In court on Tues, worried sick CASE ADJOURNED

[Shazza50]

I'll fill you in on the situation before I get to the question.

 

Last year we got behind with our mortgage payments owing £2700.

Since January we have been paying an extra £10 a month on the regular payment.

Out of the blue two weeks ago we received a letter with a date for a court hearing for repossession.

 

When I contacted the lender and told them we had an arrangement I was told we hadn't as it only lasts 3mths and that the hearing would still take place.

 

The same week we received a letter from the local council offering help and advice.

As panic had set in I contacted them and had an appointment last week.

 

We went through our finances with the debt advisor,

on paper it didn't really add up,

as she was putting xx amount for clothing, dentist, prescriptions which I told her we don't spend every month, just as and when we need.

 

We have two unsecured loans and she has suggested that we contact the lenders to ask to reduce the payments as it doesn't look good that we are still paying them in full.

I was trying to avoid this as one will be paid off in 12mths and the other in 2yrs.

 

I have managed to contact one of them (the other isn't open at weekend) and asked to reduce the payment.

Unfortunately they told me it can take up to 2wks to proccess and I haven't got that long to sort it.

 

I have offered them half the regular payment, so to the question, is this a reasonable offer that is likely to be accepted?

[Shazza50]

I'll fill you in on the situation before I get to the question.

 

Last year we got behind with our mortgage payments owing £2700.

Since January we have been paying an extra £10 a month on the regular payment.

Out of the blue two weeks ago we received a letter with a date for a court hearing for repossession.

 

When I contacted the lender and told them we had an arrangement I was told we hadn't as it only lasts 3mths and that the hearing would still take place.

 

The same week we received a letter from the local council offering help and advice.

As panic had set in I contacted them and had an appointment last week.

 

We went through our finances with the debt advisor,

on paper it didn't really add up,

as she was putting xx amount for clothing, dentist, prescriptions which I told her we don't spend every month, just as and when we need.

 

We have two unsecured loans and she has suggested that we contact the lenders to ask to reduce the payments as it doesn't look good that we are still paying them in full.

I was trying to avoid this as one will be paid off in 12mths and the other in 2yrs.

 

I have managed to contact one of them (the other isn't open at weekend) and asked to reduce the payment.

Unfortunately they told me it can take up to 2wks to proccess and I haven't got that long to sort it.

 

I have offered them half the regular payment, so to the question, is this a reasonable offer that is likely to be accepted?

[morsy]

The debt adviser is right in that making full payments to unsecured lender at the expense of a secured lending would not be looked at favourably by a court.

 

However has the lender looked at other options such as extending the term of the mortgage to reduce payments? adding the arrears to the capital? These are usually last resort options before a lender takes court action.

 

If you can reduce your outgoing to clear the arrears in a reasonable time then your lender should not be pre-suing court action.

 

If you can show to the court that you can make payments to clear the arrears and maintaining the normal regular payments after the arrears are cleared without getting into further mortgage arrears then the court would not normally reposes a property

 

However any court action add coats and charges to your mortgage account making your arrears worse. You may have a case that your lender is not acting reasonable in taking the court action.

 

If you have made a payment plan and stuck to it for 3 months i.e. payments on time and as agreed then the lender should look at any reasonable repayment plan.

 

As for the unsecured lenders you can negotiate with them individually.

 

Basicly do a budget include all income, outgoing, including mortgage etc then divide any left of money between the unsecured lenders credit cards etc .... this is properly what the debt adviser went through with you.

 

Then its a case of negotiations with each lender offer them what you can afford.

 

I went through this with the help of the national debt line they were very helpful http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

[morsy]

The debt adviser is right in that making full payments to unsecured lender at the expense of a secured lending would not be looked at favourably by a court.

 

However has the lender looked at other options such as extending the term of the mortgage to reduce payments? adding the arrears to the capital? These are usually last resort options before a lender takes court action.

 

If you can reduce your outgoing to clear the arrears in a reasonable time then your lender should not be pre-suing court action.

 

If you can show to the court that you can make payments to clear the arrears and maintaining the normal regular payments after the arrears are cleared without getting into further mortgage arrears then the court would not normally reposes a property

 

However any court action add coats and charges to your mortgage account making your arrears worse. You may have a case that your lender is not acting reasonable in taking the court action.

 

If you have made a payment plan and stuck to it for 3 months i.e. payments on time and as agreed then the lender should look at any reasonable repayment plan.

 

As for the unsecured lenders you can negotiate with them individually.

 

Basicly do a budget include all income, outgoing, including mortgage etc then divide any left of money between the unsecured lenders credit cards etc .... this is properly what the debt adviser went through with you.

 

Then its a case of negotiations with each lender offer them what you can afford.

 

I went through this with the help of the national debt line they were very helpful http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

[Shazza50]

I'm actually baffled as to why they are taking us to court. As I said we have been paying the extra £10 per month, not a lot extra I know,but they have never asked for any more. At the end of January I went into my bank and asked to do a direct payment to them, unknown to me until a week later which brought us into Feb,when I logged on to internet banking, this payment failed due to the incorrect reference number being inputted at the bank. I immediately contacted the lender and informed them and paid the money over the phone. Towards the end of Feb I paid another payment. I have always paid my mortgage towards the end of the month. So when I received a letter dated 2nd March informing me that we had failed to maintain the agreement and had to pay within 15 days I didn't do anything as it stated not to if it had recently been paid. We then paid another payment at the end of March and like I said, out of the blue one day a letter from the lender said they had instructed their solicitor to start court proceedings and the very next day these court papers arrived.

Anyway, I have done the financial statement and because I am not going to get confirmation from my unsecured loans about my offer in time (one has said it can take up to 2 weeks, I only have one) I have inputted their payments as half the regular amount. So that is why I am asking is it a reasonable amount to offer.

[Shazza50]

I'm actually baffled as to why they are taking us to court. As I said we have been paying the extra £10 per month, not a lot extra I know,but they have never asked for any more. At the end of January I went into my bank and asked to do a direct payment to them, unknown to me until a week later which brought us into Feb,when I logged on to internet banking, this payment failed due to the incorrect reference number being inputted at the bank. I immediately contacted the lender and informed them and paid the money over the phone. Towards the end of Feb I paid another payment. I have always paid my mortgage towards the end of the month. So when I received a letter dated 2nd March informing me that we had failed to maintain the agreement and had to pay within 15 days I didn't do anything as it stated not to if it had recently been paid. We then paid another payment at the end of March and like I said, out of the blue one day a letter from the lender said they had instructed their solicitor to start court proceedings and the very next day these court papers arrived.

Anyway, I have done the financial statement and because I am not going to get confirmation from my unsecured loans about my offer in time (one has said it can take up to 2 weeks, I only have one) I have inputted their payments as half the regular amount. So that is why I am asking is it a reasonable amount to offer.

[citizenB]

Hi, your mortgage and any other priority expenditure such as council tax, utilities, tv licence and essential living costs such as food/clothing should be paid in full, any unsecured loans credit card debts should be offered pro rata from the amount you have left as disposable income.

 

So if that works out to 50% of the original payment then yes, that is a reasonable amount to offer. But do ensure that you are able to maintain those payments

[citizenB]

Hi, your mortgage and any other priority expenditure such as council tax, utilities, tv licence and essential living costs such as food/clothing should be paid in full, any unsecured loans credit card debts should be offered pro rata from the amount you have left as disposable income.

 

So if that works out to 50% of the original payment then yes, that is a reasonable amount to offer. But do ensure that you are able to maintain those payments

[caro]

It is also important to maintain payments on the agreed date. If for example a payment is due on 1st of the month and you pay every month on the 2nd, then your lender can show that you are a persistent late payer. If you need a different date to pay, get that sorted first.

 

I don't see any mention of mortgage charges, but you must mention these (I assume there are charges). If those were removed your arrears could be much less or even wiped out.

 

More info here which I hope might help. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?296126-Hot-news-for-anyone-who-has-suffered-mortgage-arrears-charges-irresponsible-lending-or-other-unfair-lender-conduct&highlight=

 

I'm moving your thread to the repossessions forum.

 

Have you completed a form for your defence?

[caro]

It is also important to maintain payments on the agreed date. If for example a payment is due on 1st of the month and you pay every month on the 2nd, then your lender can show that you are a persistent late payer. If you need a different date to pay, get that sorted first.

 

I don't see any mention of mortgage charges, but you must mention these (I assume there are charges). If those were removed your arrears could be much less or even wiped out.

 

More info here which I hope might help. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?296126-Hot-news-for-anyone-who-has-suffered-mortgage-arrears-charges-irresponsible-lending-or-other-unfair-lender-conduct&highlight=

 

I'm moving your thread to the repossessions forum.

 

Have you completed a form for your defence?

[Shazza50]

I was made redundent in 2009 but had mortgage protection for 12mths, then we missed a few payments until I managed to find work a few mths later. In late Dec 2010 we made an arrangement with the mortgage company to pay £10 extra per month as well as the normal payment. I paid the Jan payment by direct payment at my local branch, but a week later,which took us into Feb, when I logged onto internet banking I found the payment had failed due to incorrect ref number. The only thing I can think that happened was the cashier entered a O instead of an 0. I immediately contacted the lender, explained what had happened and made the payment over the phone. Feb payment was made as usual and so was March. Then out of the blue we received a letter informing us that the lender had applied for a repossession order. When I contacted them and said that we had an arrangement I was told we hadn't, as it only lasted 3mths. I remember them saying this in Dec, but it had gone out of my mind and they hadn't been in touch to let me know that I needed to contact them again.

We have had a meeting with a debt advisor from our local council who went through our I&E with us and as were are literally living from day to day advised us to reduce our payments on 2 unsecured loans. I have managed to reduce one to less than half payment, the other one has just sent a form for us to fill out, so that won't be sorted in time for Tues. I was going to ask them for half payments.

With the revised I&E showing the new payments it shows that we can afford to pay back £35. The advisor contacted the lender about this but they wouldn't speak to her without a letter of authority, so I had to contact them myself. At first when I said we could pay the £35, the person I spoke to said they would be going for a suspended order, but then when he went through our I&E and the unsecured loans came up he changed his mind and said they would be going for repossession.

I called the debt advisor and she said that because I had managed to reduce one of the loans by £30 more than expected, to offer that extra as well. She seems to think we will be fine with that. I don't want to offer a high amount and find that I cant pay it. My hubby is on IB and with all these cutbacks we are worried that this may be taken from him at some point which will leave us with less money again.

The thing is, she cannot come to court on Tues to speak for us so we are on our own.

I have already had one experience on my own with a debt collector, which didn't go well and is getting worse, if you want to see why my thread is in legal issues, so I am not looking forward to this at all. My husband will be with me but he suffers with depression so I generally deal with everything.

Sorry for waffling on but feel as though I need to put it all down as I have no-one else to talk to about this.

By the way, the arrears are for just over £2000.

[Shazza50]

I was made redundent in 2009 but had mortgage protection for 12mths, then we missed a few payments until I managed to find work a few mths later. In late Dec 2010 we made an arrangement with the mortgage company to pay £10 extra per month as well as the normal payment. I paid the Jan payment by direct payment at my local branch, but a week later,which took us into Feb, when I logged onto internet banking I found the payment had failed due to incorrect ref number. The only thing I can think that happened was the cashier entered a O instead of an 0. I immediately contacted the lender, explained what had happened and made the payment over the phone. Feb payment was made as usual and so was March. Then out of the blue we received a letter informing us that the lender had applied for a repossession order. When I contacted them and said that we had an arrangement I was told we hadn't, as it only lasted 3mths. I remember them saying this in Dec, but it had gone out of my mind and they hadn't been in touch to let me know that I needed to contact them again.

We have had a meeting with a debt advisor from our local council who went through our I&E with us and as were are literally living from day to day advised us to reduce our payments on 2 unsecured loans. I have managed to reduce one to less than half payment, the other one has just sent a form for us to fill out, so that won't be sorted in time for Tues. I was going to ask them for half payments.

With the revised I&E showing the new payments it shows that we can afford to pay back £35. The advisor contacted the lender about this but they wouldn't speak to her without a letter of authority, so I had to contact them myself. At first when I said we could pay the £35, the person I spoke to said they would be going for a suspended order, but then when he went through our I&E and the unsecured loans came up he changed his mind and said they would be going for repossession.

I called the debt advisor and she said that because I had managed to reduce one of the loans by £30 more than expected, to offer that extra as well. She seems to think we will be fine with that. I don't want to offer a high amount and find that I cant pay it. My hubby is on IB and with all these cutbacks we are worried that this may be taken from him at some point which will leave us with less money again.

The thing is, she cannot come to court on Tues to speak for us so we are on our own.

I have already had one experience on my own with a debt collector, which didn't go well and is getting worse, if you want to see why my thread is in legal issues, so I am not looking forward to this at all. My husband will be with me but he suffers with depression so I generally deal with everything.

Sorry for waffling on but feel as though I need to put it all down as I have no-one else to talk to about this.

By the way, the arrears are for just over £2000.

[Shazza50]

Sorry, I now have two threads on here.

Caro, I haven't filled in any forms for the court as the debt advisor said there was no need, I did ask her twice to be sure.

[Shazza50]

Sorry, I now have two threads on here.

Caro, I haven't filled in any forms for the court as the debt advisor said there was no need, I did ask her twice to be sure.

[caro]

Okay, I'll find the other thread and merge it.

 

If you want to fight the repossession then I think you need a defence. Sounds like you have an income and expenditure sheet prepared which is good as it will prove what you can pay.

 

Take a look at some of the threads where Ell-enn has helped people with defences.

 

Do you have children or other dependents?

[caro]

Okay, I'll find the other thread and merge it.

 

If you want to fight the repossession then I think you need a defence. Sounds like you have an income and expenditure sheet prepared which is good as it will prove what you can pay.

 

Take a look at some of the threads where Ell-enn has helped people with defences.

 

Do you have children or other dependents?

[caro]

I've just merged your other thread so give me a few minutes to read and digest in case the answers to my questions are there.

[caro]

I've just merged your other thread so give me a few minutes to read and digest in case the answers to my questions are there.

[caro]

Right I see your husband suffers from depression so that's something that you should include in your defence. As for your other debtor, I would expect them to accept a reduced payment as otherwise they would have an unfair advantage over your other debtors. Your mortgage is your priority debt. As long as you provide them with your I&E showing that they are having a fair proportion of your disposable income after priority bills and living expenses they don't really have a choice in the matter.

 

So back to the arrears.

 

Do you know how much you've had in charges added to your account?

[caro]

Right I see your husband suffers from depression so that's something that you should include in your defence. As for your other debtor, I would expect them to accept a reduced payment as otherwise they would have an unfair advantage over your other debtors. Your mortgage is your priority debt. As long as you provide them with your I&E showing that they are having a fair proportion of your disposable income after priority bills and living expenses they don't really have a choice in the matter.

 

So back to the arrears.

 

Do you know how much you've had in charges added to your account?

[Shazza50]

So are you saying I do need to fill in a defence form? Should it not have already been sent to the court? I've no idea how much charges have been added at this time, it could take a while to find out.

We have no dependents. My son works and pays his keep, my daughter doesn't work at the moment so doesn't contribute.

The annoying thing is, we haven't missed any of the payments since November so why put us through this.

[Shazza50]

So are you saying I do need to fill in a defence form? Should it not have already been sent to the court? I've no idea how much charges have been added at this time, it could take a while to find out.

We have no dependents. My son works and pays his keep, my daughter doesn't work at the moment so doesn't contribute.

The annoying thing is, we haven't missed any of the payments since November so why put us through this.

[caro]

Who knows. Don't worry about the defence not being in. It might not even be the right word. Ell-enn is the expert on this and as long as you have something ready to take with you on Tuesday you should be fine.

 

You mentioned your son pays his keep. Would it be unreasonable to ask him for a little bit more? Does it cover everything he has including food and a share of the bills/mortgage.

 

What's the situation with your daughter. You say she doesn't work or contribute. Is that because she's still at school or in full time education?

 

I'm just trying to make sure all angles are covered. You have to be sure that you can afford what you offer or you'll soon be back in court.

[caro]

Who knows. Don't worry about the defence not being in. It might not even be the right word. Ell-enn is the expert on this and as long as you have something ready to take with you on Tuesday you should be fine.

 

You mentioned your son pays his keep. Would it be unreasonable to ask him for a little bit more? Does it cover everything he has including food and a share of the bills/mortgage.

 

What's the situation with your daughter. You say she doesn't work or contribute. Is that because she's still at school or in full time education?

 

I'm just trying to make sure all angles are covered. You have to be sure that you can afford what you offer or you'll soon be back in court.

[Shazza50]

Yes my son pays a good amount of keep, only because when he was a struggling student we helped him out a lot (pre-redundancy days when I was earning a lot more money than now). My daughter has finished college and is looking for an apprentiship. She was signing on for JSA for a while but came off it as she hated going. I know, she should be made to go, but I hated it when I went so can see her point. We also never received money from my son until he got a job, so its unfair to treat them different. I will stick up for her though and say she very rarely asks for money from us as she does babysitting for a neighbour.