Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
I hope you see my posting soon enough as I need some help with my problem. Basically, I missed the possession hearing and it was heard in my absence. The eviction date is set at 18 March. I just found the notice from the court by sheer luck.
I have read through "Help Notice of repossession received - success", (what a story) before posting here.
In my last letter to Bank of Scotland – only last week!! I requested a Breakdown of the arrears and made an offer to them to repay at £ 1000 per month starting this month. (I also wrote to them 3 times since January) I will call them on Monday first thing, to establish the amount of the arrears.
Given that I now only have a few days to try and set aside the eviction order, what can I do.??
Also, I think the fact that I missed the hearing date reflects really badly on me.
Do I complete the form N224 or N244 – I do have a problem in substantiating my income as I am self employed. (having seen the N244 in this thread, I can pretty much prepare this, but the N224 is something I do not know how to complete)
Briefly, I got in arrears with my Bank of Scotland mortgage due to some serious sequence of events which happened more or less at the same time.
a) I was “blackmailed” by a programmer who worked for me, holding my software for ransom and it cost me quite a sum to settle with him. The consequence was it also set me back in its development.
b) My wife (“ex wife to be” as we are separated) had a breakdown as she was bullied at work and shortly after her return to work her employers made her redundant
c) She lives in Lancashire and I – in London and I had to go and help as we have two teenage children living with her.
d) Then my brother collapsed (he is unemployed and lives with me in London) with a brain haemorrhage. He was in a coma in intensive care – and I was trying to revive him after the doctors wrote him off. 3 days after his operation the neuro-surgeons told me that he really had no chance and I should consider letting him go!
The weekly meetings with the doctors basically involved the same discussions and it made my life absolute hell. My brother and I are very close.
e) My young son had been bunking school and was causing a lot of problems for my wife. My son then collapsed after downing a bottle of vodka. So I was travelling between London and Lancashire.
f) I did not receive the notices from the Bank of Scotland as I as away from home significantly and when I was back I was with my brother. I did not see any communications. I had been writing to the Bank of Scotland asking for a breakdown of the arrears and notified them of my brother’s dilemma but in the months of December and January I really was totally busy with these problems.
g) I have an 88 year old Aunt – who is also living with me – who was totally devastated by my brother’s condition and all the other things that were happening at the same time. She said she picked up the mail and kept it for safe keeping for me but we cant find it – I’ve turned the house upside down looking for the mail. I think she must have thrown them out by mistake. I spent this entire weekend just trying to find the mail and reading the threads.
h) The bottom line is I did not know that BOS have taken out a possession order and missed the hearing date.
i) The eviction date is 18 March and its 7th March today.
(Against the doctors prediction, my brother had revived but he is totally paralysed, no longer in intensive care but in a care centre. I therefore no longer need to spend too much time with him.)
You are certainly in the right place for help, applying for a setaside is the correct route to take and Ithink with your circumstances it should be realtively straight forward to get a positive result.
your reasons for setaside will be not being aware of the hearing nor judgement and as your a able to make an offer towards the arrears it is likely that a suspended judgement will be made.
A repossesion is unlikely to take place on the day that is appointed,or at all if you have the setaside application in place.
You will get a hearing date fairly quickly and must attend I am sure I dont need to say this but...
I am pretty sure the N244 is the correct form andthey court wont be too intersted in all of the reasons that you have try, to be factual using your aunt losing the mail as reason for not being aware of the hearing and offer the over payment to the arrears.
Write to Bank of Scotland with a formal complaint about charges and you can start to tackle this after the setaside within the same letter you can alos make the offer of over payment
You will find lots of help here so keep your chin up and If you dont get other help from more experienced caggers put the setaside in by wednesday and I will try to point you in the right direction
just phoned Bank of Scotland and spoke to their legal team.
1. told them i missed the court date and hearing
2. was told that they received the letters i sent them - the last letter they received from me was dated 07 Feb 2010
3. Court date and judgement in their favour on 18 Feb
4. 28 day possession order
5. The lady I spoke with says they will accept my offer of paying £ 1000 per month as it covers the arrears (monthly amount is £ 676.42)
6. Her acceptance of my proposal is "without prejudice to the Court Order"
7. If I keep up the payments for 6 months - she said the bank will add the outstanding arrears to the debt of the mortgage and remove the arrears.
8. There will be no action on their part on 18 March but i must make the first payment by the last day of March.
9. if i miss any payments then they will proceed with the order.
Whilst i was not expecting this outcome from one phone call - it does give me abit of time but i feel i must try to apply for the Possession order to be set aside - ( along the lines you mentioned earlier)
Odds on that they will now go for another date for a reposession, see if you can get a six month stay on any further action to stop them piling on charges. The judge may even get them to stop putting charges on your account but don't hold out a lot of hope for this.
Have you actually received an eviction notice - or an order for possession following the hearing you did not attend? We need to establish this before going any further.
just phoned Bank of Scotland and spoke to their legal team.
1. told them i missed the court date and hearing
2. was told that they received the letters i sent them - the last letter they received from me was dated 07 Feb 2010
3. Court date and judgement in their favour on 18 Feb
4. 28 day possession order
5. The lady I spoke with says they will accept my offer of paying £ 1000 per month as it covers the arrears (monthly amount is £ 676.42)
6. Her acceptance of my proposal is "without prejudice to the Court Order"
7. If I keep up the payments for 6 months - she said the bank will add the outstanding arrears to the debt of the mortgage and remove the arrears.
8. There will be no action on their part on 18 March but i must make the first payment by the last day of March.
9. if i miss any payments then they will proceed with the order.
Whilst i was not expecting this outcome from one phone call - it does give me abit of time but i feel i must try to apply for the Possession order to be set aside - ( along the lines you mentioned earlier)
What do you think?
all the best/BF
BF Well done so far but,you must continue with your setaside if you dont get a letter from BOS by the end of the week,you cannot rely on a verbal arrangement i am not being suspicious just careful for your best interest
If you can try to record your conversations with them I use my mobile to do this and it may be worth you ringing them again to ask them to put it in writing if they havent already said they would and go over the deal again so that you can record the agreement
Once again well done so far BOS are better than a lot of the sub prime lenders so you should be ok
Hi everyone - thanks for all your advice - sorry was away as i had to go to work and also bvisit my dear brother at the hospital.
Hi Onlyme - yes I asked the BOS to confirm our discussions and she said sshe would e doing that - i will write to them tomorrow to confirm our discussions in any event.
Hi Ell-enn - I received an order for possession - stating that I give the claimant possession of my house, and the note to the defendant stated that the court had orderd me to leave the property by 18 March.
Hi SG1 - I take your advice - I am going to try and seek a set-aside this week - irrespective of what i receive from BOS.
Hi, if you only have the order for possession for 18th March and not an eviction notice then nothing will happen on the 18th. BOS would have to apply for an eviction warrant after the 18th which would give you notice to move out. However, they ahave already agreed to accept your payment proposal and they will not apply for a warrant of eviction - when you get that from them in writing keep it very safe.
I'm afraid you won't get the suspended possession set aside unless the full arrears are paid, especially as BOS have agreed to your payment proposal after your failure to attend the hearing. The judge will not be interested in the reasons for your non attendance - sounds harsh I know and not what you want to hear I'm sure, but nevertheless that's the situation and you would be wasting £75 on an N244 which would get you no further than the payment arrangement you already have in place.
Many thanks - this did cross my mind last night as I was posting replies.
I'll hold on then - I'll wait for their confirmation of our dicussions then comment on it on receipt.
Hi Ell-enn
well i've not received anything from Bank of Scotland in writing so if i still do not receive anything more tomorrow, i will write a letter and confirm my dicussions with them.
thanks/BF
Everything was going quite well and i was able to keep up the payments but my circumstances changed dramatically in June when i was only able to make half the amount i agreed to pay monthly.
I fell pretty ill due to a load of pressures on me and came down with serious depression. My doctor issued me with a sick note - a "statement of fitness for work for Social Security or Stautory Sick Pay" and signed me of work for 3 months.
1. I contacted CCCS and sought their advice.
2. I have written to BOS and gave them a detailed explanation of my situation and the recent change in my circumstances.
3. I submited my financial statement and list of creditors requested a 4 month holiday
4. I am just applying for Employment Support Allowance.
But, BOS already has a possession order on my property and i am not sure if they will consider the change in my circumstances.
Can anyone pl give me some advice on what i can now do?
Urgent Help Needed - Eviction On 18th March
– only last week!! I requested a Breakdown
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by burmafriday
