Help - Notice of Eviction for 6th July

[Joxer]

Good afternoon fellow caggers,

 

I have had problems with paying the mortgage for several years and have been to court a couple of times, successfully defending two Notice of Eviction dates before. I was late paying my mortgage this month and was awaiting the "notice before action" letter, at which point I would have borrowed the money from my brother for the few days before I get paid by the lodger, when I received a letter dated 14th June from Santander Litigation informing me they were applying for a warrant for possession. I was amazed, as I thought they were bound to send the "notice before action" letter and it would be a case of borrowing a couple of hundred pounds for a few days! Instead, I have had to inform the lodger, give her the deposit back and cancel two students I had planned to take in for 2 months at a total loss of £3200!

I have been given an eviction date of 6th July and am looking for some advice, as things have changed since the last hearing and I have been offered a job starting on 18th July, that will more than double my income!

 

Bad points - my partner and children no longer live with me and do not contribute to the household income.

 

Good points - My salary will more than double in a few weeks and this, along with one lodger/student will make paying all my outgoings very comfortable indeed. In fact, I can now live okay off my salary alone. Santander possibly not followed protocol?

 

Can anyone help with what I should be putting on the N244 and if the Mortgage Company should have sent me a letter to pay before taking action, as in two previous months?

If I am repossessed on Wednesday 6th July, I will have nowhere to go here and will have to take myself and my dog to Ireland, as I have family there. I shall not be able to serve any notice in my current job (possibly affecting my reference) and it will cause me to lose the well paid position I have secured in July. This will be especially sickening, due to the new job and increase in income. The main thing though, is that I will end up hundreds of miles away from my two boys and on Social Welfare, when I could continue working and being an active part of their lives. It would be extremely difficult to get suitable accommodation where I live, with my dog and bad credit rating and I have literally nowhere to go if my defence fails.

I have asked Santander to send me the payment dates and letter dates since the hearing last September and told them that I will pay up to date if they drop this action. I have also informed them that my circumstances are due to change in July and that I will have no problems in paying on time. I have put this in writing to their Litigation Department.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Joxer.

 

ps - really want to get this in by tomorrow - sorry!!

[raydetinu]

well they cant reposses without a court order? so some sort of hearing has to be held and you informed, or was it in the last judgemnt that they could apply direct if you defaulted again.

You need to contact the court about the warrant and get it set aside asap and get another hearing where you can explain your current circumstances.

the judge may well think you have been given enough chances and grant the repossession order but IMO will grant a stay for a period so you can find somewhere to live and not jepordise your new job.

When did you actually receive the letter?

I am no expert in these things so maybe somebody else could more accurately advise.

[Joxer]

Thanks Ray,

can't recall any allowance for them to go straight for repossession, but this is an execution of a suspended possession order, so they don't need another hearing. I am going to put in a N244 tomorrow morning and was just looking for advice.

 

Joxer

[Joxer]

Help!!

Please.

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, do you have confirmation of your new job and salary - this would be extremely helpful to go with your N244. You say you were late making this month's payment - did you actually make the payment and if not do you have the money to pay it?

[Joxer]

Hi Ell-en,

I don't have confirmation as it is in groundworks and you just agree verbally. I can get this information confirmed on paper though, if you think it would help. I was going to get it in writing for the hearing anyway. I haven't made the payment, as a solicitor advised me to take the payment to the hearing, as I am going to need all the money I can get if I am repossessed on the 6th July. This action has also already cost me in the region of £3000! As I have had to turf out the lodger (at a cost of £400 deposit return and £400 rent that was due on 23rd June!) and cancel two students I was to take for two months at £155 per week each!

 

Thanks and any further advice is more than welcome.

[Joxer]

I must add that the solicitor only advised me on the telephone and is my solicitor for family law.

[Ell-enn]

To be honest I think you'll struggle without written confirmation of a new job at a higher salary. How long has it been since your last eviction hearing ?

[Joxer]

Last eviction hearing was in September 2010. I have paid every month apart from this and would have paid this month if they hadn't started proceedings.

I can get the job confirmation in writing by tomorrow evening, but do you think I should hold back the N244 until I have it?

 

Thanks.

[Ell-enn]

If you can get the confirmation tomorrow you should be ok to put the N244 in on Wednesday

[Joxer]

Thanks so much Ell-enn, I'm on the case.

 

Joxer.

[Joxer]

Has anyone any more ideas?

 

Thanks,

 

Joxer

[Ell-enn]

Unless you have any other information than that which you have given above I don't know of any other ideas. The situation is that you need to enter an N244 to get a hearing to stop eviction (you already know that).

 

Your defence in Question 10 - will be that:

 

You have maintained payments since the last SPO, but were only a few days late with the June payment (give reason for lateness) when proceedings were instigated

You now have a new job with a higher income and can afford the repayments - affix proof

You are able to make the June payment immediately

You have had to turn away income from the property due to proceedings being escalated to eviction

 

You need to quote the case law Cheltenham & Gloucester v Norgan (asking to spread the arrears over a period of time) and S.36 of the Administration of Justice Act.

 

You will need to fill in a budget sheet to go with the N244 so the judge can see how you will afford the payments - I have affixed one to this post.

 

If you need help setting out the statement for Q.10 let me know, but there are lots of examples on threads in the Repossession Successes Forum.

Budget Sheet.xls

[Joxer]

Brilliant Ell-enn.

I shall do all the above and thanks for the budget sheet.

Do you know if it is wrong for them to go straight for repossession without giving me a chance to remedy the breach? There was no mention of this being the case at the last hearing, so have they violated protocol by doing so? Surely this will be seen as harsh by a DJ?

 

Thanks a million,

 

Joxer

[Lea_HTH]

Brilliant Ell-enn.

I shall do all the above and thanks for the budget sheet.

Do you know if it is wrong for them to go straight for repossession without giving me a chance to remedy the breach? There was no mention of this being the case at the last hearing, so have they violated protocol by doing so? Surely this will be seen as harsh by a DJ?

 

Thanks a million,

 

Joxer

 

There has been no breach of protocol and the only person who has breached the court order has been you by not paying your CMI + arrears payment on time (which is what allowed the mortgagee to go for a warrant of execution). Make the missing payment now - judges do not like when defendants come into court and state 'I could have paid it but didn't, but will pay it now" - actions speak louder than words where making payments are concerned.

 

In addition, you have, by your own statement, defended two eviction notices in the past, so this would be your third stay application - which doesn't bode well. You will have a substantial history of not keeping to agreements that you make, or orders that are made in court.

 

If you follow Ell-enn's advice, you may have a chance of remaining in your home - if the facts are as have been stated. But the mortgagee may well have come to the end of their tether and will be pushing hard for an outright possession order. Cancelling your lodgers was a bad move. Can you get them back?

 

Lastly - unless you have concrete proof of this new job, the start date, a copy of the contract, rates of pay etc, then a judge may find it hard to believe you.

[raydetinu]

yes it was a bad move to move tennants out, they could of stayed( and payed you ) and would be subject to a seperate order.

[Joxer]

Didn't realise that about the lodger and students, I thought that I had a legal and moral obligation to tell them once I had an eviction date.

I understand what you are saying about the protocol, but still think it was harsh not to send a letter before action. I have the job confirmation on headed paper confirming wages and this is from a small but well established local company, although I have never received a contract in my line of work (groundworks) and had to ask for the letter, as it is usually only a verbal agreement. Can't get the lodger or student back, but they are ten-a-penny where I live anyway, but that's no good to me in the short term.

I'm very, very worried now.

[Ell-enn]

Are you able to make the missing payment straight away?

Did you have a tenancy agreement with the lodger/students ?

[Joxer]

I am able to make the payment, but that would still leave the payment due on the 1st July and I've just heard from the court that the hearing is on Monday. I'm reluctant to pay, because if I am evicted on Wednesday I will have almost nothing to see me through ( I will have to leave the country and sign on at home which usually incurs a 13 week wait!).

I did not have a proper agreement with the lodger, just a receipt for the deposit, but I had confirmation of the students tenancy and how much I would receive for them ( 8 weeks at £155 a week each).

 

Thanks.

 

ps. my ex-girlfriend, whose name is also on the mortgage is trying to arrange a solicitor - I feel this would be a huge thing in this instance and would be alot more confident going in represented.

[Lea_HTH]

Were the students arranged for a future date? If so, can't you ask them if they still want to stay with you? Or arrange for others. Any proof you can show the judge that there is income in your household will be a plus point for you.

 

You need to make the 1st July payment as well as the outstanding June payment - not to do so will simply make it look like you cannot pay. Do you get paid later than 1st of the month? If yes, you could request that the judge move your payment date. Sounds from what you have written (and feel free to correct me if it's not the case) that you are continually late in making your payments each month?

 

Finally - 'letters before action' are precisely that, letters before COURT action - not letters before applying for a warrant of eviction. Sorry if it seems harsh to you, but it's really just standard procedure. Your notification is the fact that you have an SPO on your property - the mortgage company are not obliged to do anything further to warn you before gaining a warrant.

[Lea_HTH]

Incidentally, if your ex is still on the mortgage she has joint and several liability to pay the CMI - is she in a position to pay something towards the instalment to help you out in the interim? Is she going to court with you?

[Joxer]

Thanks for the advice Lea.

No, I wasn't late every month, but on the two previous incidents that I was late they did send the "letter before action".

I can fully understand where you are coming from with the payments also, but if I do make them and then get evicted, I will have literally nothing to sustain me for 3 months and like yourself, I've a bad feeling about this. I will be able to comfortably make the payments from the end of July, due to the new job and I can also get a steady stream of students as I live in a tourist/student city. I can prove to the Judge that I had to cancel these as I have the confirmation letters and they should understand that these are easily got, especially at this time of year in this town.

I realise that I'm in a bad spot, but thanks for trying to be factual and the DJ will only look at the facts.

[Joxer]

She won't go to court and the reason I ended up there last time was because she stopped paying! She says she will try to get legal representation, frankly I doubt her sincerity! Would it be beneficial if she did go - no chance of her helping to pay though.

[Ell-enn]

What exactly did you put in Q.10 of the N244 form? did you take a copy for yourself?

[Lea_HTH]

Thanks for the advice Lea.

No, I wasn't late every month, but on the two previous incidents that I was late they did send the "letter before action".

I can fully understand where you are coming from with the payments also, but if I do make them and then get evicted, I will have literally nothing to sustain me for 3 months and like yourself, I've a bad feeling about this. I will be able to comfortably make the payments from the end of July, due to the new job and I can also get a steady stream of students as I live in a tourist/student city. I can prove to the Judge that I had to cancel these as I have the confirmation letters and they should understand that these are easily got, especially at this time of year in this town.

I realise that I'm in a bad spot, but thanks for trying to be factual and the DJ will only look at the facts.

 

The third incident was obviously enough for them to think it was once too many. You're actually quite fortunate that they notified you on the two previous occasions as they are not obliged to do so.

 

Does your ex realise that she is jointly and severally liable for the payments on the mortgage? She can't just bury her head and think it's got nothing to do with her - if she wants out, she'll need to discuss it with you and agree a sale, either to you, or both of you to sell the property outright and go your separate ways.

 

It would be useful if she went to court - as indicated, she is liable too, so realistically she should attend, be that by instructing a solicitor or appearing in person. Not attending is foolhardy.

 

If it is at all possible for your ex to agree to make part payments on the mortgage until you have your new student lodgers in place, or at least agreements in place for them to show the court, then the court may well give you a further opportunity, particularly as you have proof of your new job and increased wages. But, whilst I appreciate the issue you have with regards to having no money to rent somewhere if the possession takes place, your chances of staying without paying that money are less than if it is paid. But the choice is ultimately yours - you have to decide what route is best for you.

 

If you choose to keep hold of the money, then I would suggest you print an up to date bank statement on the day of the hearing (preferable if you could get one sent out to you on bank headed paper) indicating that the money is there in your account. If you can show the judge that you have the money and will be paying it on the day of the hearing, then he or she may be persuaded by it. Depends how thick your court file is really!

 

Hope it goes well for you. Best advice is to be fully prepared with paperwork that supports what you are telling the judge. Courts require evidence and they like to see the proof in black and white.