Repossession Advice Needed - Urgent

[waltermitty]

Hi I only joined this site yesterday and posted a help message in new posts-i culdnt find out hot to post it as a new thread in among repossesion topics!-sory if i am intruding but havent figure out all the ins and outs here yet!
but here is the post i put up last night if anyone can help-apologies or jumping in with my problems!

Hi
I live in Scotland and have had mortgage with Gmac for 20months-then i got into dificulties and they got court order against me last year but made arrangements for me to pay back £150 extra per month. didnt always manage it but kept paying as much a i could. 2 days ago sheriff officers came to door with Charge for eviction.Gmac wont give me any more time because i owe £2400-even when I offered to pay big payment end of month.
Thing is when they went to court last year their solicitors told me i did not need to go to court to defend it as it was all just a matter of procedure-so I didnt go-after reading some of the advice on here i realise stupid mistake!
Also when I accepted their first offer of paying £150 extra a month i did so because i was terrified they would reposses house if i said no.
Thing is Ive been working hard to improve my finances and ive known for months now if i could just get by till august when my income improves dramatically - i could get through by paying more.
unfortunately the last six weeks have been unable to pay-but heard nothing from gmac so thought i could get by till the end of this month when i had a not bad income coming in-oops.
what i want to know is can i still get a suspension that is talked about on here- i dont want to lose house now that i am so close to getting into a better financial position.its our irst mortgage-in our early fifties and wife recently registered disabled and cant work-any advice anyone.

thanks

walter

[Robertxc]

Do you have the details of the court case? In particular the date of the hearinf and the case number. I'm not completely familiar with eviction stuff so pleae bear with us while we check some things out.

[waltermitty]

Hi there!
as far as I can see the details of the court case were Extract decree and warrant of the sherriff of south strathclyde.
dated at lanark the 15th october 2007 and extracted the 11th of december 2007.
charge for ejection was served on me on 17th june by sheriff officers.
i asked the sherriff officers how long they thought i had and they said something about they had been asked to wait fourteen days-what then i dont know.
Any help would be apprecciated-I tried phoning the CAB but could never get anyone on the phone.basically gmac say thay will not give me any more time. Im self employed and have been working my butt off to get out of a bad spell and not having the wife's income anymore -and Im nearly there-everything kicks off for me in august money wise.
I know I can pay them £1000 by the 4th july and the same again on the 4th august and probably same again on 4th sept-if only i can survive till then.
sellings not an option as its a council purchase and we are only 20 months into it and would have discount to pay back to council.by the time gmac sold it for what? i would probably be in debt still.

I have to find a way to get by till august.

thanks

walter

[Ell-enn]

Bear with us Walter, we will try and find out what you do next.

Ell-enn

[Bigmac versus]

Hi waltermitty be with you shortly.

[Bigmac versus]

Usually you would make a request for a section 2 from the court and you have two months to do this after they give you a Calling Up Notice, this is when the mortgage agreement has been ended and they have requested the full amount to be paid within 2 months, this would show the arrears and full amount now due and would have been sent by recorded delivery.

After two months pass they have the right to repossess your property unless you have agreed on a repayment plan, paid it in full or applied to the court for a section 2 order. They obviously couldnt repossess the house whilst your in it so have now got an ejection notice which will be in around 14 days time.

The only way you can avoid this action in my opinion is


A/ Pay the arrears in full or a lump sum (51%) with an agreed payment plan only if the lender agrees.

B/ Apply to the court for a minute of recall which may not be very successfull given the time has passed since.

[Bigmac versus]

Personally I feel your best chance is to contact GMAC and ask them what they will accept to stop this action.

[Bigmac versus]

You should contact Shelter the housing and homeless charity (scotland) who could offer further advice on your situation.

For urgent advice call
0808 800 4444 from Mon to Fri 9am till 5 pm.

[waltermitty]

I could probably pay 51% of the arrears by the 2nd july-what would i do put in an offer in writing to gmac and see if they accept and then pay-or do i put an offer in to both gmac and the solicitors.also as I wont have the money till the 2nd july at the latest-do you think they will wait till then?
my other question about going to court-it still grieves me that gmac's solicitors told me i did not need to attend court in the first place if i had understood everything right i would have attended-surely what they did was wrong to advise me in this way last year.
i will call shelter on monday morning.
i am trying to raise enough work to get all the arrears money in-but i dont kow if i can get it in that time of 14 days.
will keep trying-any other ways of staling this even an extra couple of weeks would allow me to sell, earn and borrow if I have to?

last time I spoke to gmac on monday they said they would only accept the full £2400 even when i offered to pay a big limp sum of four figures it was still not intersted in talking to me.
what is the bit about minute of recall????
cheers
walter

[jannercobbler]

Mortgage Repossessions

Both freehold and leasehold owner occupation can, and frequently will, be subject to a mortgage. The mortgage deeds contain a variety of terms which usually states that when the occupier falls into arrears with the repayments that the lender has the right to evict the occupier and sell the property.

Demand for Arrears

Before legal proceedings are started, the lender will normally issue a formal demand for all the arrears to be paid. They are not obliged by law to do this, but in practice the Court will not look kindly upon a lender who has not given the occupier a chance to bring their arrears up to date.

The lender cannot evict the occupier without an Order for possession from the County Court. The Court is not obliged to grant the possession immediately and has the power to grant a suspended order for possession on condition that the occupier continues to pay current instalments and a fixed amount off the arrears.

Suspended Possession Orders - Homeowners

The Court will only exercise this discretion if it is of the view that the arrears can be cleared in a reasonable time. (Administration of Justice Act 1970, s.36; Town & Country Building Society v Julien, 1991). If it does not think this can be done, then the order will be final. This will usually be suspended for at least 28 days to give the occupier time to make alternative arrangements.

Reasonable Time to Clear the Arrears

There is no formal definition of reasonable time. Until recently, the courts had normally considered one year a reasonable time in which to clear the arrears (Cheltenham & Gloucester B.S v Grant, 1994). It has now been said that the Court should take as its starting point the full period of the mortgage. In most cases individuals would probably only need to spread their arrears over one to two years which the Courts are likely to consider as reasonable.

Need for Consent

It is really important that an occupier experiencing difficulties informs the lender . Work out how much you can afford to pay towards your arrears and put your proposals in writing to the mortgage company. The clearer the proposals, the greater the chances of success. The larger, more reputable companies do not as a matter of course, want to see occupiers evicted and the properties sold. Their money comes, after all, from keeping mortgages in existence and receiving interest on them.

I have personally helped a Friend use the above in Court (on the Day before the Balliffs were due) The Judge was going to refuse but we mentioned that we would appeal, and the Judge finally agreed to suspend possession for 3 months so my friend could sell, although they had to make some payments during that time.

regards

JC

[I've got no money]

JC - does that apply to Scotland or are there different rules

[Ell-enn]

It's an entirely different process in Scotland to defend an eviction. We are trying to get Walter the best advice we can.

Ell-enn

[Ell-enn]

Walter, give the Govan Law Centre a ring on Monday - they may be able to point you in the right direction Govan Community Law Centre, Glasgow, Scotland | Free legal resources

[waltermitty]

i will call them on monday along with a couple of other suggestions and for now i would just like to say thanks to everyone here thats trying to help i think what you are all doing for folk is fantastic!-if your advice helps me win the day then you will all have a fan for life!
Any ideas how to get rid of the butterflies in the stomach or get to sleep at night!

thanks everyone

[Ell-enn]

Walter, when the butterflies in your stomach have gone you will either have won.. or given up - just bear with them, they're what will keep you fighting. As for getting to sleep at night.....read a book (preferably a lighthearted one ) ...until you can't keep your eyes open.

Kind Regards

Ell-enn

[honey5]

try tom sharpes books, walter
and feel safe in the knowledge that you are in good hands here
best of luck wishing you well

honey x