repossession date recieved for 21 june 2013 ** ORDER SUSPENDED **

[johnjonjon40]

was at home for lunch today and a bailiff turned up with a repossession order,it would appear my wife had hidden the fact she was struggling from me. We have a mortgage with capstone,which we had an eviction date with last year,but came to an agreement with them and have kept up with the agreement. But at the same time came to an agreement with southern pacific as we had arrears with them. Southern pacific did have an eviction date in 2007 but we came to an agreement with them, but we fell behind again trying to catch up with the mortgage,which put us in a vicious circle between the loan and mortgage.

 

 

In December my wife offered the loan company £100 a week as the loan is £330 a month,they accepted this, and I sorted out the mortgage, and until today I thought everything was ok.

 

 

We are both self-employed taxi drivers so income can become unpredictable and the beginning of the year was awful but I managed to get a school contract but had to wait 2 months for the first payment,(received in March), and my wife worked part time as we still had our son at school. He has now left school,(sitting exams),and my wife has now taken on a school but she has to wait two months for her first payment,(August).

 

 

The loan was over ten years and is due to end April 2014,we have arrears of £3500 ,and 11 payments of £330 totaling £3630.Today we offered them £120 per week until August then £700 per month until April,(but we would clear the arrears before then now my wife is full time), they have rejected our offer as my wife failed to keep up with her original offer,and will only stop the eviction if we pay the full amount of £3500 which we do not have.

 

 

We were hoping to try and sell the house as well and had it valued recently with the hope to put it onto the market by the end of June, the valuation was £185000 and we owe the mortgage company £96000. can anyone help please don't want to lose our house with less than a year of the loan left to go as we have struggled for so long.

 

 

Also on our most recent loan statement it says our settlement figure is £11000 which I don't understand but as this is recent I have not gone over previous statements.

Edited June 17, 2013 by citizenB
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[Ell-enn]

Hi there, you need to write to them explaining your situation and making your offer of payment. If they do issue an eviction warrant you can defend by entering an N244 at court for a hearing in front of a judge to get the eviction stopped. You can then show the judge that you wrote to the claimant trying to come to an arrangement for paying off the arrears.

 

If you need help with the letter please let me know. The letter needs to be sent by either special or recorded delivery and make sure you have the correct department and address to send it to.

[johnjonjon40]

Thank you for replying , I will type a letter tomorrow evening and post it to see what you think. We did get a N244 form with the eviction order.

[Ell-enn]

Have a look at my guide here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?325527-CAG-guide-Are-you-facing-eviction-or-repossession - there is an example of a letter on page 10 which you can adapt to suit. Also in the guide you will see examples of how to fill in the N244 together with sample statement for Q.10 of the form and you can download the budget sheet which you should accompany the N244.

[johnjonjon40]

Have downloaded the attachments and will write a letter tomorrow daytime and post it so you can have a look at it if you don't mind, am busy working.

Should I also start paying the £120 I am going to offer?

[Ell-enn]

Hi yes, it's always best to start paying before you go to court so you can show the judge you are sticking to your offer of repayment.

[johnjonjon40]

Date:08 June 13

Southern Pacific

Dear Sirs,

RE: MORTGAGE ACCOUNT NO:

We write with reference to the above numbered account to ask for your assistance in resolving

the current arrears situation which has regrettably resulted in your issuing a claim for possession.

The arrears arose due to experiencing financial difficulties due to a downturn in work and my wife’s failure to inform me when she began to struggle.

However in January I secured a regular council school contract (that pays £54 per day), but had to wait two months for my first payment, and also my wife has started working fulltime hours now our youngest son has finished school,(he is now sitting his exams).She has also started a regular school contract,(which began 03/06/13 and will pay £49 daily),but will have to wait until August for her first payment. I will be taking control of the household finances and am confident that we can pay £120 per week until August when we start receiving my wife’s payments and will be in a position to make payments of £700 per month.

We are sure you are aware of the government guidelines and recommendations by the Civil

Justice Council regarding Mortgage Arrears, whereby lenders are required to give positive

assistance to customers who are asking for help and only to consider repossession as a last resort.

7.1 The court takes the view that starting a possession claim is usually a last resort and that such a

claim should not normally be started when a settlement is still actively being explored.

You will also be aware that in any claim for possession, lenders will be required to prove that they

have considered all possible alternatives to possession.

We trust you will be able to respond positively to our request for help and look forward to receiving

your written acceptance of the above proposal. How you respond to our request will, of course,

be reported to the court in defence of the eviction notice.

Yours faithfully,

XXX & XXX

[johnjonjon40]

Should I also state that we looking to put the house on the market ?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Should I also state that we looking to put the house on the market ?

You could do so, but if there is little or no equity it may precipitate action from the lender, a difficult decision.

 

I'm assuming that the 'possession' hearing is on the 21st? So you can put your proposal to the judge, in general judges are reluctant to make orders if the debtor has provable

intentions to meet any arrears together the monthly instalments.

[johnjonjon40]

Claim No: XXX

In the XXXX Court

Between

XXXX (LENDER) (Claimant)

And

Mr XX XXX and Mrs XX XXX (both names if

joint mortgage)

(Defendant)

STATEMENT

we are the defendants in this case and respectfully request the court to consider the

following information when hearing our application:

 The arrears arose as a result of a downturn in work,(me and my wife are self-employed taxi drivers),and the company who we sub-contract to,(***** Taxis),have failed to secure any new school transport contracts in the last twelve months, and Mr.x has always had a school contract to ensure a regular income. Mrs.x also failed to communicate to Mr.x the true severity of the arrears on the account.

 Despite keeping the Claimant advised of the situation and making an offer to repay the

arrears, they have refused to negotiate and demanded the full arrears to be paid in order

to stop eviction.

 However our situation has improved as Mr.x secured a school contract in January 2013 with a different company, (*** Taxis), but payment is always 2 months in arrears. Mrs.x has also returned to full-time hours now our youngest son has left school,(sitting exams at present),and she has also secured a regular school transport contract with **** Taxis which began permanently 03 June but will not receive her first payment until August. We would also like the court to know that in April we had a local estate agent,(**** estate agents), value our house. They value it at £185000, (our mortgage balance is £96000), and we have been making the house presentable to put it on the market.

As Mr.x has a regular school contract and Mrs.x has now gone to full-time hours and also has a regular transport school contract we are confident that we can maintain weekly payments of £120 until August ,(when we will receive Mrs.x first payment for her school contract), when we be a position to pay monthly payments of£700

Therefore I respectfully ask the court to take into account the case of Cheltenham and

Gloucester v Norgan when considering my offer of payment and also s.36 of the

Administration of Justice Act 1970.

 There is 1 dependent child resident in the property permanently and a daughter to who returns home during holidays as she is studying at Worcester University.

we assure the court that we are committed to clearing the arrears and respectfully

ask that eviction is suspended in order to avoid the expensive and unnecessary costs which

would undoubtedly arise following repossession in the current property climate.

we believe the above to be true and factual.

Signed....................................................................................... Date............................................

Signed....................................................................................... Date............................................

[johnjonjon40]

This is my response to question 10 on the N244 form, the reasons we want to sell the house is to clear our debts and use what is left to purchase a property outright in spain,(I have family there), should I mention this. and should I mention the fact that there is only 11 months of the loan left, which was over ten years?

[johnjonjon40]

p.s the move to spain is for a lifestyle change and spend time with my parents in their twilight years, if we lose the house we won't be able to do it

[johnjonjon40]

no the eviction date is the 21st and there is a approx £89000 equity

[Ell-enn]

I don't think there is any need to mention your intention to move to Spain, after all it's not guaranteed.

 

You might consider amending the final paragraph as follows:

 

we assure the court that we are committed to clearing the arrears and respectfully

ask that eviction is suspended in order to avoid the expensive and unnecessary costs which

would undoubtedly arise following repossession in the current property climate and also to protect our equity which could be eroded if the claimant was allowed to sell in possession.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

So when was the initial hearing? Was that N244 submitted at the hearing?

 

Or are you now seeking to get the possession order suspended?

[johnjonjon40]

2007 was original order,and two years ago they got a eviction order but we came to an agreement, we are going to court to stop us being evicted at 1pm 21 june.

[johnjonjon40]

Have been going through paperwork for the loan and did not realise they had been adding £125 in charges and interest, so we have arrears of £3500 and £2860 left in payments totaling £6360, but letter from southern pacific says the final balance is £11722, so there is £5362 in charges. The agreement term ends on the 1st March 2014, when making my offer to the court do I need to consider the charges or do I just concentrate on the arrears and the normal monthly payments. I can offer £200 per week until August and a maximum of £1000 per month until the debt is cleared, but that would still leave me £3122 short by the end of February unless we manage to sell the house. Is there any positives here am really scared and feel like I'm on the verge of having panic attacks.

[johnjonjon40]

have raised my offer to ensure the account is clear by the end of term, but they still refused, have set hearing for 10am 17/06/2013

[Ell-enn]

Do you have their refusal in writing ?

[johnjonjon40]

no only sent first offer yesterday and second offer today, who could help me with what I should say to the magistrate

[Ell-enn]

Hi there - firstly it won't be a magistrate you see, fortunately these days it's not a criminal offence to have arrears on your mortgage

 

The hearing will take place around a table in a room with just the judge, youself and the representative for the other side - no dock, no wigs or anything you see on telly.

 

Did you take a copy of the N244 and statement before you handed it into court? you should have a copy to refer to in the hearing.

[johnjonjon40]

The court clerk done copies for me, have included both offers,outgoing forms for last year and forecasted for this year,copy of email confirming school contracts, letter confirming estate agent valued house(but waiting for email confirming value),and copy of mortgage statement stating balance

[Ell-enn]

Have you made any payments in line with your offer? it will help your case if you can take proof of payment along to the hearing.

[johnjonjon40]

Yes made a payment on Monday and will make another payment Monday before we go into court

[Ell-enn]

That's good, can you get proof of the payments? print off transaction from internet banking ?