*** Repossession & NOW Shortfall demands - HELP !! ***

[Bignuts121]

Guy's,

 

Moved away from my husband nearly 2 years ago and continued to pay my half of the mortgage to him - Unbknown to me until the day before - he had been instructed to vacate the property as locks were being changed.

 

He claims he had not received any previous communication - How do i get this ?

 

Now i have had a letter drop on my new premise ( living With Friend ) with a demand for £38K in shortfall charges etc. - WTF ??

 

I am in a right state - i do not know who to turn to and urgently require your assistance - ANYBODY pls. !!

 

Thanks

[Lea_HTH]

Are you stating that you were not aware of the possession proceedings at all? Did you not notify the mortgage company that you were no longer living at the address?

 

Has the property already been repossessed? If so, your name would have been on any court paperwork - if your husband is claiming he did not receive it at all, then you should both go to see a solicitor immediately. However, it is fairly unlikely that nothing at all was received. Mortgage companies are quite aggressive in chasing arrears - they make multiple phone calls, send multiple letters - and charge you for every single one - and then they apply to the courts for a possession hearing and it is the courts that usually issue the date for the hearing - so unless your husband is saying he did not receive even one of these communications, and wasn't aware that he was in arrears (extremely unlikely) then it is likely that the possession was granted on reasonable grounds.

 

Shortfalls following repossession are common - and the mortgage company are far more likely to go after the person they think has money to pay so if there are two people on the mortgage, both are jointly and severally liable to repay any shortfall.

 

You probably know this at this stage, but you should have done more to protect your interests in the property - firstly by informing the mortgage company that you were no longer living there, and secondly by ensuring they had contact details for you, and thirdly by ensuring that any payment you made went directly to them.

 

So...what kind of help precisely are you looking for at this stage? Please be specific and I will try to direct you from the information you give.

[Bignuts121]

For the Repo - Would myself or my husband have had to attend ? My Husband states to me that he was not aware of any court date etc.

 

I was completly in the drak over the whole affair - I contiued to pay my 1/2 of the mortgage assuming it was being paid as the house was up for sale.

 

Who can i contact to see what communications were made - Is there anything i can do to reduce my shortfall contribution ?

[Lea_HTH]

For the Repo - Would myself or my husband have had to attend ? My Husband states to me that he was not aware of any court date etc.

 

I was completly in the drak over the whole affair - I contiued to pay my 1/2 of the mortgage assuming it was being paid as the house was up for sale.

 

Who can i contact to see what communications were made - Is there anything i can do to reduce my shortfall contribution ?

 

Repossession hearings can take place without the defendant in attendance. It would be highly unusual for your husband to not have been aware of the proceedings at all - not impossible, but definitely highly unusual. Multiple letters and contacts would have been attempted by the mortgage company, and the court would almost certainly have sent details of the hearing and the particulars of claim to your household address, and definitely on judgment they would have sent information to the address. In addition, on execution of the warrant, the bailiffs themselves would have hand delivered (usually) the notice of eviction. It is highly unlikely that your husband would not have received at least one of these things.

 

If you paid your share of the mortgage to your husband and he was not paying it on, you may have a claim against him - but it sounds like he has no money, so there's little point.

 

You can contact the mortgage company - issue a Subject Access Request Notice if necessary - in order to find out precisely what information was sent out, and what contact was made (they will supply all correspondence and usually all information relating to phone calls). You will also need to go through all of the statements to see what arrears charges have been added - you can reclaim these in the sense that they will probably be deducted off the shortfall amount.

 

You will almost certainly need a solicitor as there will be huge amounts of paperwork to go through - and assessments of the costs related to the repossession and the sale of the property leading to the shortfall amount will need to be made in order to ascertain if the shortfall amount is made up of reasonable costs, charges and shortfall of mortgage.

[Bignuts121]

The solicitors letter i have received states i need to reply with a remittance/acceptance notification by the 16th May - they have asked me to fill in a expenditure from etc.

 

Will the fact that i am now 6months pregnant make any difference - i am due to go on maternity leave in the next two months as obviously my incomings will reduce once i have given birth.

 

I feel somewhat helpless and disappointed that i have been left in limbo - my Husband had notified the mortgage company of our seperation - but this has not made a difference it appears !

[Bignuts121]

p.s. Lea - I do appreciate your help so far.........

[Lea_HTH]

The solicitors letter i have received states i need to reply with a remittance/acceptance notification by the 16th May - they have asked me to fill in a expenditure from etc.

 

Will the fact that i am now 6months pregnant make any difference - i am due to go on maternity leave in the next two months as obviously my incomings will reduce once i have given birth.

 

I feel somewhat helpless and disappointed that i have been left in limbo - my Husband had notified the mortgage company of our seperation - but this has not made a difference it appears !

 

Your reduced income will certainly make a difference to how much they expect you to pay - but before you agree to make payments you must find out exactly what the shortfall consists of, so that you can challenge the amount and make a reduced offer if necessary.

 

Whilst you and your husband are jointly and severally liable, they can come after either one of you, or both, for the entire amount, so you have to make sure any deal that you agree with them is specific to yourself and severs any relationship to any remaining sum outstanding thereafter.

 

As I said, you need all the paperwork - don't worry about the deadline date they have given you - you can simply write to them and tell them that you are looking into what the shortfall consists of, and until you know exactly what the figures are and what they relate to you will not be making them any offers. You can tell them that this is the first you have heard about it, and thus you will not be rushed into making any payment offers at this time.

 

The first step is the letter telling that you have just found out about this and will require further information and time to investigate/seek legal advice.

 

The second step is to issue a Subject Access Request Notice - they have 40 days to comply with this. Once you have all the documentation relating to the loan and subsequent repossession, you will be in a position to find out precisely how they arrived at the shortfall figures. Then, and only then, should you consider making an offer for payment - and even then my suggestion would be that you offer half and tell them that is your final offer. They will undoubtedly then chase your husband for the remainder.

 

If your husband kept the money you gave him to pay the mortgage, then you could possibly sue him - but if he has no money or no other property that a charge could be placed on, then this action is probably pointless.

[Bignuts121]

Because all of my dealings are now dealt with via Optima Legal do i request the SAR From them or do i ask my mortgge company direct ? Would they look for a lump sum payment or a Payment plan ? I have a car that my friend purchased for me but i need this to get to work etc. I could sell this and maybe borrow off friends to maybe get a £10K lump sum - But i fear this would not be enough for them to accept.

 

What do you think ? If half of the Shortfall = £19K Minus Additional charges would £10K be acceptable in your opinion ? This is only a last resort - If i cannot raise these funds then i fear i could be paying £100-£150 a month for the rest of my life !!

[Lea_HTH]

Because all of my dealings are now dealt with via Optima Legal do i request the SAR From them or do i ask my mortgge company direct ? Would they look for a lump sum payment or a Payment plan ? I have a car that my friend purchased for me but i need this to get to work etc. I could sell this and maybe borrow off friends to maybe get a £10K lump sum - But i fear this would not be enough for them to accept.

 

What do you think ? If half of the Shortfall = £19K Minus Additional charges would £10K be acceptable in your opinion ? This is only a last resort - If i cannot raise these funds then i fear i could be paying £100-£150 a month for the rest of my life !!

 

Optima Legal may not have all the information - the SAR notice should be sent to the original mortgage company (you can send one to Optima Legal too - but their records will consist of what they have been passed in the form of your file, plus their dealings with you from there onwards). The lender will have all details from the loan inception.

 

My suggestion is that you do not make any offers until you have fully investigated how this shortfall was made up. You may find it is significantly less, or can be reduced, than the figure that has been quoted to you.

 

I appreciate that you must be extremely worried about this, but try to focus on finding out the exact position. Try not to panic - people who panic often end up paying far more than they ever need to - so don't start making any payments, and do not be intimidated into starting part payments.

 

When you have the exact details - that is the time to start wondering what you can do next. You cannot begin to negotiate until you know the figures - plus, please remember that you are jointly and severally liable for the loan - so they can continue to pursue you for anything outstanding even after you've made a payment for your share. You have to be absolutely clear that any agreement you make with them is in full and final settlement of any liability you have.

[Bignuts121]

Lea,

 

Thanks - A Recorded Letter has gone both to My Lender and to Optima Legal !!

 

I am still worried regarding the remittance/acceptance - They said they would escalate if they did not receive by COP 16th May ! But when i spoke to them they "vebally" extended this until the 18th May.

 

I doubt i will have the requested info back by them - What do you suggest i do ? Ihave been to the doctors today as i am worried of the toll this will take on the health of my and my unborn baby - they have advised rest for at least a week !

[Lea_HTH]

Lea,

 

Thanks - A Recorded Letter has gone both to My Lender and to Optima Legal !!

 

I am still worried regarding the remittance/acceptance - They said they would escalate if they did not receive by COP 16th May ! But when i spoke to them they "vebally" extended this until the 18th May.

 

I doubt i will have the requested info back by them - What do you suggest i do ? Ihave been to the doctors today as i am worried of the toll this will take on the health of my and my unborn baby - they have advised rest for at least a week !

 

Firstly, try not to worry - your health and your baby are far more important than this shortfall. If you have no other property - there's not a whole lot they can do to 'escalate' the situation. Me telling you not to worry isn't likely to have much effect, but I can only try to assure you that the worst they can do is pester you to start making payments, (unless you own other property, in which case they might consider taking legal action to get a charge on that property).

 

In the meantime you may have to wait up to 40 days for the SAR information (did you remember to send the payment - the most they can charge is 10 quid?). If you didn't already include a paragraph in the letter you sent regarding disputing the amount owed, I suggest you send them a letter indicating as much (see previous advice above) and that you will not be making any offers of payment until you are certain of what they allege you owe.

 

Do not make any payments at this stage. I cannot stress this enough.

 

Please try to relax...you really ought to take your GP's advice and rest, you don't want the baby arriving too early!

[caro]

I agree with Lea. If they ask for the money again just tell them you're looking into the matter as you are not aware of this debt. Keep everything in writing, and if they contact you again just write and tell them that until they and their client comply with the SAR you are not even in a position to know if you owe anything.

 

They can't have what you don't have anyway

 

Do you have any record of the payments you made to your ex?

 

Above all, you and your baby are the important ones here, and no court will make you pay more than you can afford, so please don't worry. Worrying doesn't help anyone or anything.

[Bignuts121]

** UPDATE **

 

They have sent me breakdown of the £38K, Basically stating how much the house sold for Less their fees i owe £38K. I am unaware of how they have come up with a Starting Figure of £165K - I have asked again for a complete breakdown of everything - i have 12 weeks to go and this is becoming stressful to say the least !

[caro]

Don't let this get to you.

 

Have you had everything from your SAR?

 

What charges have been added, and was there any PPI?