Reposessed Today.

[UtterlyScrewed]

Hello.

My Mother's house was reposessed today by our local council. She and my 11 year old Sister are staying with relatives tonight and then moving into our house tomorrow. It is my Mum's fault to be honest. They have tried getting in touch with her plenty of times but she has been ignoring them and has had her head buried in the sand since losing my Dad to Cancer a few years ago. She has been depressed and ignored a lot of the letters.

She owes around £2,400 in rent arrears but was paying £70 rent per week +£9 extra toward the arrears which was deemed acceptable. At Christmas she missed a couple of weeks payments and this has lead to the current situation.

I was told by the guys reposessing the house that if I had known about the situation and spoken to them even five minutes before the reposession began they could have sorted something out.

I have asked if I could pay the £2,400 in full today to stop it happening but the reposession had started and so it was too late. I was told that I could pay the ammount and then it would be up to the descretion of somebody in our local council buildings. I went to speak to her and she denied that It was her decision to make and that it was unlikely that we could keep my Mum's house even if I paid the arrears and paid the next few months rent in advance and set up a direct debit to my own bank account or even use my own house as a guarantee.

We know that this has not been their fault, but it seems harsh that a depressed widow trying to raise a little girl on her own will be evicted from the house she raised her family with as it is the home she shared her life with my Dad with before he passed away.

Is there any way that this can be overturned seeing as I can pay the arrears in full?

Thank you for any advice you can give us.

UtterlyScrewed.

[Bigmac versus]

Hi there Utterlyscrewed sorry to hear your news, I was in court lately where LA's asked for tennants to be evicted and the judge always asked if kids where in the house, where there was he refused, he seemed very nice and not what you expect. I dont know how to advise on this but will ask for someone to come along and offer advice.

[Joa]

Oh God, my heart goes out to you all. Even more so, because I cannot advise on any sure-fire steps which you could take to remedy this situation. All I know is that you have to act quickly and make a lot of noise in your housing dept as your mum's house can be allocated to other HA tenant.
In myopinion plead, write, call, buy flowers and chocolate, see your MP.
Tell them that if your mum is not given her home back, she will only be back to the housing dept to present herself as homeless. Do not let them convince you that she would be found "intentionally homeless"- this is where the local authority claims that it was your mum's fault. Do not think that yourself either! Depression is often underestimated in its overwhelming power. Get your mum's GP on your side. Get few days off work, you have a lot of calls and visits to make. Find your councillor's surgery times- go and waive the chequebook.

Even if your was evicted legally, there are some circumstances where she can apply to court to be allowed to move back in. However, it is rare for this to happen. Therefore get your mum to see a solicitor. Find one here: The Directory
do not forget to tick "LSC Funded Provider" (legal aid).


Keep us posted, our fingers are crossed.

[Robertxc]

I don't know much about tenancy law. Are you in England or Scotland? I agree that whatever you do, do it quickly. Getting in touch with your MP imediatley is also a good idea - he/she can lean on the housing people. I'm afraid I also agree that it may well be too late, and that your mother may have to start afresh somewhere new.

[Bigmac versus]

Keep the thread updated on how you get on, best of luck to you.

[mazza1970]

So sorry to hear what has happened, good luck with everything.

I'm sorry to read this, remember tomorrow is a new day, and it will not look half as bad, I had my home repossessed (I was simple broke at the time) and I felt like the world was falling in failed family etc, but it is the truth one door closes and an other opens, so chin up.

I would give shelter a call, they are the experts on this, as basally the council have a duty to the homeless, I just do not know how that works in these cases.

Shelter's free national helpline Shelter England: the housing and homelessness charity

If you need advice and help in an emergency and you are not sure what to do, phone Shelter's free national helpline on 0808 800 4444 to talk to a housing adviser who can:

• <LI class=bullet>explain your rights <LI class=bullet>tell you your options
• tell you what (if anything) is available in your area.

[caro]

Did they have a court order to do this? I believe that they should have, and if this is the case I suggest you contact the court to tell them that you will pay the money. I don't know if this will work. Now the eviction has taken place I guess it will be harder to get your Mums home back than it would have been to keep her in it.

I don't know if this will help or not, but I work for a Housing Association (although not directly on the housing side of it), and I know that people wanting transfers to other houses will not be considered if they owe money. I mention this as I wonder if it might be worth paying the arrears anyway to help get her somewhere else to live. Even if she was housed by a different LA or HA, I believe they would want a reference from her former landlord, and she will fare much better if she has no outstanding arrears.

Please do not take my word on this as this is merely a bit of info I've picked up along the way, and I wouldn't want you to spend all that money unnecessarily. I believe a letter from her GP would also carry some weight.

Good luck and best wishes to you all. My heart goes out to your Mum and little sister. She must be at a loss to understand what is going on.

[UtterlyScrewed]

Thanks to everyone who replied.

We went to an advice centre today near where we live (similar to C.A.B.) and they were absolutely fantastic. I don't want to get too carried away here and think we have cracked it, but they have now said that if we pay the arrears (£2,400) and 12 weeks rent in advance (£63pw) plus she signs the tennancy agreement over to me so I look after the rent in future then they can move back in in a week or two.

So far, due to the kindness of neighbours and relatives we have about £2,000 and a couple of relatives are looking to cash in shares tomorrow for the rest.

We are not there yet, but I feel a lot better than I did this time yesterday. I cried in bed last night. I've just left my Mum with tears of relief running down her face. What a difference a day makes.

On a side note, I have told the guy who dealt with us that I would like to volunteer some of my time to help them out, even if it would be just distributing leaflets to raise awareness. My girlfriend works for a credit card company and she has decided to leave and look for a job with the C.A.B. or even just start off with voluntary work for a similar organisation.

Thanks again for all of your encouragement.

Now I can't wait to get stuck into the next job. Capital One I think.

UtterlyScrewed

[Bigmac versus]

Great news im very happy to hear this, there are some people out there who are willing to help others, and best of luck with Capital One.

[caro]

That's fantastic. I thought that if it could be paid it might help. I hope it perks your Mum up to realise what a fantastic supportive family she has. If she hasn't seen the doctor about her depression do try and encourage her to do so. I know from personal experience that it is an horrendous illness, but once you face the fact you have a problem, there is help available.

[UtterlyScrewed]

Originally Posted by caro

That's fantastic. I thought that if it could be paid it might help. I hope it perks your Mum up to realise what a fantastic supportive family she has. If she hasn't seen the doctor about her depression do try and encourage her to do so. I know from personal experience that it is an horrendous illness, but once you face the fact you have a problem, there is help available.

She has been to the Doctor today mate. She is going to start going to Counselling. It looks like this whole thing has been a blessing in disguise now. The arrears are being sorted out once and for all, Mum has admitted she needs help and hopefully we can get together and buy the house with the right to buy so that her and my Sisters future will be financially secured.

I am dropping off to sleep as I am typing after my sleepless night last night.

Haha. It's been worth it though.

Thank you all once again.

I hope somebody else can read this discussion and realise that the sooner they share their problems with their family, the sooner things will get sorted.

[caro]

Do you know I had a funny feeling it would have a positive outcome. That is great. Well done you.

[Joa]

I am very happy for you and utterly astonished. It is very rare that tenant is allowed back after eviction. You mudt have great powers of persuasion!

[Thrax]

If anyone needs any help with this sort of situation I would be happy to help.

I was a manager of the rents department for my local council until a year ago when I got the opportunity to ditch the day job for a job in web-development.

Local authorities will, after eviction and arrears repaid, allow the tenant back into the home almost immediatelly as it saves them money on void tenancy work. The tenancy agreement will not be a secure tenancy it it was previously (if this was the existing terms) , and could be an introductorty tenancy or and assured shorthold tenancy.

Regards

Thrax

[Joa]

Thrax- very interesting thanks for that. Is this something in practice nationally or just locally? Is there any specific guidance or just a discretion or good practice? How much hassle is a “void” work? Is this a strong argument?
I am ever so grateful for your comments as currently I have two tenants in a very similar situation to UtterlyScrewed’s mum’s one and there is no networking relationship between advice agencies and housing dept in my local authority.