House already repossesed!

[naiijaman]

I got the terrible news on Tuesday that my brothers house has been repossesed.

It is a long story but i will try to keep it short.

He had moved out of london due to work and rented out the property. He then had problems with his tenant and fell into arrears which he came to and agreement with the Lender (GE Money) to pay back.

Months later he had some money issues and defaulted again. During this period he had already put the property on the market and an apparent cash buyer was interested.

His hope was that he would get to sell the property and pay all the arrears and use the balance to buy another in the area he now lives.

unfortunately due to bad advice from the lawyer, who kept saying an exchange was imminent and that he should not worry he did not respond to the letter from the Lender and the house was repossesed on Tuesday.

Is there any possible way he can get his house back?

The warrant for the repossession was not sent to him at his current address. Can he use this as a reason for the court to set aside the order?

Someone Please please help...

Thanks

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi there, and welcome to CAG!

 

One of the experts will be along to advise you shortly I'm sure, so hold on.

 

I'll keep an eye on your thread to make sure you get help.

 

DD

[ukaviator]

He might be able to apply to the court to have the possession order cancelled or suspended. This is only possible if it should not have been granted in the first place. The house was going through a sale at the time, he needed more time to complete. If the Court papers were not received and went to the wrong address then he could apply to get a hearing. Fill in an N244 and pay the fee. If he needs help either ring the court and ask for advice. There is normally a duty solicitor on hand during the day at court to assist if required.

[Lea_HTH]

He can't apply to have it suspended - it's been executed. It's over unless he has valid grounds for applying to have the order set aside - for which he will NEED a solicitor.

[ukaviator]

The court papers were not received. There are grounds to set aside there. The solicitor who gave bad advice should apply on his behalf for free. I would chase the solicitor to get things moving.

Edited December 20, 2013 by ukaviator

[Lea_HTH]

The alleged 'bad advice' was to do with the sale of the property - that person did not say 'don't bother responding to any letters from your lender'...so whether there was actually any bad advice is debatable. The person dealing with the property sale may not have been a solicitor in any case, so whether they could apply 'for free' is also debatable (not that they ever would since it's a complicated area of law to argue and probably not the sort of thing a conveyancer comes across very often).

 

Allegedly not getting the bailiff's note is insufficient - other paperwork arrived well and fine.

 

As I said, the challenge has to be made on specific areas of law so he'll need a solicitor.

[queensclose]

you can put an appeal for the keys back. i think it costs about £130 and because the house is already taken. you wont get a hearing for at least a mont. but i can not really see it been a success as the lender and courts havent done anything wrong . your best bet is to speak to the lender and try to continue to get the original buyer to buy the house

[sequenci]

you can put an appeal for the keys back.

 

On what grounds?

 

Lea is absolutely right with the information she has provided here.

[queensclose]

On what grounds?

 

Lea is absolutely right with the information she has provided here.

 

quote from above you may have missed it. but i can not really see it been a success as the lender and courts havent done anything wrong

[sequenci]

Nor me. Which is why I'm not sure an appeal would work. What I haven't been able to ascertain from the thread, though, is whether or not the paperwork would have been sent to the last known address as far as the lender is concerned? Even if they were not it may still be hugely difficult to overturn.

[ukaviator]

The lender would have to follow the "Pre-Action Protocol for Possession Claims based on Mortgage or Home Purchase Plan Arrears in Respect of Residential Property". The protocol describes the behaviour the court will normally expect of the parties prior to the start of a possession claim. The area I would look at here would be the communication issues between the lender and the borrower, also the house was up for saleand a cash buyer was there so no chain.So efforts were made to pay back the arrears and get back any equity left in the house. I would look at section 6.2 and 6.3 of the Pre-Action Protocol for Possession Claims with the Ministry of Justice where it states. I think its a combination of communication with the lender and the lender being too hasty, as we often see, in getting repossession hearings started.

 

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/prot_mha

[Lea_HTH]

The pre-action protocol only applies to the period of time PRE ACTION, as it states. The OP's relative had proceedings issued already, obviously had a suspended order and breached that, hence the warrant of execution being issued, and the notice of eviction, followed by the eviction itself.

 

OP hasn't come back for further advice anyway - so perhaps they went to see a solicitor, as suggested a week ago.