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 would be really grateful for some urgent advice please??
I had a suspended possession order granted against me, from Mortgages 1 Plc, on 24th July 2008.
I became pregnant in May 2009 and had severe problems with my (unborn) baby that resulted in me having to have several operations on him whilst pregnant. Unfortunatly duringthis time, I was unable to work and my arrears increased on my mortgage.
I know it was a stupid thing to do and I buried my head in the sand, but I was so worried about my baby and we thought we were going to lose him every day. I know this sound stupid to some, but we had been trying for a baby for 8 years, with no sucess and very little help from the NHS, due to the fact I have a child from a previous relationship, IVF was out for us. So you can possibly empathise how precious this baby is.
He is now 6 weeks old and I have recieved notification from the mortgage company and their solicitors that they are applying for an eviction date to be set.
I have just returned to my job full time and can make the monthly payments plus money towards the arrears.
I have spoken to the mortgage company and they have said that because I broke the original terms agreed, I would have to clear the arrears that have built up since the original order, so I would have to pay £6398.99, before they would consider cancelling the eviction and going back to the original terms.
I can pay them £1200 tomorrow towards this, but I cant pay the full amount off in one go!
I would love to get everything back on track and just pay my mortgage.
I have had an unbelievable stressful 12 months and although I have my wonderful baby boy, I don't know how I can muster any fight.
Hi Devlin -- I've tears in my eyes reading your thread - so delighted to hear that you've your wonderful little boy. Many congratulations.
You will get some fantastic help and advice on how to deal with this situation from members of the site and Ell-enn in particular (she is just fantastic and has helped out many many people on this site who have been in similar or worse situations.)
Ell-enn will hopefully be along soon to offer further advice.
Stay strong - there's lots you can do to safeguard your home and you'll get lots of support and encouragement along the way. xx
Thank you for your kind words, I had tears whilst writing it, it brought back so many emotions that we went through to have our son.I just hope that the situaution isn't helpless.I love my home and desperately want to keep it. I have checked and I dont believe that we are eligable for the government mortgage schemes and I dont want to sell them our property. We also dont have 25% equity in the property.I have been inundated with loan companies phoning me today as I initially looked at taking out a loan to payoff all the debt, but what with the arrears, I have adverse credit. It would also take too long to come through, if I was eligable for the amount.I have had so many companies try and charge me an upfront brokers fee, I would rather just pay the charges to the mortgage company directly. Like I said, I have offered to pay them £1200 tomorrow, but I dont know where to find the other balance from and whether it would make a bit of difference.
Hi Devlin - the arrears don't include charges do they?? I take it that they will have probably charged you for the privilege of being in arrears
Don't think about borrowing more to pay off the arrears - that may make things worse in the long run and will be an additional repayment on the Income and Expenditure sheet.
If you can make the payment tomorrow then that would look good and show commitment.
When/if they go ahead with the eviction request, you will get notification of this hand delivered. You will need to defend that with a form N244. You'll need to have figures to hand, ie balance outstanding, amount of arrears, amount you can pay towards arrears, how long is left on the mortgage, etc. Also, you'll need to do an income and expenditure sheet to go with it. You could make a start by getting some of that information together so that if/when it's needed then you have it to hand and can get started on your defence. You can also do a personal statement, in which you can list the problems you have had which led to the further arrears.
Stay strong, keep your chin up, get into "fighting" mode and more than anything - look after yourself and your little one
Thanks again for your support!I have already done an income / expenditure form from the direct gov website and am willing to pay an additional £250 towards the arrears. My original agreement was for £100.I've had to complete the N244 form once before but am hoping that someone could help me complete this?Im not very good at writing statements, so any help is appreciated!!Its my own stupid fault, but my priorities changed. I just want it to be ok again!
Hi Devlin, sorry to hear you are in this situation, but lets see what we can do to help.
Make the payment tomorrow and then write a letter to the mortgage company (copy their solicitors) telling them your situation and detailing your offer of payment - if you need help with the letter I will happily draft one for you. this will also help your case if they do apply for an eviction warrant.
You will need to send a budget sheet with the letter showing how you are now able to make payments going forward so I have affixed one to this post. When filling it in remember that the amount you are offering to pay towards the arrears each month (in addition to the normal monthly payment), is the amount left over after everything else has been paid, but don't offer more than you can reasonably afford in case of any unexpected expenses or bills later in the year.
If they do issue an eviction warrant, we can defend by filling in an N244 to apply for a hearing to stop the eviction - I can help you with that and given that you are now back at work you should have no trouble getting it stopped.
How much is your normal monthly payment? Also do you have a recent statement showing arrears and if there are any charges on the account?
Try not to worry too much - I'm sure we can sort this out
Hi Ell-enn,First of all thank you!!The mortgage company have informed me that they have already applied for an eviction warrent on 8th March, but I have not recieved anything through yet. They said that this can take a couple of weeks?I will print off the budget sheet and sent to them and their solicitors tomorrow. Do ou suggest recorded delivery?I will also make the payment tomorrow, of £1200.My normal monthly payment is now £504.92 at the current interest rate. This does not include any money towards the arrears and the previous suspended possession order was for £100 on top of the monthly payment. I am willing to pay £250 and this is do-able.The mortgage company charge me £54 per month which they have charged since I originally went in to arrears and they call this the 'Monthly Arrears Fee'. I am deeply concerned that they will grant the eviction because I haven't kept up to the terms of the agreement and they have already told me that I have failed to do this before, and they asked why should they do this now?If you could write the explination letter for me, I would really appreciate it! Sometimes I can say too much and not the things they 'need' to hear, so an outside perspective would be great!!I don't know what I'd do without the help of you and this great site!!
Hi there, I'll draft a letter for you and post in a few minutes. Wait until you have made the payment tomorrow before you send it and then you can enclose proof of the payment - how will you pay? over the phone or via the bank? If you are on internet banking you can print off a statement straight away showing the payment.
Are you absolutely sure you can afford £250 on top of the normal monthly payment? it seems a lot - you need to think about unexpected car or household repair bills. Don't offer what you think they want to hear - offer what you can really afford. If you think £175 or £200 would be better then that's what you should offer.
To tell you the truth, I am happy to pay the £250, as I want to clear the arrears. I will be tough, but I just want to get back on the straight and narrow - if that makes sense?With the £54 they levy against the arrears, I am only making an inroad of £196 against the actual arrears. As they stand at nearly £11,000 in total, thats a lot of payments to make. I also want to make additional payments if I am financially able, through the new bonus scheme at work. It may only be and additional £50 per month, but any little bit will help.We fought for so long to have (an keep) my baby, I cant lose the home we have for him now.
The £54.00 charges should be added to the outstanding mortgage not to the arrears! and we need to tackle that when we have sorted out this situation. If they do issue an eviction warrant we will report to the court that they are adding charges to the arrears.
Does that £11k arrears figure include the charges?
Letter affixed, send by recorded delivery (make sure yo have the correct address and department). Keep a copy of the letter and budget sheet and also the postal receipt. Check on the royalmail website a few days after posting to print of the signature receipt. Staple that to your copy of the letter and keep in a safe place.
Also, send a copy of the letter and budget sheet to the solicitors with a covering letter as follows:
Dear Sirs,
RE: mortgage Account noxxxxxxxxxxxx (name of lender).
For your information, affixed is a copy of letter sent to (name of lender) on 16th March.
Yours faithfully,
XXX & XXXX
Send this also by recorded delivery, keep copy, postal receipt etc.
It is really difficult to tell, but I think they are being added to the outstanding mortgage, not the arrears. Their statements are really difficult to desipher!! But I don't think they are, just adding them to the outstanding mortgage balance.Given how much more arrears I have accrued since the original possession order, they have been very good. It is me that has gone back on my promise and has failed to maintain both contact and regular payments.Although I want to fight the eviction 100%, I cannot equate this company to many of the unfortunate stories I have read on here.It may be my home and I want to keep it, I understand it is my own stupidity that has resulted in this action taking place.I just want one last opportunity to set things right and maintain the agreements.
No Preferred was for the mortgage on my fathers house. I had to take it on when he had a stroke and was having to care for him, otherwise the mortgage company would have taken it. He is a lot better now and is maintaining the mortgage himself and is back as the mortgage holder.
Just to keep you updated. I made the payment of £1200 on Tuesday and explained that I was sending them and their solicitors a letter with my income / expenditure form. I also explained that I was asking for the eviction to be cancelled.
I spoke to a very nice lady there, but she said they couldn't do anything until the date of eviction had come through. She took the payment of £1200, said she would put notes on the system and gave me the authorisation code for the payment. She said to call them as soon as I recieved the eviction notice through.
The eviction notice has just come through for 31st March!!
I spoke to them again and spoke to a different woman. She said that they cannot agree to my terms yet, as an agreement had been broken before, but they would pass it 'higher up the line' as a priority case. She also said that they would (hopefully) phone me on monday to let me know what they have decided.
I explained that I would have to apply for the N244 to have a hearing and she has asked me to delay this until Tuesday, to allow them to come back to me. Otherwise this would cause me an additional expense that I may not need to pay.
I am really confused now! Do I still do the N244 on Monday? Does this sound hopeful or does this sound like a delaying tactic by them. I am really worried now as it is less than 2 weeks away, with 2 weekend in between where the courts are closed.
Urgent Help Required
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