Urgent Advice Needed Please Regards Selling Prior to Reposession and Delaying Repossession

[debtdoubter09]

Thanks you in advance for your time taken considering my difficulty and your help.

 

I am currently £10,000 in arrears with my mortgage of £299,995 and have been unable to make payments now for 3 months (£1400 approx monthly). The majority of the arrears were accrued in 2009 and since then I have had an arrangement to pay interest only which i have kept to until 3 months ago.

 

My job lost it's funding last August 2010 and since then I have been working on a self employed basis and also selling most of what I owned to keep up to date with the agreement however, my father suddenly became ill earlier in the year and my mother was unable to care for him due to disability so I chose to step up and as a consequence my earnings have been almost zero for the past few months.

 

I have been in regular contact with NRAM and asked them to allow me to pay only £500 for a few months until I get back on my feet however they point blank refuse and have said they will continue with legal action unless I pay the full £10 000 and also make full payments to the mortgage. I understand their position, they want to get what we agreed!

 

I have 2 children (the youngest is 2 years old) and I have no idea of how to deal with this situation?

 

I have had the house valued and if I sell it will just clear the mortgage, I am prepared to do that however, i am concerned that I will put it on the market and NRAM will repossess anyway, does anyone know if they will negotiate on that point please?

 

I will be grateful for all helpful suggestions and advice and thank you again for your time and help.

[Mr Worried]

Hi 09

 

I am in a similar position, help and advice will be along soon from the more experienced cager's.

 

Mr W

[debtdoubter09]

Thanks for your reply Mr W, It is a relief just posting to the forum, I hope that you are getting the info you need to improve your situation too.

[Mr Worried]

Hi, I am getting info and help, probs just looking for a little reassurance in my scenario, however after bottiling this up with Mrs for 2 yr and staving of 6 evictions we had a heart to heart and got a lot of our chests to our advantage, now we have 3 choices..

 

1 We have a viewing for our property soon and if an offer is made then its sold....

2 We hand back the keys after our letter of intention to the Mortgage company

3 I advise the courts that we will not defend the next eviction ( looming ) and let the eviction take place.

 

In the meantime I am looking at renting private and that will reduce my outgoings by £1200.00 per month, and I wont have the pressure of finding my contractual payment each month, and fighting possesion orders with N244's.

 

Mr

[Mr Worried]

Hi All

 

WOW, Just as I pressed ' post quick reply' the post fell through the letterbox, and yes1 its from NRAM advising me that they have enforced possesion and a bailiff will be here soon with the date of eviction, unless we pay full amount of arrears. approx 5k.

 

Ok as I mention above in my choices, do we keep the house, do we let them have it? what about shortfall etc, can I remove my fitted kitchen, bathroom,wardrobes, double glazing, garden sheds, playhouses, carpets etc.

 

Maybe browse post 8. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?319453-Eviction(2-Viewing)-nbsp

 

Any advice would be good, but believe me I am in no panick whatsoever as my health and fammily are far more important than the worry.

 

Once we decide what to do, shall / can I apply to the courts for more time to ' move out etc? '

 

Mr Relaxed

Edited September 20, 2011 by Mr Worried
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[Lea_HTH]

Thanks you in advance for your time taken considering my difficulty and your help.

 

I am currently £10,000 in arrears with my mortgage of £299,995 and have been unable to make payments now for 3 months (£1400 approx monthly). The majority of the arrears were accrued in 2009 and since then I have had an arrangement to pay interest only which i have kept to until 3 months ago.

 

My job lost it's funding last August 2010 and since then I have been working on a self employed basis and also selling most of what I owned to keep up to date with the agreement however, my father suddenly became ill earlier in the year and my mother was unable to care for him due to disability so I chose to step up and as a consequence my earnings have been almost zero for the past few months.

 

I have been in regular contact with NRAM and asked them to allow me to pay only £500 for a few months until I get back on my feet however they point blank refuse and have said they will continue with legal action unless I pay the full £10 000 and also make full payments to the mortgage. I understand their position, they want to get what we agreed!

 

I have 2 children (the youngest is 2 years old) and I have no idea of how to deal with this situation?

 

I have had the house valued and if I sell it will just clear the mortgage, I am prepared to do that however, i am concerned that I will put it on the market and NRAM will repossess anyway, does anyone know if they will negotiate on that point please?

 

I will be grateful for all helpful suggestions and advice and thank you again for your time and help.

If you want to sell, then go ahead and put the property on the market. If the mortgagee proceeds with court action, you can simply request that the court adjourn the case to give you time to sell (this is guaranteed to work if you have a realistic buyer at the time of the hearing, if you do not, then the decision whether to allow you time will be up to the judge, so you should have compelling arguments to persuade him/her). Certainly the mortgagee should be prepared to negotiate with you right up to the last moment - including after a possession order has been granted (but obviously before eviction has taken place). Most high street lenders will follow the pre-action protocol before taking you into court, which includes considering your plans to market the property.

 

Realistically, unless you have concrete proof of your finances changing in the very near future, and being able to maintain not only the current mortgage instalment but something towards the arrears also, then a judge is going to have a hard time finding in your favour at a repossession hearing.

 

You appear to be being realistic - you know that selling the house will (hopefully) clear the mortgage - and given that you have small children, it is likely that the local authority will have to assist you with re-housing (not guaranteed, but usually an option).

[debtdoubter09]

Hi

 

Lea_HTH - Thanks for your input, I've now received a letter from NRAM ststing that they have passed my account to solicitors to proceed with court action!

 

Please, If anyone is able to give me advice on how long this process is likely to take from now until the court action and then I guess the subsequent repossession I would really appreciate that, I am really dreading my daughter finding out that we have to move as she is really settled and has zero idea that we are in such a mess financially.

 

Thanks for any information that you can offer.

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, if they have applied for a court hearing date then you should receive a claim pack from the court within the next two weeks - the hearing date will probably be set for 4 - 6 weeks after you receive the claim, so you have somewhere between 6 and 8 weeks before you have to attend a hearing. That should give you time to get the house valued and on the market, make sure you have a copy of the estate agents contract and also copy newspaper adverts/brochure etc. so you have proof to take to the court that you are selling. If you are fortunate to get a buyer in that time then a letter from your solicitor stating what stage the conveyancing is at would be helpful.You should start the ball rolling tomorrow to give yourself as much time as possible. Would you be able to rent privately nearby where you live now ? might be an idea to start looking for somewhere now so you have a safety net.

[debtdoubter09]

Hi Ell-enn

 

Thanks so much for your help, I really do appreciate it as this is really difficult to deal with.

I wonder what the likely time scale will be for having to leave the house after the court hearing? I don't know if I will be able to rent locally because my credit rating is now very poor, does anyone have experience of this they can share please?

 

Thanks to everyone for your help

[Ell-enn]

If you are unable to make payments going forward the court would likely issue a 28 day possession order. This means that you have 28 days to vacate the property - if you don't leave by that date then the lender will apply for an eviction warrant and you would receive this from the court giving a date that the bailiffs will arrive to evict you.

 

So in essence you would probably have 28 days + perhaps another 2 - 3 weeks maximum. When you receive the eviction warrant you can go to your local housing office and ask if they can rehouse you as you have 2 children.

 

(I've just realised I have replied on the other thread you posted on - so will keep to this one now)

[debtdoubter09]

Hi Ell-enn

 

Thanks for your replies to both posts

 

I have now received a date for a court hearing in 4 weeks time and I would really value some additional advice please from anyone that would like to help.

 

There really is very little prospect of me being able to offer a satisfactory plan to repay my arrears and meet my monthly contractual obligation for at least another 3 months as business has taken a dive since I took time out a few months ago to look after my father when he was ill, it seems likely that the judge will therefore grant a possession order to NRAM.

 

What I wonder;

 

1. Is there any way that I can delay the repossession/eviction until after the Christmas period because It will be awful to disrupt my kids over Christmas and I want to stay until January if there is any way to do that?

 

2. I have had the house valued by three agents and am putting it on to the market today, can I use this as a bargaining tool in court and request that because a sale is the best prospect for repaying the debt quickly the court allow us to stay until we sell, If this is possible how likely is it that the court will go with it?

 

3. I have other debts that I am unable to repay and I wonder if I was to declare myself bankrupt before the possession hearing will that delay the hearing and enable us to stay in the house until the official receiver deals with the bankruptcy? If it will then does anyone know for how long.... will it be long enough to get us through to January?

 

4. I may be able to arrange for alternative accommodation from Mid January as a friend is prepared to allow me to use their property which has a tenant who is leaving in early January. If I make the court aware of this what is the prospect of them and the lender agreeing to let us stay in the property until then?

 

Thanks to you all for your anticipated advice and help with this matter and I hope it is clear enough and not too complex!

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, I am having trouble with the formatting in posts from my work PC today, so I will reply to your questions in detail when I get home this evening.

[debtdoubter09]

Hi Ell-enn,

 

Thank you for your swift reply, I look forward to hearing from you in detail this evening..

Have a good day!

[debtdoubter09]

Hi Ell-enn,

 

I wonder if you will be abke to reply in more details to my questions today? I'm treading water at the moment and looking for some good solid experience and information to enable me to decide what i will do.

 

Thanks again.

 

Hi there, I am having trouble with the formatting in posts from my work PC today, so I will reply to your questions in detail when I get home this evening.

[Ell-enn]

HI, sorry for delay - I'm still having trouble with formatting

 

1. Is there any way that I can delay the repossession/eviction until after the Christmas period because It will be awful to disrupt my kids over Christmas and I want to stay until January if there is any way to do that?There is some case law we can use in your defence whereby we can ask the court to allow you to pay reduced payments for a short period of time while the property is being sold. You will need proof from the estate agency (usually your contract with them), a list of viewings and any adverts placed in newspapers on internet.

2. I have had the house valued by three agents and am putting it on to the market today, can I use this as a bargaining tool in court and request that because a sale is the best prospect for repaying the debt quickly the court allow us to stay until we sell, If this is possible how likely is it that the court will go with it? See answer above.

3. I have other debts that I am unable to repay and I wonder if I was to declare myself bankrupt before the possession hearing will that delay the hearing and enable us to stay in the house until the official receiver deals with the bankruptcy? If it will then does anyone know for how long.... will it be long enough to get us through to January?That would not delay the claim for possession or the hearing.

4. I may be able to arrange for alternative accommodation from Mid January as a friend is prepared to allow me to use their property which has a tenant who is leaving in early January. If I make the court aware of this what is the prospect of them and the lender agreeing to let us stay in the property until then?.No need to tell them that just yet, if you were unlucky enough for the court to order a 28 day possession order, you could wait until the 28 days are up and the lender applied for an eviction order – that’s when you would defend again and state you have somewhere to go mid January and ask for an extension. ..Given you have young children you would be more than likely successful. Plus the fact you may have a sale proceeding on the house.

[debtdoubter09]

Hi Ell-enn

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my questions, you are a great support.

 

The answers are very clear and the formatting is fine, I will probably have another question or two once I have had time to take this all in.

 

Thanks again!