Can't afford the mortgage payments anymore help!!

[fedupwithmuppets]

hopefully for good....at least 1year 10 months anyway

[Bona]

so who will look after you affairs while you are away you certainly wont get a court hearing before then Im not sure what to suggest I spose the best course of action is to rent it tell the mortgage company you have to go abroad and tell them how you are going to pay

[fedupwithmuppets]

if we rent the house the estate agents will sort it all out. I have written to C & G or should i say TSB and ask them for permission to rent out the house so i am just waiting for a reply now. If we are abroad there are faxes we can send etc, it can't be uncommon for people to be abroad and have problems like this surely.

It hasn't quite got to any court stage yet as we are still paying the mortgage plus some arrears, they have just got their knickers in a twist as the date the mortgage was due i couldn't make the payment due to my husbands wages pay day being different as he has started a new job, although they are not very sympathetic to this as an excuse, you are suppose to magic money or go and pick it off the money tree in the garden!

I just wanted to know that if they do take it any further what are options are as they are not being any help at all even though we are trying to pay it off.

cheers

[fedupwithmuppets]

have had a letter from tsb yesterday and they will not spread the arrears over the term of the mortgage and will accept £30 a month off the arrears on a suspended possession order. What exactly does this mean for us and how long does it last? Also i have no idea how much the arrears are so i was going to S.A.R them but i can't find a letter template anywhere so could someone send me a link please and will this delay any court action for a while.

Am i right in thinking that if the arrears are less than 2 months they can't take action as they have said that if the arrears are not paid in full they will take action anyway. It is a possibility that i can get them down to less than two months if i can buy us some time.

cheers for any replies in advance

[fedupwithmuppets]

Had a letter from tsb's solicitors today saying that i have 7 days to respond and that they will accept an offer of payment under a suspended possession order but i don't know exactly what this means for us and also how long does it last for?

I also asked in my last post if I S.A.R'd them would this delay any court action?

Also if the arrears are less than 2 months payments will the action automatically stop?

Please someone give me some advice as i don't know what to do with this. I can pay the mortgage and some off the arrears but i would rather not have the suspended possession order and i do think its a little harsh. The arrears amount to just over £3k and our monthly mortgage is £911 so we are not that far behind and i dare say some of the amount will be charges.

Can someone answer those questions for me as i need to sort this out asap.

cheers all

[fedupwithmuppets]

anyone any advice on the last post as i only have a few days to get back to them....sorry to bump it but i'm desperate now!

[Bona]

A suspended possession order means they go to court and the court give them possession but suspend the order ie you can stay in your house as long as you pay the mortgage plus the amount agreed if you dont they can get a warrent for eviction without going to court this lasts untill you ask the court for it to be dimissed when all the arreas have been paid, if you are sure that you can rent the house and that you can pay it might be the best way they will add the costs to your mortgage about £600.00

you need to find out what charges they ar putting on as if they are more han the £30.00 that you will be paying off the areas then you will be getting into more debt rather than paying it off

[fedupwithmuppets]

thank for explaining that Bona, so would i be best to S.A.R. them as i only have a few days to respond? Will a S.A.R delay them going to court? Sorry to push but i'm getting anxious now and i'm sick of worrying about it.

They also said they would not give permission to rent the house whilst its in arrears so that avenue is not open to me anymore.

[rippedoffagain]

thank for explaining that Bona, so would i be best to S.A.R. them as i only have a few days to respond? Will a S.A.R delay them going to court? Sorry to push but i'm getting anxious now and i'm sick of worrying about it.

They also said they would not give permission to rent the house whilst its in arrears so that avenue is not open to me anymore.

 

Hi fedupwithmuppets.

 

You say you are in negative equity to the tune of £15k. Have C & G indicated they will allow any sale on this property, below the mortgage figure?

 

On what do you base the £15k figure?

[Bona]

Ring them and ask them to send you an uptodate statement with all the charges on by return so you can see what is on there they might even email it to you

[fedupwithmuppets]

The 15k negative equity is that we have a home owner loan with 1st plus so to add that on to the balance of the mortgage with c & g and now the value of the house as they have dropped quite significantly we would be down by 15k. As for permission they have said we can sell the house as i'm assuming c & g will be the first to get their money. Not selling the house isn't an option now as we can't leave it standing there doing nothing and as they won't let us rent it or spread the arrears over the life of the mortgage then we have no other alternative. I haven't spoke to 1st plus about selling the property as i didn't think i needed to. Should i send C & g a S.A.R or not as i will need to get this sent tomorrow latest?

cheers

[fedupwithmuppets]

sorry guys but does a S.A.R delay the court process i need something to buy me some time as i understand it if i can get the arrears down to 2 months behind then they can't go to court....is this right??

[jansus]

not an expert but the SAR is just to check charges isnt it ? You are not disputing the amount of arrears? So I dont see how it can affect the court process?

 

Bumping your question up. As far as I am aware the court will not allow possession when the arrears are under 3 months.

 

If there is no way you can clear the arrears - and then be able to rent out ( which would seem like the best long term) then as you say you will have to try and sell while the suspended possession order is in place.

 

All I can say is please do everything to avoid possession you will loose control of the selling price and they will still pursue you for the money for years afterwards.

 

Please try again to reason with them about letting you rent through a reputable agent whilts making an arrangement to clear the arrears. Maybe CAB or National debtline will help by negotiating on your behalf.

[fedupwithmuppets]

I can only write to them as the mortgage is in my husbands name and he is in canada so can't talk to them due to the time difference but i will write tomorrow and beg them to reconsider. I have read on other threads about S.A.R.s and many have been advised to ask for one as they want to find out how much the charges are and that they buy you some time just wanted to know if this was right or not?

thanks for your advise Janus and we will do our best not to go down the possession route but the mortgage company seem hell bent on it even though we have had the mortgage for 8 years without any problems till last year when the interest rate rose substantially...don't they make you sick!

[jansus]

writing is a good thing! thats mygolden rule keep it in writing. Is the mortgage only in your husbands name? Are they aware he is abroad?

 

I would keep all these attempts to reason with them ina very well organised file as dont forget they may want to apply for a possession order but only a judge can grant it . You have to fight this

 

I can only tell you what I would do .

 

1) keep paying whatever you can afford each month -every spare peny and keep a record in your file of the arrears and whether they are reducing - even by a small amount

2) approach a couple of local agents and ask the to put in writing what rent they think the property would be able to earn

 

3) do an income and expenditure or budget sheet ( there will be one on here or the Martin Lewis website has a really good one)

 

4) put together your proposal in writing stating for example

 

I write to you agan asking you to reconsider your current situation. we are experiencing financial problems due to XXXX

I enclose a budget sheet showing our exact position. As I am now working abroad this is unlikelyto change for the next XXX months. I would point out our excellent payment record up to this time and would ask you to consider again my proposal. If we rented the property the enclosed letter shows we culd expect an income of XXX we could also afford to pay XXXX each month . This would reduce our arrears to XXX ovr the next XXX months. I then intend to move back to the Uk and hopefully the market may have improved and or I will be in in employment that will pay me sufficient to pay the mortgage. In the current financial climate I am sure it is not in your interests to sell the property either, especially if we could stabalise the current situation. Therefore I would ask you agin to re-consider this matter - rather than having to take this to court for a judge to decide.

 

 

 

 

jan

[fedupwithmuppets]

thanks jansus and yes the mortgage is in his name. I wrote to them ages ago explaining the situation and that my hubby was working abroad and sent a budget sheet of income and expenditure but they ignored it. I then got a snotty letter from them so i wrote again and enclosed a copy of the first letter and another copy of the budget sheet asking again if we could rent or go onto an interest only mortgage and got a short non plus reply so i wrote a third time enclosing copies of the 1st 2 letters and reiterating what i had ask before and they basically said no, however, i really don't know how much behind in mortgage we are and how much is arrears.

I'll write again tomorrow asking for a break down of the arrears and beg them again to let us rent but i think they just want an SPO which i suppose will be inevitable unless i can get the arrears down. Do you think they will get an SPO if i get the arrears down to 2 months behind as it does seem a extremely harsh? Has anyone any experience of which way a judge will go?

cheers for all the support

[fedupwithmuppets]

sorry on the post above i meant to say "i don't know how much behind we are with the mortgage and how much is charges" not arrears!!! Getting in a terrible muddle!!!

[Bona]

its a good letter by Janus , I would add that if they feel they cannot come to an agreement and they go to the court and the Judge agrees with me we will ask for cost not to be awarded

Bona

[jansus]

I would have thought if the arrears are only two months they would be in a very weak position

 

have a read of the Website of the UK government : Directgov website on money /arrears and mortgages it gives a lot of useful links . Also if you feel they are not acting wthin the mortgage code ask them for a written copy of their complaints proceedure as well You may be able to contact the FOS for help as they are not being reasonable in my view. And yes you do need to get your OH to get a clear breakdown of the arrears and charges . I assume he can send an email?

 

 

They will have the uper hand as long as the arrears are increasing. If you can stabalise or reduce the arrears amount then you may buy some time.

[justinx]

Maybe you could find somebody to buy the house quickly (at a discount) and rent back to you after paying off the arrears? I would be very careful of some the quick buyers out there.

 

Has anybody tried this route before...

[jansus]

Not a recommended method at the moment as the companies offering this service are mainly unregulated.

[fedupwithmuppets]

thanks jansus, ill write to them and ask them for a break down of the arrears and payments. We aren't getting any further behind with the mortgage as we are paying as much off as we can each month but their solicitors have only given us 7 days to respond and basically agree to the suspended possession order. I think i'll write the letter that you have put above with bona's bit also and see what happens. I will also be enclosing this months check so that should reduce it even more. many thanks guys i don't feel quite so alone now. will keep posting as hear from them.

[jansus]

I am bumping your thread up as I thought only court could grant a possession order - suspended or not? So does that men they are requesting a court hearing .

 

I think you would be entitled to ask them in your letter (copy both sol and BS) what exactly the susp poss order will mean and what costs will be involved and who will be responsible for them ?? Therefore playing for time .

 

Also point out that the arrears are not increasing etc etc.

 

One other thing is always remember when ever you make an agreement make sure it is writing an that you stick to it. So dont be panicked into agreeing to something you can not afford as it will only give them more ammunition.

[jansus]

Getting Ready for Court

 

 

 

Before the court hearing you need to:

• try to pay as much as you can off the arrears
  
• Continue trying to negotiate with your lender. If you can reach an agreement before the hearing, the case might not go ahead
  
• get advice or contact a solicitor.
  
• complete the defence/reply form you received from the court
  
• collect together relevant documents that you think the judge might want to see. For example pay slips, bank statements, evidence of any lump sum payments due to you which you could use to reduce or clear the arrears
  
• prepare a detailed breakdown of your household income and expenditure
  
• find out where the court hearing is taking place
  
• prepare notes of what you want to say at the hearing
  
• arrange for a friend, adviser or solicitor to come to the hearing to help you.
  

If you need more time to prepare for the hearing, you must still attend the hearing, and can ask the court to put back the date of the hearing. This is called an adjournment. You might be able to adjourn the hearing if you:

• have been ill and therefore unable to prepare for court
  
• were on holiday when the summons arrived and have only had a few days to prepare for the hearing
  
• need more time to get legal advice
  
• have had a change of circumstances which will improve, or even resolve, the situation
  

If you are in arrears and you cannot clear the arrears in full, or if your lender won't accept an offer to repay the arrears in instalments, the court hearing will go ahead. You can continue to negotiate with your lender right up until the date of the court hearing.

Back to How Repossession Works

 

 

 

From what I have read they will have to go to court to get the suspended poss order.

 

If you go to national debtline web site there is also a good pdf document about how to deal with arrears

 

let me know if you can not find the link

 

jan

Edited June 5, 2008 by jansus

[fedupwithmuppets]

cheers Jansus, only problem is we won't even be in the country when all this takes place as the kids and i fly out to join my husband in 2 weeks so i am going to have to ask for a little extra time as things will have to be done by writing to the courts or by e-mail!! I think my best plan is to beg them to not go down the possession route at all as we won't be able to attend court! The house will be going on the market just before i leave but i will ask again if they'll let us rent it as this would be the best option all round particularly as there are companies that will pay you the rent even if they don't rent it, they probably charge more but its a regular income afterall.

thanks for all your help and keep the views and advice coming at least i have an idea of what to do and what will happen. If i draft a letter tomorrow would you mind scanning over it and giving me your opinion?

many thanks all