gmac trying to reposses my house help?

[waltermitty]

Hi

I live in Scotland and have had mortgage with Gmac for 20months-then i got into dificulties and they got court order against me last year but made arrangements for me to pay back £150 extra per month. didnt always manage it but kept paying as much a i could. 2 days ago sheriff officers came to door with Charge for eviction.Gmac wont give me any more time because i owe £2400-even when I offered to pay big payment end of month.

Thing is when they went to court last year their solicitors told me i did not need to go to court to defend it as it was all just a matter of procedure-so I didnt go-after reading some of the advice on here i realise stupid mistake!

Also when I accepted their first offer of paying £150 extra a month i did so because i was terrified they would reposses house if i said no.

Thing is Ive been working hard to improve my finances and ive known for months now if i could just get by till august when my income improves dramatically - i could get through by paying more.

unfortunately the last six weeks have been unable to pay-but heard nothing from gmac so thought i could get by till the end of this month when i had a not bad income coming in-oops.

what i want to know is can i still get a suspension that is talked about on here- i dont want to lose house now that i am so close to getting into a better financial position.its our irst mortgage-in our early fifties and wife recently registered disabled and cant work-any advice anyone.

 

thanks

 

walter

[Conniff]

You will have to prove to any court that you can maintain the mortgage payments 'and' catch up on the arrears without any breaks or missed payments.

 

If you can't do that then any suspension will fail.

 

If a hearing is due, make sure you attend.

[waltermitty]

Hi Conniff,

The charge for eviction does not say anything about a hearing date-it basically says that sherriff officers have today served a charge for eviction on me and i will be advised of the date of the eviction in the course of the next few days etc.

Im trying to find the original papers from last year-how do I find the court that would be dealing with this if I cant find the papers?

I know I cam pay at least £1000 by the 3rd of july towrds the arrears and can also clear the whole arrears by september so that I will be up to date by then.

Im self employed but i base these forecasts on actual work I have booked in and already can work out my overheads and net profit.

do you think this would help with any judge!

[jannercobbler]

Mortgage Repossessions

 

Both freehold and leasehold owner occupation can, and frequently will, be subject to a mortgage. The mortgage deeds contain a variety of terms which usually states that when the occupier falls into arrears with the repayments that the lender has the right to evict the occupier and sell the property.

 

Demand for Arrears

 

Before legal proceedings are started, the lender will normally issue a formal demand for all the arrears to be paid. They are not obliged by law to do this, but in practice the Court will not look kindly upon a lender who has not given the occupier a chance to bring their arrears up to date.

 

The lender cannot evict the occupier without an Order for possession from the County Court. The Court is not obliged to grant the possession immediately and has the power to grant a suspended order for possession on condition that the occupier continues to pay current instalments and a fixed amount off the arrears.

 

Suspended Possession Orders - Homeowners

 

The Court will only exercise this discretion if it is of the view that the arrears can be cleared in a reasonable time. (Administration of Justice Act 1970, s.36; Town & Country Building Society v Julien, 1991). If it does not think this can be done, then the order will be final. This will usually be suspended for at least 28 days to give the occupier time to make alternative arrangements.

 

Reasonable Time to Clear the Arrears

 

There is no formal definition of reasonable time. Until recently, the courts had normally considered one year a reasonable time in which to clear the arrears (Cheltenham & Gloucester B.S v Grant, 1994). It has now been said that the Court should take as its starting point the full period of the mortgage. In most cases individuals would probably only need to spread their arrears over one to two years which the Courts are likely to consider as reasonable.

 

Need for Consent

 

It is really important that an occupier experiencing difficulties informs the lender . Work out how much you can afford to pay towards your arrears and put your proposals in writing to the mortgage company. The clearer the proposals, the greater the chances of success. The larger, more reputable companies do not as a matter of course, want to see occupiers evicted and the properties sold. Their money comes, after all, from keeping mortgages in existence and receiving interest on them.

 

I have personally helped a Friend use the above in Court (on the Day before the Balliffs were due) The Judge was going to refuse but we mentioned that we would appeal, and the Judge finally agreed to suspend possession for 3 months so my friend could sell, although they had to make some payments during that time.

 

regards

 

JC