House repossessed with out court order and returned-what are my rights ?

[AMurthy]

Hi, I have a secured loan with Citifinancials and have been in arrears for sometime due to not being able to secure work over an extended period. I had a suspended possession order for £8080.00/- made against the property which was paid off in full and have written confirmation from the lender's Solictors(Wallers Solicitors) that the possession order was no longer enforceable as the amount mentioned has been paid in full. Since then had secured work and was able to keep up the payments till being laid off again and accruing arrears.

 

I had to venture out of Newcastel for work and was away during the week and home at weekends. In june last year, when I was away from my property, Wallers Solictors entered the property and chanegd the locks and disposed off my possession. Due to work commitments I wasn't able to get back home for 2 weeks, and when I did get bakc found that I oculdn't getinto the property.

 

I called Wallers Solictors and was informed that they had repossessed the property based on the fact that the property was abandoned. They further insisted they had contacted me via telephone and letter(office/temp address when away from property provided) explaining that the property was being repossessed..however I did not receive any such letters or calls. Further to the above call, I called my primary lender Halifax and found that they were unaware of the repossession. I called \wallers back and asked them for COurt Order and all other legal documents authorising them to entr my property and repossess it but they didn't provide me with any info.

 

However couple of days later they called me and said they would be giving my property back as it was mistake. When the property was returned, it was without any of my possessions (as they said it had been disposed off) and also the property had sustained damages. I sent them a compensation list for the loss of possession, loss of pay due to taking time away from work to fix issues with the property, charges of utility reconnection and also for stress and grief caused by their actions. After nearly 3 months of chasing them(Wallers Solictors) I was told they would pay only for loss of possessions and nothing else. Due to the immediate need of finances , i took their offer.

 

In the past year i have tried to get them to pay up for the following :

 

1. Mortgage due during the period when the property was in tehir possession

 

2. Secured LOan installments during the smae period. Recently I received a default letter stating that i was in arrears with the amounts for the period when the property was not in my possession and charges levied. They are threathening to court action to repossess my property. My question(S) : 1. Am I right in claiming for the above mentioned ?

 

2. Can I now take it back to court and claim for loss of pay and stress ?

 

3. What are my options ?

Edited August 20, 2013 by citizenB
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[Sparks_]

They gave you back your house as what they did was a mistake? They broke into your home...breaking and entering(burglary?), they took your goods theft? Personally I would report them to the police for this!

[AMurthy]

Can I still report them after a year ?

[Sparks_]

I don't know, but I am sure the experts will be along soon who can answer that

[Surfer01]

Your immediate concern is the missing mortgage payments and I think you need to focus on this aspect. If they then admit liability for the mortgage payments then all the rest is plain sailing and this is the reason why they are being hard nosed about the mortgage payments. How would you be able to pay these payments if you had to use the money to rent else where? I am no expert in this field but it seems logical that payments were missed as you were forced to make other arrangements which cost you money.

[AMurthy]

Thanks Surfer01. Its the mortgage payments that are worrying me and have no idea how to proceed. I see court action as the only way forward even then don't know how I can go about building a case. Any pointers to a starting point would be greatly appreciated.

[Lea_HTH]

What a horrendous set of circumstances. What they did was perform an illegal eviction and you should have held out for full compensation and damages for such, which would have included payments for the period of time you were not able to have access to your home (even if you were away, it should still have been available for you), as well as any additional payments you made to live elsewhere. It is incredibly unfortunate that you felt desperate enough to accept their puny offering of payment for your belongings, you were definitely due far more than that!

 

If they want to take you to court, I would suggest you tell them to go right ahead and get on with it, and then you can make a counterclaim alongside your defence, detailing precisely what happened. Clearly money is tight, but I would suggest you try to get enough money together to see a solicitor with all the details as they will then be best placed to calculate your losses and damages.

 

If you really cannot afford a solicitor, I strongly suggest that you see your local CAB, or your local MP, or law centre, any of which can refer you to the Pro Bono Unit for the expert assistance of a barrister (free of charge to you if you meet their criteria). You need a lawyer.

[AMurthy]

Thanks you very much Lea_HTH. Your advice is very encouraging. I will definitely consult a lawyer, now that I know I have something to fight for.Cheers,Ajit

[gerson]

Hi AMuthy,

 

I am not an expert but could you be able to use your home insurance 'legal cover' ?

 

Might be an option

 

G