Options Please Help

beckyc_2

Hi Everyone,

A breif note about our situation;
Unsecured Debt 43K (22K to Northern Rock on the unsecured element of an old Together mortgage)

Secured Debt 83K (not a Together Mortgage anymore as switched secured from NR to another lender)

DMP payments £120 per month to CCCS

Mortgage payments £665 per month

Struggling to make ends meet, Northern Rock have just sent Court Papers despite my requests for them to suspend Litigation proceedings, they have verbally told me they intend to secure a charge on the house.

Property Value - was valued in October 07 @ 115K, this has probably decreased by now, have just tried to do a sell and rent back but the valuation was too low - I'm guessing about 100K, but, on the open market, bearing in mind the house has noskirting boards downstairs, kitchen needs re-fitting and every room needs plastering an decorating after a re-wire, I would doubt thatwe would get more than 80K on the open market, as the only people that would want it would be investors and they would need to rent out which would mean a BTL mortgage.

Any advice on what to do, I am going to fill in the court papers and send them back with copies of our correspondance to NR, and hope that the court sees that we are doing all we can and sticking to the DMP, but I have become really stressed latley and this 43K of debt just feels like it is hanging over my head, is there any way of getting rid of it without loosing my home. There are 2 of us, me and my hubby, no kids.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you!
Becky!

mancbird

Hi Becky,

Sorry to hear about your situation and welcome to MSE - you've come to the right place.

I don't really have any advice for you but hang on and someone will be along soon who will be able to help you!

10past6

Hello becky

Welcome to the forum, firstly let me say, NR have a reputation for going in for the kill, re charging orders.

That being said, try not to let it worry you to much, even if they obtain one, you WILL NOT LOSE YOUR HOME.

Have you informed CCCS about this threat?

It's important to bear in mind, no matter what a creditor / DCA threaten / request, it comes down to the judge at the end of the day, as you can prove you're acting in a responsible manner re your debts via CCCS, I doubt if the judge will grant their request.

It's also VERY IMPORTANT to make clear with your defence, that if a charging order is granted to NR, THIS WILL BE TOTALLY UNFAIR ON YOUR OTHER CREDITORS / DCA's who have accepted your payment plan, and will show favouritism towards NR.

It's important to remember, just because a creditor / DCA has requested something, it's not always granted.

beckyc_2

Hi Peeps!!

Thank you already so much for your advice, I really appreciate it.

NR have been awful throughout this, initially when we went on the DMP, we had a together mortgage, the payments were £750 per month in total £580 being the secured element of the loan, but we would overpay by £20 per month as we missed 2 months payments early on due to my husband being seriously ill. When we went on the DMP we included the unsecured loan in the DMP and NR went ballistic, I had a conversation with them on the phone for over an hour and a half, they even said I should cancel sky tv and the internet in order to free up money in my budget to pay them! I told them I was overpaying on the mortgage and they could attribute that to the unsecured loan, they were still funny to which i said, thats fine, I will just tell CCCS I have an extra £20 per month and we can split it between all of my creditors! they soon shut up that time, and accepted the CCCS plan for 3 months, then started harrassing us again!

We have had numerous letters from them, which they have included in the particulars of claim, my plan is to ssend back the forms to the court, including the numerous letters i have sent to them, in each letter I have explained that we are wholley commited to repaying all of our creditors including NR, in the two last ones, I asked for them to suspend Litigation proceedings, as this would be costly to them, and would no doubt add costs and fees onto our already very high debt.

I have been so stressed with this, it has afected me greatly and i have been severely depressed, my work has been affected as has my marriage also, I don;t think there has been a day out of the last 4 weeks that I havn't cried!

On the flip side, I have an interview for a new job on Friday so fingers crossed for that!!!

Thank you again, keep the advice and support coming, I know it will help! Not just help me but anybody else in the same boat as me who reads this!
Becky!

jak

I don't really have any advice, I just wanted to say goodluck. You are in the right place and people here are so helpful!
J
x

10past6

Hi Becky

Are NR dealing with you VIA CCCS, or are they dealing with your direct and bypassing NR?

beckyc_2

Hi,

NR are totally bypassing CCCS, we send payments to them via CCCS, but they have persisted with ringing us and writing to us harrasing us for payment. I have continued to tell them that I can oly pay what i can afford, and that the plan will be reviewed annually and payments will increas/decrease as our budget allows in accordance with the plan. As far as I see it, NR have been completley unreasonable, I understand that they want their money and I wish I could give it to them but I cant. I asked them twice to stop court proceedings and they refused.

All of our other creditors have been fine, 3 have given the debts to Blair Oliver Scott, who have been nothing but lovely with us and reset the payments with the plan! It's just NR that are being horrid, and now I feel under so much pressure.

Thanks again guys!

10past6

OK Becky

beckyc wrote: »

NR are totally bypassing CCCS, we send payments to them via CCCS

Send this letter to NR by recorded delivery:

Obtain the name of the CEO for NR (Google is your friend)
Write to that person, informing them they are in breach of the OFT guidelines which clearly state:

2.8 Examples of unfair practies:

C: Refusing to deal with appointed third parties, such as CAB, Independant Advice Centres, Money Advisers.

Contacting debtors directly, and by passing their appointed representatives, i.e CCCS, National Debtline, CAB, Payplan, etc, etc.

Make sure you send your letters recorded delivery, when you write, inform them if no satisfactory reply is received within 7 working days, you will raise a complaint with the OFT, on the understanding they are in breach of the guidelines.

beckyc wrote: »

but they have persisted with ringing us and writing to us harrasing us for payment.

Also, send this letter together with the one above:

Dear Sirs

Harassment by telephone

Account Number: XXXXXXX

I am writing in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing.
I have verbally requested that these stop, but I am still receiving calls. (Delete if necessary)

I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only.

I am of the view that your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine.

Be advised that any further telephone calls from your company will be recorded. (**Even if you don‘t yet have recording equipment!!**)

I request confirmation that my telephone details have beem removed from your databases.

Yours faithfully,

[NAME HERE] ONLY INITIAL, NEVER SIGN THE LETTER!!

10past6

If you do have to attend court re a charging order, I'm sure you can produce the letters above to the judge to prove how unreasonable NR are being.

beckyc_2

My plan is, not to write to NR again, and just to deal with the court thing at the mo. My stress levels have been so high, i don't think I could cope with too much at the mo, for the moment i am trying to take one day at a time! as i said before, my marriage has been suffering and i am really quite fragile, so to get through this i need to be careful and take sme baby steps.

I will send copies of all letters in with defence, and I though i would composea statement myself regards the whole situation. Hopefully then, the court will see that we have been reasonable and NR havn't and , would they rule in our favour, that NR agree to teh DMP and stop interest and charges?

Cheers
Becky!

10past6

Becky

I fully understand what you're saying re being fragile, I've suffered 2 nervous breakdowns previously, so I know what pressure you are feeling.

The point about the letters I included above, is to prove to the court that you have requested NR to follow the guidelines laid down by the OFT, which they have failed to do so.

In their defence, NR may, just may inform the court, it was an oversight / training issue on their part.

You must do what you feel is right for you becky, under the circumstances.

Good luck.