Santander - repo- won in 2012 - now they are trying again!!

[Don4071]

Hi. I've used CAG before and got great advice and hope you can help again please.

 

I think Im about to lose my home.

 

The mortgage is with Santander and the mortgage is in my husbands name. My husband is self employed and his contract finished last August 2011 and hasn't been able to find work since.

 

Ive managed to find a full time job but my income isn't enough to cover all our debits so Im having to deal with these too.

 

My husband has a history of stress / depression and I've only just become aware of how serious matters had become with the mortgage company.

 

When I started work we offered Santander £250per month instead of our contractual payment of £650 per month. We had already missed about 3 mortgage payments by this point.

 

We paid the £250 per month, however Santander continued to chase for the money. When we explained the situation to them, their response was "well you can continue to pay £250 however it will do no good" (nice!).

 

My husband stopped paying the money.

 

H&L Interactive have issued a Repossession Order and my husband is due in court on Friday 27th July. Last week I spoke to H&L Interactive to find out if we (my husband) could change from repayment mortgage to interest only - however I've been chasing H&L Interactive for a reply and they told me today it can take a couple of weeks for Santander to response - even though the court case is this week.

 

In addition, I emailed H&L as we've had an offer from a family member to help pay the arrears if Santander can come to some affordable agreement plan.

 

Also, Im waiting to hear how much we will get in working tax credits. We've had an estimate and if we get that amount we can pay our full contractual mortgage.

 

We've sent budget sheets to H&L showing what we can 'realistically' pay and stick to - which happens to be the £250 mark. Now that Im aware of the situation Im managing it all for my husband.

 

I don't know what to do next??? I've got to prepare a Defence and I'd like to put together something that basically says its not a case of we can pay but don't - we can only afford to pay £££ until my husband returns to work.

 

Thankfully he's got an interview today - Wednesday 25th - so fingers crossed! The pay isn't great but better than nothing I know!

 

I don't want to lose my home and hope the situation isn't too far to get back from.

 

Can anyone help either advice or what to put in the defence. I've never been to court and know it will be down to me to try and keep our home - but up against Santander solicitors its all a bit dauting.

 

Much appreciated. x

Edited July 25, 2012 by Don4071

[Don4071]

Does this sound ok????

 

 

My work contract ended in August 2011 and have continued to seek employment.

 

However, I have a provisional offer of a new job. Subject to CRB checks and this will be confirmed in the middle of August 2012. I don’t envisage any issues.

 

My wife has secured a full time permanent role.

 

We have a Working and Child Tax Credit claim application currently being processed by HRMC. (The reason for the late application is due to initially being advised we could not claim however following advice by CAB, HRMC concur we are eligible to claim).

 

I have asked Santander to consider switching from a repayment mortgage to an interest only mortgage.

 

I have also been advised by CAB that I am eligible to apply for mortgage interest assistance which I have started.

 

Family members have loaned me some money and I have offered to use this money to pay a large portion of the mortgage arrears to Santander.

 

There are three dependent children resident in the property.

 

My wife is resident in the proper.

 

I respectfully ask the court to take into account when considering my circumstances s.36 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

 

I assure the court that I am committed to clearing the arrears and respectfully ask that this case in adjourned until I have confirmation of:

 

 

• Job Offer

• Working & Child Tax Credit amount.

• Santander’s response to switching mortgages

• Santander’s response to more affordable payments.

 

 

 

 

 

I hope to arrange a more affordable payment plan in the short term with Santander and eventually resume contractual payments.

 

 

It is my aim to provide a stable home for my family and also to avoid the expensive and unnecessary costs which would undoubtedly arise following repossession in the current property climate.

 

I believe the above to be true and factual.

 

Signed....................................................................................... Date............................................

[Ell-enn]

You're going to have to give the judge some figures to work on - his job is to consider a) how much the arrears are b) how much you can afford to pay towards the arrears c) how long it will take to pay the arrears off.

 

 

You need to affix a budget sheet to the statement so the judge can see how you are going to afford the mortgage going forward and something towards the arrears - did you use the budget sheet as shown in the guide here? http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?325527-CAG-guide-Are-you-facing-eviction-or-repossession there are also examples of how to set out a statement properly.

 

 

Also you have not made an offer of payment in your statement so you have given the judge nothing to consider - and you will need the Norgan case law to support that (again shown in the guide)

 

 

How much is your relative willing to give you towards the arrears and would you be able to have documentary proof of that in time for the court hearing?

 

 

Did you return the N11M defence form to the court when you received the claim for possession?

[Don4071]

Thanks for your reply.

 

I've done the figures and as it stands we got 0 left in the budget to pay any money to the mortgage

 

I've asked for an adjournment as it all rests on how much we get from HRMC working tax credit which is still in application stage.

 

I've devised a 3 stage budget plan.

 

Stage 1 shows theres no money in the pot.

Stage 2 shows how much money is in the pot once working tax credit is approved.

 

Hubby now as a provisional job offer so

 

Stage 3 shows how much money is in the pot once he is earning.

 

I've got the money from family member in my bank account so ready to give Santander the money the second they ask for it.

 

Im trying to be realistic with the court and simply asking for an adjournment until at least we've had our working tax claim assessed.

 

Is this not the right thing to do?

[barbershop0]

Have you any proof of the new job in writing?

 

You say that you have the Working Family tax credit claim in process, but you also have the mortgage interest assistance claim in progress?

[Lea_HTH]

You can't claim working tax credits and mortgage interest assistance - they are contradictory benefits. If both you and your husband are working, SMI will not be payable...and of course your tax credits may well differ if they have been calculated based on only one wage. Changes are now made quickly...and you will need to inform the tax credit office of any changes to your circumstances.

 

You'll need to pay something during the adjournment, it is unusual (but not unheard of) for a judge to say nothing has to be paid in the interim unless there is substantial equity in the property for there to be no prejudice to the claimant.

 

You may need to re-work any figures you've put together thus far and find something to pay towards the mortgage.

[Don4071]

Ok. Didn't realise working tax and mortgage interest assistance where in twined benefits. Will sort that out.

 

Don't know what to tell the courts then because hubby only had interview yesterday and he's waiting on CRB checks so NO there's nothing in writing from the organisation to say he's been offered the job - its all verbal and provisional at the moment.

 

The crux of the matter is all dependant upon assistance from HMRC by way of working and child tax credits - so until then there is no money to pay. In the budget sheet it looks bad too as as we are actually minus each month and having to loan of family to survive.

 

The only suggestion is if the courts consider I use the money I had for the arrears to pay to Santander some sort of affordable instalments and then put the actual arrears onto the period of the mortgage.

 

 

Another thought....... Im not on the mortgage. Will the courts consider my income?

 

My hubby isn't getting anything so my income is all we can show at the moment.

[Lea_HTH]

They're not entwined, they're contradictory. You can't work and claim a benefit that is meant for the unemployed (SMI)...though your husband, if still unemployed, can claim JSA, which would entitle him to also claim SMI - though it isn't payable until 13 weeks after the JSA claim. As soon as he signs off JSA the SMI would stop.

 

But presumably you are claiming WTC as a family and you will receive an element for your husband? In which case, he may not be/have been entitled to JSA...

 

Benefits can get very complicated, so I would suggest that any changes in your circumstances are reported to the relevant department as soon as possible so that adjustments to your claim can be made. The last thing you want at this moment in time is to end up repaying overpayments.

 

In the interim, if there is a potential job offer on the table (if the job is offered soon, get them to put the offer in writing, detailing salary, hours, date of pay, length of contract), so that you can provide a copy to the court. If no offer is made, provide proof of JSA and an application for SMI. An adjournment will only work if there is concrete proof things will change - and will work better if there is a payment plan in place for the period of the adjournment. E.g. if you could use the lump sum you're gathering to pay monthly amounts (so long as they meet the CMI), then that would be good.

 

Have you and your husband been referred to the local authority for an assessment for mortgage rescue/mortgage protection fund? If not, call your local authority and arrange to speak to the department that deal with both (housing) - there may be potential for you to also receive help from them.

[Lea_HTH]

Oh, and you're a family, so there is no reason why the courts would not consider both your incomes. You may not be on the mortgage, but you have a beneficial interest in the property.

[Don4071]

Thanks for everyones advice.

 

The court was packed waiting to hear about their mortgage cases!

 

The judge trusted there was a job offer and was prepared for my husband to use the lump sum to meet the CMI. The court used their discretion to allow my husband to pay the arrears over the next 3 years rather than 4 months which the solicitor acting for Santander was pushing for.

 

End result repossession suspended for 3 years.

 

I must say the court was very sympathetic to people who have been hit by the recession and although he didn't say it I defiantly got the vibe he was on our side.

[Ell-enn]

Great result - well done

[barbershop0]

congrats, big weight off you mind

[Don4071]

Hello.

 

July 2012 due to my husband losing his job a year or so earlier my husband was up in front of a court due to not paying the mortage.

 

Luckily the judge ordered that we resumed payment plus installments to pay Santander the monies outstanding..

 

kept up with the payments to HL interactive

 

how have missed 2 payments and

 

now got ltr telling us they had made an request to the court for an eviction.

 

Mortgage is in my husbands name and not sure what we can do.

 

Can you help pls.

[Sidewinder]

I have sent an SOS asking for urgent help for you

 

Do you have a previous thread which we can tie into this for some more background?

[Sidewinder]

Ah - found it!

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?359248-Santander-Repossession-Order-Court-27th-July-2012-Help-please!&p=3921009

[dx100uk]

merged for history

 

dx

[Don4071]

Thanks. Hope I can get some help

[citizenB]

Why have you missed the payments - is there an employment issue again ?

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, you can apply to the court on an N244 to have the eviction stopped (we can help you with that) but you will need to give a reason for missing payments and show the judge that you can resume payments going forward.

[painty]

This sounds so familiar to my husband problem, he is faced with eviction and has two kids I. House with him, but it's slightly different in that he had a verbal agreement to pay the mortgage by a different date of the miponth as he gets paid later in month, so arrears have built up, through no fault if his, but they insisting on taking him to court. So know exactly how you felt