Santander/Ascent claim for possession over mortgage arrears

[sa-ra]

Hi everybody,

 

I saw this site and some of the users mentioned on another website while I was looking for advice and I'm hoping someone might be able to help me.

 

I received a letter on Friday to say that Eversheds solicitors were applying to the court for an eviction date. Very upsetting. I live with my 1yr old son and losing our home is a very frightening feeling.

 

I'm currently in arrears of £1779.61 (interest is being added to this) with my Santander Mortgage and have been advised that Eversheds are now dealing with it. I didn't realise but in January of 2013 a suspended order for possession was granted, and I found out today that lasts for 6 years. Over the last six months or so I have missed 3 payments. One was after an arrangement was put in place, but because it took 2 months for them to agree to it, I only had enough in my account for the regular monthly payment so the arrangement was broken and therefore cancelled.

 

I have spoken to Eversheds twice today and been frustrated and upset after each call. Over the weekend I managed to get £450 together and was hoping to pay that towards the arrears, set up an arrangement which would cancel or postpone the eviction. I would be able to clear the rest of the arrears by the end of February. It would mean a lot of sacrifices but it is doable.

 

Eversheds advised that unless I pay the full arrears off the eviction cannot be stopped, and I have to wait to receive the date from the court. They can't tell me how long that will be, nor how long the court will give me before I have to leave.

 

Does anybody know the usual time frames for either of these? I don't know anybody that has been in this position and there isn't really anybody I can talk to about it.

 

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated while I try and think of ways to get the rest of the money.

 

Thanks in advance

[sa-ra]

Was just wondering....is it worth trying to speak to someone at Santander to arrange something? When I called them earlier they put me through to Eversheds but maybe there is a department I could ask for specifically or someone in a branch? I may be clutching at straws here but figured anything is worth a try!

[caro]

Hi and welcome to cag. If you are in a position to pay normal payments and something off the arrears, no judge will evict you.

 

Have a read of ell-enn's repossession guide in the stickies at the top of the forum, complete the budget sheet you'll find there, then come back with any further questions.

 

Don't worry about evershed's saying you have to pay it all to stop the eviction. It's up to a judge not them!!

[sa-ra]

That's reassuring, thanks for your reply Caro. I will take a look at the guide and fill it in, sorry didn't check it before.

 

Eversheds told me to fill out their budget form but then later didn't seem to think it was worth it. I actually asked if they are more interested in repossessing than me clearing the arrears.

 

I called Santander and they won't speak to me about it, but did advise that Eversheds should make an arrangement with me

[caro]

No need to apologise. When you do the budget sheet make sure that you are realistic about what is affordable. It is important that your payment, and anything you can offer above it is paid regularly and on time or Santander can go back to court and try again.

 

I see that you haven't had anything from court yet, so I'd say that at the moment you need to deal with evershed's. I don't think a judge will be happy with them if you make a reasonable offer and they still proceed to court.. Don't let them bully you into offering more than you can afford.

[sa-ra]

Hi Caro,

 

I've filled out the budget form, and as long as it's agreed I can't see any problem with me being able to keep up with the payments. I've made sure I have enough left over to cover any unforeseen emergencies, which is how I got into this situation. Do I need to send this to Evershed now? Do I need to write a letter to go with it? Sorry for all the questions, but I must say speaking to you has made me feel a bit better. The situation doesn't feel so hopeless anymore.

 

Despite Eversheds letter saying "it's still not too late to avoid repossession...we may (and the lady on the phone emphasised the may) be able to seek agreement to pay the arrears over a period of time" they are unwilling to put an agreement in place due to the fact that I didn't have one set up with them before! Does that sound right to you?

[Ell-enn]

Hi, you could send it to Eversheds with a covering letter (if you need help with the letter just say so and I can draft one for you). If you send it by special delivery they might get it before you receive and eviction notice from the court, but we can help you apply for a hearing to get the eviction stopped if that happens.

 

Would you be able to post up the budget sheet so we can check you have all the elements in it that should be there ?

[caro]

Hi Caro,

 

I've filled out the budget form, and as long as it's agreed I can't see any problem with me being able to keep up with the payments. I've made sure I have enough left over to cover any unforeseen emergencies, which is how I got into this situation. Do I need to send this to Evershed now? Do I need to write a letter to go with it? Sorry for all the questions, but I must say speaking to you has made me feel a bit better. The situation doesn't feel so hopeless anymore.

 

Despite Eversheds letter saying "it's still not too late to avoid repossession...we may (and the lady on the phone emphasised the may) be able to seek agreement to pay the arrears over a period of time" they are unwilling to put an agreement in place due to the fact that I didn't have one set up with them before! Does that sound right to you?

 

Of course they can set up an agreement. What's happened in the past has gone and it's what happens going forward that counts.

 

If you follow ell-enn's advice you won't go far wrong.

 

A bit of a puzzle how they got the suspended possession order without your knowledge.

[sa-ra]

Hi Ell-een, thanks for replying to my problem and sorry for the delay in replying.

 

I've attached my budget form, as you can see I don't live a lavish lifestyle, all I do is study and look after my son but unfortunately I had a bad couple of months. I think not being in contact with Santander was my biggest problem...I really regret it now.

 

If you could help me with a letter that would be much appreciated. I think it's quite unreasonable that they aren't willing to let me at least try and rectify the situation in a reasonable time-frame. Do you know how much notice I'm likely to get once the notice for eviction comes?

 

Caro, I think I probably messed up my words before. What I meant was I knew I had a summons to go to court regarding late payment on my mortgage in Jan 2013 but the fact that I made an arrangement with Eversheds and cleared it off in the time I promised I thought it had all gone away. I didn't realise they had been given a possession order that had been suspended for such a long period. I would've probably let my toilet continue to flood the house and left the boiler broken all winter had I known I would be on the verge of losing my home!

[SabreSheep]

You may want to consider doing a reclaim on all penalty charges applied to the mortgage account as well. ESP of these led to further arrears etc

[caro]

Hi Ell-een, thanks for replying to my problem and sorry for the delay in replying.

 

I've attached my budget form, as you can see I don't live a lavish lifestyle, all I do is study and look after my son but unfortunately I had a bad couple of months. I think not being in contact with Santander was my biggest problem...I really regret it now.

 

If you could help me with a letter that would be much appreciated. I think it's quite unreasonable that they aren't willing to let me at least try and rectify the situation in a reasonable time-frame. Do you know how much notice I'm likely to get once the notice for eviction comes?

 

Caro, I think I probably messed up my words before. What I meant was I knew I had a summons to go to court regarding late payment on my mortgage in Jan 2013 but the fact that I made an arrangement with Eversheds and cleared it off in the time I promised I thought it had all gone away. I didn't realise they had been given a possession order that had been suspended for such a long period. I would've probably let my toilet continue to flood the house and left the boiler broken all winter had I known I would be on the verge of losing my home!

 

Oh I see. As you say, it's always best to let them know if you have a problem, but it's easy to be wise after the event. We can all do that!!

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, looking at your budget sheet I think you should put some costs in for TV licence, household repairs, dentist etc etc. As you are showing you have over £120 left over each month the court might want you to pay more towards the arrears. do you have a car or any credit cards?

 

 

Affixed is the letter - you will need to fill in the address info at the top - also make sure you put your mortgage account number on the budget sheet and staple it securely to the letter. You will need to send by special delivery (costs around £5 but guarantees it gets there the next day and they have to sign for it).

[sa-ra]

Thanks again guys, haven't been able to get on here today until now.

 

Ell-een thanks so much for the letter. Should I send a copy to Santander also or should I just deal with Eversheds as the "lender". Also - probably should've mentioned this before sorry! - my dad agreed to help me clear the arrears which is where I had the £450 from. I had already told them that he was going to pay it off by the end of February as I wasn't aware that I would have the opportunity to spread the cost. Is it worth me adding that to the letter or should I just stick to the monthly overpayment option?

 

Re: the budget form I will add a few extra payments tonight, but to answer your question no, I don't have a car or any credit cards.

 

I will send the letter out tomorrow so they should have it by Thursday.

 

Thanks for taking the time to help me

[sa-ra]

Good morning Ell-een

 

Before I had a chance to post the letter this morning the eviction notice came. It is set for February 3rd.

 

From other posts on here I'm aware that I need to fill in a N44 form now is that correct? I'm hoping I can do something to stop this. Can you please advise. Do I still send the letter to Eversheds to try and come to some sort of payment agreement?

 

I appreciate that you're probably at work now, but hope to hear from you soon.

[Ell-enn]

Hi, yes - still send the letter to eversheds - make sure you keep a copy of the letter and budget sheet as we will need to attach them to the N244.

 

I'm a bit tied up today at work, but should be able to give you some time in the morning to go through what you need to do to complete the N244, hopefully we can get it finished and ready to take to the court.

 

Are you able to be on line in the morning ?

[sa-ra]

Hi Ell-een,

 

I'm actually on the phone to Eversheds now.

 

I filled out the form with the help of your guide and followed some advice that you gave to someone else.

 

I called and asked them to put it in writing that on Monday they refused my offer of £450 upfront payment and then any outstanding arrears by the end of February. I mentioned that I was going to be applying to the court to cancel the eviction and he said he needed to put me on hold. When he came back and said they were wiling to go through a budget plan with me and put my offer forward to Santander. What a joke! Why could this not be done on Monday when I asked.

 

We've just finished the plan and I've given my offer so he's got me on hold (trying to get that letter for me I believe) and I should know from Santander if they accept by the end of the day.

 

Fingers crossed!!! Failing that I will be around in the morning for your help. I was going to follow everything in the guide. Would it be better for you if I wrote it all up and then sent it for you to check over? I already feel like I'm taking up enough of your time.

 

Thanks

[Ell-enn]

Hi let's wait till tomorrow and see what the answer is from Santander. When you went through the budget plan, did you give them the figures from the budget sheet you already filled in ?

[sa-ra]

They are refusing to send me a letter, and now it will take a day or two for Santander to let me know their decision. Great!

[sa-ra]

Yes, I used the same figures so it showed that there was a surplus so hopefully the upfront payment is enough for them to agree to my offer.

[Ell-enn]

How much was the surplus? did you put some figures in other categories as I advised you in a previous post?

 

There's no immediate rush to get the N244 to court the week before the eviction date would still be fine - give it till Monday and see what happens.

 

There's no way you will be evicted when you have a small child, can afford the payments and some towards the arrears

[sa-ra]

I really hope so. I can't lose our home.

 

Yes I added some other categories so the surplus was £170, and I offered to pay £130 a month towards clearing the arrears.

 

No rush on the N244? Ok I can breathe a little then. I figured I would have to wait a while for the hearing date so I was panicking to get it done asap.

[Ell-enn]

Do you have the £450 to make payment straight away? if so, that will help your case - they may ask for that payment before agreeing to cancel the eviction, so you need to be ready to pay.

[sa-ra]

Yes and I've wanted to give it them since Monday . By Friday I may have £600 so as long as they agree I should be on the right track to sorting this horrible situation out

[Ell-enn]

How much do they say the arrears are? have they included any late payment fees etc.

[sa-ra]

It's currently at £1780 with interest being added. I remember reading something about £40 extra a month but I'm not sure if that is the interest amount or late payment fee. Why do you ask? Is there something I can do about stopping that?