Thanks blackknight.

Hi Blackknight we had a car from new but couldn't repair it and have an old Rover 25 which has everything wrong with it. My credit history is probably slighter better than my partner's we have been paying our mortgage regularly but only a proportion of the second mortgage to Picture do you think I can get a loan for a car for approx £3,500 and would I go through the garage or apply on line do you know? Thanks

Hiya downmum Sorry I've not been on to the site for a while; I've been a bit busy at work. Being at Court was a right ordeal, it was so frightening knowing someone else was at that moment in charge of your destiny. Awful. The fact that the Duty Solicitor was fantastic and the Judge was sensible helped big time. Will you let me know how your friend gets on at Court please?

Thanks very much peterjm. Well when we got to Nottingham Court yesterday morning we were asked if we had anyone representing us. As we didn't have a solicitor we saw their Duty Solicitor. She was absolutely lovely and said how sympathetic she was. We had ten minutes with her but at no point did she go through our defence – it was basically what can you offer! As simple as that. We told her that originally when we had put our defence forms in we had split the 2 secured loans and credit card bills 3 ways which basically paid each one approx £400 each. She told us we had to pay the mortgage in full then she worked out the arrears over the term and worked it out to £50 a month so she was going in with the offer of £700 a month. She came back after an eternity and said their Solicitor wasn’t accepting the offer and had requested an eviction in 28 days. Then we went in to the Judge with the Duty Solicitor and he never looked at us once; he looked evil:evil:. The Judge was a woman and she seemed a really nice person. She said we have received a very detailed defence from the defendants. He said why had we only offered them £400 when now all of a sudden we are offering more. Our duty solicitor had already explained that we had recently received legal advice and that we now realised that we had to prioritise differently. He mentioned the arrears and said something like Norgan is only a guideline. He disputed the amounts that we were paid and he said we haven’t had payslips or any proof. He kept repeating I cannot accept this offer. The Judge said well I’m mindful to accept and I am going to give them a 28 day suspended repossession order. She said to him if the defendants don’t make the payments you have what you came for anyway. He was there for 4 SPML repossessions that day (including ours) – out of a total of 32 on the list. He was a right nasty piece of work. There was no chance of us being allowed to speak – or being allowed to say what about the pre action protocols – or whether he’d brought the 2 completed forms. Nothing. I also whispered to our Solicitor that we disputed the amount of arrears because the figure included charges that hadn’t been validated by us and she said this isn’t the place for that now. Anyway, now that's over do we SAR Acenden to request our charges back and could someone remind me please who we make a complaint to - after yesterday I want some sort of payback. Thanks for all the help I've received and good wishes; it's been a lifeline.

Hiya downnum Thanks so much for your kind words I really appreciate them. It's funny because my friends who are aware of our situation haven't texted me or said anything about tomorrow. I keep looking at my phone and thinking surely someone will remember. Sad state of affairs isn't it. I'll let everyone on the site know how we go on tomorrow. By the way when is your hearing? Cheers x

Hi Ell-enn I thought I'd read something on the old forum but for the life of me I can't find it now. I'm relieved to hear that the opposite seems to be the case. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Hiya Downmum Yes I did send the letter and then Acenden got their solicitors Lightfoots to write back and say we have followed the mortgage code of conduct etc etc and painted us as the delinquent borrowers. We do plan to offer the agreed payments and £50 towards the arrears next week instead of trying to apply for interest only because I don't think we stand a chance unless we pay them the monthly amount each month.

Hi, Could anyone give me some advice about going to Court next week (2nd March) without a solicitor. I've been reading on the forum that the Judges don't like people representing themselves. We can't get Shelter to act on our behalf as they said they had such a good relationship to uphold they would not be able to go to Court to negotiate an offer - they more or less suggested to pay the mortgage plus a huge amount to cover arrears which is totally unaffordable and we wouldn't have lasted more than a couple of months if we'd agreed to it. We stressed that we wanted to remain in the house for 6 months til we sold it and at the same time try to save up a deposit (= to 6 months is what we've been told by letting agents) but Shelter were not interested. Any advice from anyone would be much appreciated.

Hi Ell-enn Just looked at the online Defence Forms again this afternoon for the repossession hearing and I notice that Acenden are saying that the mortgage is unregulated We took it out in approx April/May 2005. We remortgaged through a broker Compass Finance - can I verify if they are right or not and if it is unregulated what this means? Also I read a thread last night that someone on the forum had claimed compensation from the FSCS because the broker who sold them the original mortgage/loan had gone under. Is this right? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hiya Borolad63 My partner and I were recommended to apply for the Mortgage rescue scheme by Picture's debt representative(!) who came round to see us last year. We applied through our local Council (Nottm) had the house valued by 2 estate agents, gave Shelter and the Council every bit of info on our finances down to almost the last penny and we were refused. We were staggered bearing in mind that it was the only way for us to stay long term in our home. Their reason for refusing us was that we would still have non secured debts even if it went through - even though they knew we planned to go bankrupt at some point in the future. Oddly enough I've been speaking to Shelter today on the phone to ask if they will attend our repossession hearing and the chap I spoke to said I can see you applied for the MRS and were refused I can also see that your partner didn't appear to take things seriously (no idea where that came from) and that you hadn't divulged the full picture! From our point of view it's a complete con!

Cheers Ell-enn you're a star - I'll send it special delivery - I really appreciate your help.

Hi Ell-enn Do you have time to have a quick look at the letter I plan to send to Ascenden and their Solicitors on Monday please? I can send it again if you like. I'm not sure how to send it as a link or attach it as a word file though. Thanks for your help D

Hi Ellen, I've borrowed text from the forum to draft a letter to send to Ascenden and their Solicitors today - do you mind having a look at it for me please and advise if it's OK to send as it is? Thanks very much 11 February, 2011 By Recorded Delivery: STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL Ascenden Litigation Department PO Box 1075 High Wycombe HP11 2W Dear Sirs Mortgage Agreement XXXXXX / Joint Names here ... Further to our letter dated 25th January 2011 we are writing once again regarding our proposal for payment and request that you consider the following: Section 5.5 of the Ministry of Justice’s Pre-Action Protocol for Possession Claims based on Mortgage or Home Purchase Plan Arrears in Respect of Residential Property states that you should respond promptly to any proposal for payment made by the borrower i.e. “The lender should respond promptly to any proposal for payment made by the borrower. If the lender does not agree to such a proposal it should give reasons in writing to the borrower within 10 business days of the proposal.”. The reason Ascenden has given for refusing to discuss or agree any alternative proposals is “payment history” yet we have previously advised that, prior to our problems during the last year, our payment record was excellent. Section 7 Alternative Dispute Resolution: 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. Discussion between the parties may include options such as: (1) extending the term of the mortgage; (2) changing the type of a mortgage; (3) deferring payment of interest due under the mortgage; or (4) capitalising the arrears. The protocols within Section 7 are an echo of the Mortgage Conduct of Business Rules (MCOB) and the Pre-action Protocols and MCOB rules governing such procedures have simply not been complied with. The repossession proceedings are based on a wholly inaccurate arrears figure grossly distorted by the unfair arrears charges added to the mortgage account despite FSA directives to the contrary. In addition, despite requesting a breakdown of these arrears figures we have still received nothing. Finally, should this case continue to court we intend to ask the judge to consider the precedental case of Cheltenham & Gloucester v Norgan re spreading the whole amount of the arrears (once the true figure has been established) over the entire remainder of the loan. In view of the foregoing, we request that Ascenden advise their Solicitors to halt the Repossession Hearing on 2 March 2011 and accept our proposals of interest only payments plus £50 per month towards the arrears for a period of two years This will allow our daughter to complete her GCSE’s without this unnecessary upheaval and allow us to get our finances in order. As always, we request a response from you in writing. How you respond to our request will be reported to the court in our defence of your claim for possession. Yours faithfully Copy to: Lightfoots Solitors

Hi Stephen you left me a PM to get in touch re my thread on our repossession hearing with Ascenden on 2nd March. I can't reply as I don't have enough threads yet - are you able to reply to my thread with any help you think we would need prior to the hearing please? My log in name is now windowbox. I think my thread is called SPML/Ascenden repossession hearing 2 March 2011. Thanks D

Hi Ell-enn We did write to London Mortgage approx 2 and a half weeks ago reiterating the offers we had made (sent by recorded del) - they rang me at work about a week later to say they were not interested and the reposssession hearing would still stand. They sent a very brief letter to confirm this. I'd be extremely grateful if you could draft me something to send them today because I tend to waffle in letters rather than stick to the facts. Cheers Denise

Hi Ell-enn No we are unable to meet the monthly payments because of the other secured loan we have with Picture. The only way we could pay Ascenden the full monthly payments plus a bit off the arrears is if we paid Picture nothing; hence this is why we requested Ascenden add the arrears to the term of the mortgage, allow us to remain in the property for 2 years while our daughter is doing her GCSEs and at the same time pay the interest plus an amount towards the arrears. They have refused. The other option we suggested would be to sell the property in around 6-8 months time when we have saved up enough for 6 months rent - but at the same time paying the amounts above. They said they would not be stopping the repossession hearing whether we planned to sell the property or not. Any advice you can give me re a defence would be really helpful. CAP is Christians Against Poverty - based in Leeds but they have lots of centres around - usually based in local churches. They have a good name but I don't know how well up they are on repossession. Thanks for replying. Denise PS How do I send you a PM - is this is a private email?

I wonder if I could have some advice from you please. My partner and I are due at Nottingham County Court on 2nd March at 11.15am for a repossession hearing. The papers were sent from Ascenden’s solicitors, Lightfoots, and say that they are claiming the property and money due to arrears of £11K. Our arrears are no more than £9K but over £2K has been added for charges. The house has just been valued at £169K and there is a second loan from Picture of approx £55K. So far all we have done is contact CAP for an introductory appt – they are here on 1st March; the day before we are in Court. Can I ask for an adjournment due to the fact that we haven’t been able to access legal advice in time? Can you give me some idea of what our defence should be please? We have written to Capstone constantly over the last year to explain our circumstances – basically my partner and I split up after 14 years together, my ex partner (who was like a part of the family) died tragically of pancreatic cancer, we had a salary review at work and my wages were reduced by £1,800 p.a. and while we were apart I was paying the companies who shouted the loudest. In addition, I approached our local Council about the Mortgage Rescue Scheme and lost about 6 months being led up the garden path for nothing to come out of it. Recently my partner returned home and we approached Capstone to ask if we can pay the interest only (£390) plus £50 per month from the arrears for 2 years until our daughter completes her GCSE’s (she’s 15), and we would then sell the house; we also requested that if that was not possible could they add the arrears to the term and we pay the interest only until we can sell the house (but allowing us to stay long enough to save up for a deposit plus 6 months rent). They have refused saying on all counts saying it is due to payment history yet before this last year of trouble we had an excellent payment record. The mortgage was taken out in around April 2005 via a broker, Compass Finance, The mortgage was from London Mortgage who were trading as Matlock Bank. The house is worth £169K, the mortgage is £108K to redeem and approx £50K for the second mortgage to be redeemed. Each time we write to Ascenden they write back and ask us to phone them! I have asked them to put the repossession hearing on hold til we sell the house but they have refused this too. They seem hell bent on repossession at any cost. Thanks for listening to my rant. On a separate note can anyone tell me how I can change my username - I chose it years ago but would like something a little less obvious.