Thread: help urgent please!!

i am receiving letters from dlc a debt collection agency for nearly 47'000 which i apparently owe for a mortgage shortfall on a house my husband and i owned and it was repossessed 2 years ago. ther is no explanation as to how they have come to this figure as i thought there would only be about a 15'000 shortfall. anyway after the repossession i never gave my forwarding address.i just handed back the keys. i am asingle mum now on benefits how can i write to the dca to tell them to take me to the court? i feel its best to go to court as i can then speak to the courts and try to arrange a payment plan. i have no intention of trying to come to an agreement with scum bag debt collectors!

Originally Posted by tete1980

i am receiving letters from dlc a debt collection agency for nearly 47'000 which i apparently owe for a mortgage shortfall on a house my husband and i owned and it was repossessed 2 years ago. ther is no explanation as to how they have come to this figure as i thought there would only be about a 15'000 shortfall. anyway after the repossession i never gave my forwarding address.i just handed back the keys. i am asingle mum now on benefits how can i write to the dca to tell them to take me to the court? i feel its best to go to court as i can then speak to the courts and try to arrange a payment plan. i have no intention of trying to come to an agreement with scum bag debt collectors!

I am not a legal guru but as from my understanding of courts and the legal process, a court is there to adjudicate as no remedy could be found through negotiation before being in court.
If you ignored them before going to court the Debt Collection company can state that they offered up communication for you to find remedy but you ignored contact. Depending on the Judge this might well work against you trying to plead your case in court.
If you are positive it will end up in court I would enter into communications with the Debt Collection company. You don't have to agree to anything they wish of you but at least when you go to court you can show that you did at least seek remedy before the court case.

You also dispute the amount. That is where I would start. You can send the Debt Collection company a letter requesting details without acknowledging the debt is yours.

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 11 mortgage Shortfalls

The link above gives an example letter of what to send (Sample M1 Letter). That page also offers up some good advice to follow.

It is quite possible your original mortgage was Securitized in some way and that is why it has been passed on to the Debt Collection company. If that is the case they will struggle to give you the information you are entitled to know.
Make sure you keep copies of every letter you send off requesting information. If you can show in court that you sought information to help find some remedy and the Debt Collection company could not (or would not) give you the information it will help your case.

Anyway my best advice would be read what it says in the nationaldebtline link above. Any further questions just give people here a shout.