB, CCCS and IP.

Good luck.

Dave.

hugedebt

Hi Dave,

Thanks so much for your quick reply. We probably will be going BR at the same time. It is a very complicated situation which is why I have been putting off contacting the debt charities because we don't really know what situation we will be in.

We were considering going BR anyway, as we have such a large amount of debt, however we are now in a situation where our employers are trying to unfairly dismiss my hubby, so they are not paying him......therefore he is currently employed but not getting payed, even though he is signed off sick. Because he is ill, he cannot look after the children when I am at work, so I am taking leave at the moment, but that can't last forever so I may have to take unpaid leave, or even resign.........I'm not sure I can go back anyway with the way they are treating us.

So our income is up in the air, I don't know if I should just stop paying the mortgage, as we can't afford to pay it when he doesn't get paid next week

Do you think I should ring CCCS & explain all this?

Toon_Dave

hi HD,

thanks, i feel for your situation. Illness isnt a nice thing to have to deal with with finances being so tight and getting worse if you have to resign to.

i would definatly ring or go online for the CCCS - website address is http://www.cccs.co.uk/

online you can fill out an anonymous form to see what your options are at present. You will get a debt remedy solution unique to your situation. Often it will recommend ringing them to discuss the findings but it has been a good source of infomation for me this week. I decided yesterday to go BR after a year of uncertainty and Illness myself - i wish i had come here sooner and dealt with it. The fact you are here now shows you want to sort the situation - the CCCS are non judgemental and are a non profitable charity so will give you info which is for your benefit and not to make them money so you can be sure that they will be impartial and correct.

it doesnt to any harm to speak to other parties to, the Citizens advice were my first call over year ago. they have recently put me in touch with a free IP to discuss options, regarding bankruptcy and IVA's.

So i would definately call the CCCS regarding specific advice on the house situation and OH situation.. they will help sort you out. If they decide BR is the best option then so be it. at least it will put a line under everything and allow you to start a fresh in the future.

speak to the CCCS before stopping any payments to get advice as they may have some additional advice for you. They will also be able to tell you what additional benefits you may be entitled to if resign or with hubby's illness.

Dave.

tigerfeet2006

As Dave has said please contact the debt agencies they will advise you on ALL the options.

Have a read of Scarlett.1974 's BR diary. Will find a link.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=596237&highlight=scarlett+diary

You also need to take advice on the employment situation. See if these guys can help.

http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/