Help with Northern Rock mortgage, first Plus secured loan, red castle temp agreement ending

[wildeatheart]

Hello all,

I have a mortgage with Northern Rock, there is also a secured loan on the property with First Plus and Red castle have had a temporary agreement in place for last 6 months. July payment is my final payment.

I do not think that i can return to the full contractual arrangement as I am on a third of the wages that i used to be.

 

Can anyone please advise as to the steps that i should take in order to come out of this mess a little less battered than i would be if I just allowed them to do what they want.

 

Is it worth contacting council re - mortgage rescue scheme? applying for council housing?

I have contacted Northern Rock to see about changing mortgage to interest only, but they are taking forever to get back to me.

 

All help would be most appreciated.

 

Many thanks in advance.

[Lea_HTH]

Mortgage Rescue have quite stringent criteria, but if you meet their requirements then it could be very useful to you. Contact the local authority and obtain an application pack - make the application as quickly as you can. The local authority also have a mortgage protection fund, which they can use to assist you, rather than buying your property under the MRS. Again, there are stringent criteria, so the sooner you apply, the sooner they can assess whether you qualify.

 

With regards to your mortgages, both companies should be exercising what is known as forbearance, and following the pre-action protocol for mortgages prior to proceeding to court action. This means that they should look at all elements that can assist you - which it appears they have done by granting a lower payment for six months. However, they should also be looking at allowing you to have a period of interest only if you have a capital repayment mortgage. Write to them requesting that they exercise some forbearance in these recessionary times and that they place you on interest only for a period of time to allow you further time to find another job or increase your hours. Send this letter to them by recorded delivery and include a line informing them that under the pre-action protocol they have 10 days in which to respond to your proposal. If your proposal (i.e. the change to interest only) will allow you to pay both mortgages, then they really ought to accept it. However only they will be able to give you the definitive answer on that score, so the sooner you write to them, the sooner you'll have your answer...notwithstanding that you have already written, I expect you did not include the pre-action requirement of a response in 10 days, which may well encourage them to reply.

 

You're doing well to have got them to agree to the six month concession, so don't be scared about asking them to allow you a little more time. Interest only is a really good option for them to consider so long as you have sufficient equity in your mortgage that means that their initial loan to you is not at risk.