Lloyds Business loan secured, help needed please

[Lloyds Defender]

Can anyone please advise how I can defend an application from Lloyds to take possession of my house.

I owned half of a business that went down last August. The company owed £300,000 to Lloyds which was secured joint and several with my business partner.

We have made offers to settle which amounted to half of the equity in each house, our respective wives owning the other half. Total amount of combined offers £97,500.

Our offers were rejected and they have proceeded with applications to take possession for the £300k + interest of £40,950.

Despite agreeing to adjourn both hearings my business partner received a judgment for Lloyds yesterday for the full amount of £340,950.

As they have now got a judgment for the full amount can they come after me?

Our properties are valued as follows:

Mine = £425,000 (recent valuation) Mortgage = £350,000

Partners = £160,000 (local comparison) Mortgage = £80,000

They have also been paid £20,000.

As a result of the business going down I got into arrears with the Amber Homeloans and they now have a suspended possession order.

My partner has a girlfriend living in the house with their 3yr old child

I have my in-laws living with me and my father in-law has just been diagnosed with cancer. I also have my 63yr old mentally disable aunt living with me as a result of my father in-laws recent illness.

I have conveyed my plight to both banks but they don’t give a toss, all they want is our properties!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Rachie1973]

Can't advise, not qualified. It happened to us as well and Lloyds are still chasing us. They don't care about families etc because in all fairness to them their business is money. Harsh to me and you but fact.

 

Our mortgage was behind as well and house was repossessed. Then we realised best option was bankruptcy so thats what we've done. Otherwise we'd be paying forever.

[Bona]

you will be jointly liable so yes they can go for you.

needless to say

Do you have it in writing that they were going to Adjourn

Have they issued proceeding against you

what has your business partner done as aresult of the judgement

sorry for all the questions but we need a very full picture

You have come to the best site possible to help

Take care

[Lloyds Defender]

Can't advise, not qualified. It happened to us as well and Lloyds are still chasing us. They don't care about families etc because in all fairness to them their business is money. Harsh to me and you but fact.

 

Our mortgage was behind as well and house was repossessed. Then we realised best option was bankruptcy so thats what we've done. Otherwise we'd be paying forever.

 

Rachie, thanks for the comment and sorry to hear your in the same boat, we know what your going through.

[Lloyds Defender]

Bona, many thanks for your input, the answer to your questions is as follows.

“Do you have it in writing that they were going to Adjourn” yes, I don’t have a new date yet but my business partner does.

“Have they issued proceeding against you” yes, I have until 2nd Oct to file a defence.

“what has your business partner done as a result of the judgment” he has filled an application to set aside using the new hearing notice as the reason, he is also filing a defence. His wife is defending her share of the equity under an Etridge Defence.

You should also know that when the bank loaned the money to the company they over valued my house by £225,000 in order to lend the money. Of course I was delighted with the valuation at the time because I thought the house was worth £500,000 and to see a valuation of £725,000 was fantastic. I now know they did this so that they could dump the money into the company, which incidentally, I have recently been informed was insolvent at the time!

[Bona]

Did either of your wifes sign the security papers , have you hade the loan agreement checked is the hearing for possession if so you need ellens help with the defence

[Lloyds Defender]

Did either of your wifes sign the security papers , have you hade the loan agreement checked is the hearing for possession if so you need ellens help with the defence

 

Yes they both signed a Deed of Postponement, but it was not explained to us and it was signed at the same time and in the same room as us. For clarity, in the meeting when the loan agreement and Deed of Postponement was signed was me, my wife, business partner and his wife.

I have seen a Solicitor and all I got was a bill for £5,000, what they advised was “you best negotiate” You see the problem we have is that we no longer have any money and I am convinced that if we put a fighting fund up of £100k the picture would be different. We have no faith in the legal profession, they are willing to help if you can afford to pay.

Yes they are applying for possession of both of our houses.

Many thanks

[Bona]

How much are yu in arreas with your mortgage how much in the way of penalty charges did you on the business account

sorry for all the question

[Bona]

Did the solicitor say that your wives were liable

[toddle2u]

LD - It would seem from what you have said that the Etridge Defence is the best way forward to protect your wife's equity in the house.

 

When you all signed the loan agreement and DoP did you have any legal representation and were the full implications of what your wife was signing spelt out to her? Or did you she sign a letter confirming that she had sought independant legal advice?

 

With regards to the Company being insolvent at the time of the loan it would probably be best to keep this to yourself to protect you from any possible wrongful trading case from a disgruntled creditor or even the liquidator where they could ultimately chase you personally for any debts incurred whilst trading insolvently.

 

Do you have any depandants under the age of 18?

[Lloyds Defender]

How much are yu in arreas with your mortgage how much in the way of penalty charges did you on the business account

sorry for all the question

 

Mortgage is £7,500 in arrears.

 

Not sure about the penalties but they have added £40,950 onto the outstanding debt, I think this is interest.

[Lloyds Defender]

Did the solicitor say that your wives were liable

 

No, they have a defence under Etridge, the implications were not made clear, we were in with the Solicitor who signed the agreements for no more than half an hour, firstly me and business partner went in and signed ours and then the girls came in and signed theirs, the Solicitor said "you know wha it is your signing don't you" thats about it!

[Lloyds Defender]

LD - It would seem from what you have said that the Etridge Defence is the best way forward to protect your wife's equity in the house.

 

When you all signed the loan agreement and DoP did you have any legal representation and were the full implications of what your wife was signing spelt out to her? Or did you she sign a letter confirming that she had sought independant legal advice?

 

With regards to the Company being insolvent at the time of the loan it would probably be best to keep this to yourself to protect you from any possible wrongful trading case from a disgruntled creditor or even the liquidator where they could ultimately chase you personally for any debts incurred whilst trading insolvently.

 

Do you have any depandants under the age of 18?

 

No we don't have any dependant children but we now have my in-laws living with us and my father in-law has just been diagnosed with cancer. We also have my wifes aunt living with us and she is a 63yr old mentaly disabled.

 

You could'nt make this up, I can't believe this could all happen to one person at the same time!

 

I now know how the Fosters felt and why they did what they did!

[Bona]

Ok as long as you are paying your mortgage company As far as I can see it if your wife is not liable she will have half the equity in the balance of the house if the valuation is low could she raise the money to buy your half of the equity if you can go bankrupt get rid of The Bank and just pay the mortgage a friend of mine did that but you would need advise from some one who knows about bankruptcy

Edited September 26, 2008 by Bona

[Lloyds Defender]

I am a bit confused, if my wife has bought me out of the house how does her going bankrupt help? would the bank still have a charge on the house?

[Bona]

No as long as she is not liable to LLoyds then if YOU go bankrupt if the house is in joint names the reciever will only want your share liqidated so if she can raise the money the house goes in her name you keep paying the mortgage and you go bankrupt hence lloydds only get a bit but you would need to take advice

[Lloyds Defender]

Thanks I will ask.

[toddle2u]

Bona - I was thinking exactly along those lines as well.

 

Your wife will be able to make an offer for your share of the equity at a reduced rate because she has a beneficial interest in the property

[Bona]

As long as LLoyds cant get at her I think it will be the best option

[cat100]

I would double check all paperwork just to clafiy what paperwork has been signed by your wife if any.If your wife cannot be linked with the debt then bankruptcy would seem to be the best way forward,but before this you must seek professional advice.

[gizmo111]

Mortgage is £7,500 in arrears.

 

Not sure about the penalties but they have added £40,950 onto the outstanding debt, I think this is interest.

 

As a result of the business going down I got into arrears with the Amber Homeloans and they now have a suspended possession order.

 

Is the Amber loan the whole mortgage? or a 2nd one?

What is the situation with the arrears? Are you meeting the minimum monthly payments?

[Lloyds Defender]

Is the Amber loan the whole mortgage? or a 2nd one?

What is the situation with the arrears? Are you meeting the minimum monthly payments?

 

Amber is the whole mortgage and yes we are meeting the full payment.

[gizmo111]

Amber is the whole mortgage and yes we are meeting the full payment.

 

What is the situation with the arrears?

It seems BR may be a possibility, but you need some good advice to be sure. Quick calculations indicate that in the current climate you wife would have to raise around £13 -£20K to buy your share of the equity, is this a possibility? You will still obviously owe the arrears to Amber and need to come to some arrangement with them. Is there any ERC on the mortgage?

 

I have worked this out roughly to be House value £425 and reduced it by 10% which is the most likely figure you will get if it sold now = £382.5 - less £8k for estate agents and legal costs = £374.5 less £350 mortgage outstanding = £27.4K net equity split between 2 = £13.7K. Of course these figures are rough and the OR may calculate higher the selling price.

 

I would suggest you get a couple of estate agents around and see what the realistic sale price is for a quick sale and base your figures on that, and have a look here to locate a IP in your area for some independent advice. I suggest your partner does the same - although his net equity is going to be a lot higher than yours.

[Justhadenough]

Firstly,

 

The wife should have sought independent legal advice; the same solicitor should not have advised both parties.

 

The bank can postpone its first charge, but still remain on the deeds.

[Lloyds Defender]

Is there any ERC on the mortgage?

Gizmo, what is an ERC?

The arrears are being paid at the agreed rate of £100 per month and currently stand at £7,500.

Your calculations are very close, I have had a local estate agent value the house 2 weeks ago at £425k open market value, £375k forced sale, at auction it would not reach the mortgage value.

However, Lloyds have already rejected an offer of £37,500, they think the house is worth £725k despite the recent valuation from a local estate agent.

It seams that all they want is to put us out on the street. I can't understand why courts would be a part of this. We made the offer through a Solicitor as a "Part 36 offer" I believe there are some implications if they don't get more than the offer but I don't know what that is.

I appreciate your advice to get professional advice but that costs money that we don’t have. I have tried the solicitors listed who do legal aid but cant get an appointment for 2 months, they are very busy at the moment.

I will ring the insolvency practitioners and see what they have to say.