repossesion

[pebs]

My brother is struggling to pay his mortgage and cannot meet this months payment, he is already £3000 in arrears although he did pay up until last months payment.

As he fell into these arrears last year and went to court he was put on a suspended possesion order as long as he continued to pay...which he has done up until now, except he has not cleared any of the arrears.

My question is if the mortgage company issue him with a default for this month and as he cant pay how long will it take for them to take him to court and get him out of the house?

[Weird Al Yankovic]

Hello

 

I don't think the mortgage company have to go back to court for a hearing as it appears they already have a suspended possession order, ie the order of eviction is 'suspended' save that the homeowner pays the mortgage and the arrears, at the rate agreed in the first possession hearing, under that order.

 

Therefore they just apply for an eviction warrant and the court will give a date to leave the property. Not sure the timescale but I believe it can be just a couple of weeks.

 

Get some expert advice asap and good luck.

[sillygirl1]

With the suspended reposession it will only go away once all the arrears are paid and the court is asked by you to close the case as the breach has now been remedied...

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, can you answer a few questions please in order for us to advise you the best course of action:

 

Who is the mortgage company?

Is your brother able to make any payment at all towards this month's installment?

Has he been making payments according to the suspended possession order (i.e. exactly what they said he should pay on the order) up until this month?

 

Kind Regards

 

Ell-enn

[pebs]

Hi,

 

The mortgage company is Northern Rock

 

He said he can make some payment but then he has just heard the company he is working for may have to close in April due to bad business so he may lose his job and wont be able to pay then anyway.

 

And yes he has been making the full payments up until last month except the arrears, but NR did say they would wait for those till a later date.

 

Do the courts usually throw you out quite quickly?

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, if they do enforce the order for possession he will receive a letter from the court telling him which date he has to leave by. However- if he does receive this he can immediately apply to the court to have the possession further suspended - he will have to be able to show the court that he can maintain payments though. But we'll worry about that if it happens, there's still a lot you can do to prevent it. I helped someone get their application in front of a district judge on the morning they should have been evicted and got it suspended - it can be done.

 

I think the best option is for him to contact NR and explain the situation regarding this month's payment - make the payment he can afford - and hope they will be understanding. If he does get an agreement over the phone, make sure he takes the person's name who agrees it, and check the correct address, then send a letter confirming the arrangement (by recorded delivery - so they can't say they didn't get it!!). Tell him not to let NR know that his job may not be safe, it might not happen anyway and there's no need to get them panicking about their money!

 

If he really feels worried about the security of his job then perhaps he should look around for an alternative position? You don't say if your brother is married or got a family - if he is single - could he perhaps rent a room to a friend to help with income?

 

One more question - is there a lot of equity in the house.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ell-enn

[pebs]

Hi, yes he has a girlfriend and young child and he only bought the house 2 yrs ago so no, no equity in house.

[Ell-enn]

Thanks for the info. Let's wait and see what NR say when he contacts them. Please tell him not to bury his head in the sand over this - if he does not contact them they will most certainly enforce the possession order. The sooner he speaks to them the better, and also he must follow it up in writing - if he needs any help with that please ask.

 

If the company he works for does close would he be entitled to any redundancy payment? Also is he claiming all the benefits he is entitled to (does his girlfriend work?).

 

Please let us know what NR say.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ell-enn

[davethorp]

I only have one thing to add, if his job is in question and he does lose it, does he not have any kind of payment protection on the mortgage that would pay the payments until he gets a new job

[Just~me]

As a last resort I would think about getting the house up for sale, try and get something back before they reposses.

Hope everything works out for the young couple.

 

Just~Me.

[pebs]

I am not sure about payment protection.

His girlfriend does not work as they dont have anyone to look after the little one, I live too far from them to help and have 2 children myself so I cant even offer to help.

[Conniff]

- he will have to be able to show the court that he can maintain payments though.

 

 

Just a question. Hasn't he already assured the court that he can maintain payments but failed to keep to it?

[pebs]

Yes he did assure the courts he would keep with the agreed payments last spring, and he has done up until now, but by struggling every month, having no spare cash or social life and falling behind with other bills.

He said to me the other day as much as they love the house, he thinks it may be time to give up, go and rent somewhere and get a bit of a life back. They claim some tax credits so they would get some help with rent but not with a mortgage.

[Conniff]

I really feel for your brother and his family. There can only be one thing more heartbreaking than to have to move out of your house.

Perhaps he is talking sense when he says it's time to move on, they can't spend the rest of their life living this way, and it could become worse if the interest rate were to rise again.

 

Is it not possible to take a second job in the interim to get payments up to date?

 

I really hope a way can be found around this and if anyone can help then it will be Ell-enn.

[Ell-enn]

Just a question. Hasn't he already assured the court that he can maintain payments but failed to keep to it?

 

You're right Conniff, he has - but if he were to make an application for further suspension of the possession order the judge would want to see some figures again to prove that he could make payments going forward. With a small child involved the judge is more than likely to grant the suspension -but in these cases nothing is guaranteed so it's best to go well prepared with as much ammunition as possible.

 

Notwithstanding all the above, I tend to agree with him that it might be best to sell the house and rent for a few years until they get on their feet - however, he should still make an application for suspension to give him time to sell it himself. If he speaks to NR he may be able to delay them applying for eviction though.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ell-enn

[pebs]

Thanks ell-enn and everyone else you have all been so helpful.

I`ll ring him later today with all your good advice.

 

If the worst comes to the worst they can always have my sofa!!

[Just~me]

Pebs,

 

Very often it costs more to rent than mortgage, rent still has to be paid on time and if they did end up behind in the rent they would then end up on the streets. Its a horrible situation to be in.

 

Just~Me.

[pebs]

Yes but the good thing about renting is if he were to lose his job in April at least he would be entitled to housing benefit to pay the rent, he wouldnt get any help with the mortgage payments.

[Just~me]

Yes but the good thing about renting is if he were to lose his job in April at least he would be entitled to housing benefit to pay the rent, he wouldnt get any help with the mortgage payments.

 

Well I didnt know that.??? that sounds a bit crazzy really...helping some but not others. It seems that the more you pay into the sytem the less help you get when you really need it. Well the Gov seem to be helping the non UK citizens with housing etc....so why dont they help their own first.

 

Just~Me.

[wstead]

This happened to me. Went to court and got the suspended possession order with some very reasonable repayments. A few weeks later a re-mortgaged and cleared the possession order. My credit was terrible and I’m paying more that before but it gave me a breathing space and got rid of the possession order. Plus I came out with some more cash to see me over.

I’m now thinking about into going back to my original mortgage company and trying to reclaim some fees.