full and final settlement - advice needed

[steveweb]

hi. to cut a long story short, I have received an offer on my house and am looking to purchase my nan's house from the beneficiaries of her estate for a lesser value than the market value would be so I am getting a really good deal.

my current mortgage company are willing to port my mortgage of £63K to this house on the proviso that all my debts are cleared. they are not bothered about full settlement, partial settlement, etc, they just want proof that they are all clear.

I have debts of approx. £18K which is being dealt with on a dmp by step change.

my aunt has offered to help out with a sum of £12K.

I just have a couple of questions about this and hope someone can give me some advice.

some of the debts do not show on my credit files but I don't really have time to send sar, cca, etc to them as the house sale and purchase could go through within 8 weeks. should I request full and final settlements only on the ones that show on my credit files or just contact them all to get settlement figures. some are with original creditors and some with dca's.

also would I get full and final settlement figures on £18K of debt with £12K to bargain with.

all this has happened so fast and I have not done this before, but it is a good chance for me to become debt free and move to a bigger and better house so I really need to clear these debts as that is what could potentially hold things up or worse, everything could fall through. any help would be appreciated.

[silverfox1961]

Hi

Sorry you were missed. Hopefully more help will come along.

 

When doing a F&F you have to ensure things are done right. In any offer you make, you need to ensure that the creditor agrees that it is a F&F and that they will not pass any remaining amount on to any other party. Ideally, you also want the debt marked on your credit file as 'settled' and not 'partially settled' although getting them to agree to this is very hard.

 

Always start with a stupid offer. If the debt is with a DCA, start at around 10% with a higher amount in place that you won't go over. If you can get a 50% reduction that may help. Debts with the OC may be harder to get agreement. A case of suck it and see!

 

If you were to CCA any creditor and they could not provide the documents (pre 2007) then they could not enforce the debts however the debts still exist and will stay thay way until paid or Statute Barred

 

Hopefully this could be a quick procedure but it is well known that some companies will take ages.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

The executors of the estate are bound to seek the best possible price for the property whoever is making and offer

[steveweb]

thank you for the replies. I should have said that the price of the property I am purchasing is lower than the market value would be and has been accepted (mainly to keep it in the family as it has been for a number of years). everything else is sorted really other than my outstanding debts, which have to be cleared as a stipulation of porting my mortgage.

[steveweb]

as an addition to this, I have read elsewhere on the forum that if a debt is not showing on my credit file then it would be a waste of money to offer full and final settlement to the creditor who is chasing the debt. is this correct. would any debts on my credit file not show up on a credit search as surely the debt still exists as I am paying towards it through my dmp. thank you

[silverfox1961]

With a debt that doesn't sho, as you say, it still exists and will continue to be owing until paid. For the purposes of the mortgage, I assume your bank wants the debts that are showing to be cleared. If that is the case, concentrate on them first. Once that is done and you are settles you can then sort the others out.

 

Saying it is pointless offering a F&F on the debts that don't show is not quite correct in that once they are cleared, no more stress.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

thank you for the replies. I should have said that the price of the property I am purchasing is lower than the market value would be and has been accepted (mainly to keep it in the family as it has been for a number of years). everything else is sorted really other than my outstanding debts, which have to be cleared as a stipulation of porting my mortgage.

Well done I 've seen these family deal in my own very expanded family go pear shaped at the last minute.

[steveweb]

thanks again for the replies. much appreciated. I hope this one doesn't go pear shaped, plus it's my dad and his sister who are selling and want me to buy it so I'm hoping it goes smoothly.

[steveweb]

who are the main credit reference agencies I would get my files from and how much is it to obtain your credit report. I don't want to subscribe to them or anything though. I know of Experian and Equifax, are there any more. thank you

[silverfox1961]

Callcredit is the third agency but there is also Noddle which is free. The information on Noddle can be a bit slow on the update but generally the information is there.