Halifax Mortgage arrears and pending repossession ** Urgent **

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, you should get some papers from the court confirming what date the hearing will be... among those papers will be an N11M defence form. Q.27 of that form is the most important part and I can help you write the statement for that.

 

It's doubtful if the date of the hearing will be any closer than mid - to end April, so we have plenty of time to prepare and to gather proof of your payments etc.

 

You should most definitely attend the hearing - that way you'll know exactly what is being said and what conditions they ask for. Lots of solicitors and mortgage companies tell people they don't need to attend and then the poor sod finds out they're got condidtions on the suspension that they wouldn't have got had they attended.

 

The hearing will be over in 5 minutes anyway - but you do need to go.

 

Ell

[sleepingdog]

Hi jj69 ,I fully agree with what has been said by Ell-enn , myself I would write back to the solicitors and state that as you have been making full payments this year and see no reason why that should change in the near future that I do not believe in the present circumstances that there is a justifiable reason for going for suspended repo , I would most definatly attend court and state the same to the judge .If they get the suspended repo then that will hang on your credit file (CCJ) as mine has even though I now have no arrears and it does affect many things.

By the way Drydens told me about proceedings via letter.

sleepingdog

[sleepingdog]

Hi jj69 , the answer to the other questions , The Halifax sent letter after 5th full payment stating that after 6 full payments would include arrears into mortgage. Never asked for different product then as I expected to be declined ,it was only after interest rate cuts that I enquired and found out they was willing to change product.

sleepingdog

[sleepingdog]

Hi jj69 ,regarding the info you got from solicitors acting for Halifax ,I would also state in a letter to them and copied to Halifax legal team that if this case is going to court that you will show the judge the letter from Halifax rejecting Contractual + some towards arrears that you have and also be asking why you are being fianancially penalised when it was not your fault that you lost your job and yet now you are back on track Halifax seem to want to burden you with more unessasary solicitors fees ,court fees interest etc and that you will be asking the judge for your costs in this matter and to ask that you do not have to pay the claiments costs as you feel that it was not necessary to bring this case to court. (some judges may consider this case a waste of their time)

sleepingdog

Edited March 12, 2009 by sleepingdog
forgot some info

[jj69]

Hi jj69 ,regarding the info you got from solicitors acting for Halifax ,I would also state in a letter to them and copied to Halifax legal team that if this case is going to court that you will show the judge the letter from Halifax rejecting Contractual + some towards arrears that you have and also be asking why you are being fianancially penalised when it was not your fault that you lost your job and yet now you are back on track Halifax seem to want to burden you with more unessasary solicitors fees ,court fees interest etc and that you will be asking the judge for your costs in this matter and to ask that you do not have to pay the claiments costs as you feel that it was not necessary to bring this case to court. (some judges may consider this case a waste of their time)

sleepingdog

 

Wow..great information,did not know I could appeal against these costs although I plan to as there are some whacking charges on the account.

The girl at solicitors stated I should recieve a court date in the post but im not sure if this is all hot air to keep me paying.To be honest they were really good on the phone no pressure to pay more etc but then as Ell-enn pointed out I might end up with extra conditions on the order.

Did you ever claim back charges on the account or just leave it as is..?

[jj69]

Hi there, you should get some papers from the court confirming what date the hearing will be... among those papers will be an N11M defence form. Q.27 of that form is the most important part and I can help you write the statement for that.

 

It's doubtful if the date of the hearing will be any closer than mid - to end April, so we have plenty of time to prepare and to gather proof of your payments etc.

 

You should most definitely attend the hearing - that way you'll know exactly what is being said and what conditions they ask for. Lots of solicitors and mortgage companies tell people they don't need to attend and then the poor sod finds out they're got condidtions on the suspension that they wouldn't have got had they attended.

 

The hearing will be over in 5 minutes anyway - but you do need to go.

 

Ell

 

Just so you know Ell-enn I popped home at lunchtime to find a letter fromm the solicitors which said they would be going for repossesion if I could not bring arrears down to two months by March 16th..this was before todays talk over the phone..but I could still negotiate a payment plan..just a standard scare letter I guess..

Would it be of any benefit to write to the solicitors and ask to cancel going for suspended order ?

Also at court can I put my case across about charges etc...?

[Ell-enn]

They might be going for repossession - but they won't get it!! You've already offered a payment arrangement - just keep paying and see if they actually send court papers - we'll deal with that if they arrive.

 

Ell

[sleepingdog]

Hi jj69 ,no I never claimed back charges,didn't want to rock the boat .If I had they may not have have put arrears onto mortgage ,may not have given me another product, who knows?. I was just glad to save the home.I do feel more secure now due to fixed rate package and as I have said before after reading some of the horror posts on this site I can't really complain at the way Halifax handled my case.

sleepingdog

[jj69]

Hi jj69 ,no I never claimed back charges,didn't want to rock the boat .If I had they may not have have put arrears onto mortgage ,may not have given me another product, who knows?. I was just glad to save the home.I do feel more secure now due to fixed rate package and as I have said before after reading some of the horror posts on this site I can't really complain at the way Halifax handled my case.

sleepingdog

 

Sleepingdog you advice has been outstanding thanks...

When you spoke to the Halifax after six months were they flexible in terms of changing you to a different rate ( ie : charges to move,certain terms & conditions ) ?

I am on a variable rate which has been going down but was thinking of switching to interest only for a year then fixing rate,or perhaps fixing rate first.With interest only I could lower my payments then pay off some loans and CC.Depends on the Halifax though...

[sleepingdog]

Hi jj69 ,After 6 months when they put the arrears on the mortgage I never guessed that I may be able to get another product from them due to my horrid credit history ( I had already been refused a basic account by banking institutions). It was around 14 months after court appearance ( 12 full payments) that I dropped into a local branch and asked if there was anything that they could do for me as I was worried that when interest rates go up I would struggle with mortgage again ,they took phone number and the mortgage expert phoned back and arranged appointment telling me that she could even authorise fixed rate deal over phone. I didn't believe her until papers signed and first payment went out without any problems. After 3 years of money troubles brought on by redundancy this was first time ANY financial insitution has seen common sense and actually helped.

sleepingdog

[jj69]

Hi jj69 ,After 6 months when they put the arrears on the mortgage I never guessed that I may be able to get another product from them due to my horrid credit history ( I had already been refused a basic account by banking institutions). It was around 14 months after court appearance ( 12 full payments) that I dropped into a local branch and asked if there was anything that they could do for me as I was worried that when interest rates go up I would struggle with mortgage again ,they took phone number and the mortgage expert phoned back and arranged appointment telling me that she could even authorise fixed rate deal over phone. I didn't believe her until papers signed and first payment went out without any problems. After 3 years of money troubles brought on by redundancy this was first time ANY financial insitution has seen common sense and actually helped.

sleepingdog

 

So you decided after 12 months to try for another product.I only ask as I am going to try after the six monthly payment to see if it can be fixed or changed.Not sure of the outcome what with HBOS situation at the moment.Were you still required to show pay slips etc ?

[sleepingdog]

Hi jj69 , No I did not have to show anything as I was not borrowing any more money. If I had wanted to increase lending then they would have run credit checks and I would have been refused. I did not try after 6 months as interest rates were not falling as they have recently and I would not have gained anything.

sleepingdog

[jj69]

Hi jj69 , No I did not have to show anything as I was not borrowing any more money. If I had wanted to increase lending then they would have run credit checks and I would have been refused. I did not try after 6 months as interest rates were not falling as they have recently and I would not have gained anything.

sleepingdog

 

I see,I thought you may not be entitled to another product because of the court case,but I see it was personal choice...in that case I plan to put my proposal to them after the court hearing...nothing ventured,nothing gained..

Did you complete everything over the phone and docs sent out to sign ?

Also did your mortgage go back to the ordinary mortgage centre or back to legal ?

[sleepingdog]

Hi jj69 ,if it was me I would wait until arrears are put onto term of mortgage, I would think that looks better. I completed everything at local branch as I did not trust over phone. Legal had nothing to do with it , local branch mortgage consultant arranged everything, ( Halifax still have suspended repossesion on property for 6 years from origonal court date ).

sleepingdog

[jj69]

Hi jj69 ,if it was me I would wait until arrears are put onto term of mortgage, I would think that looks better. I completed everything at local branch as I did not trust over phone. Legal had nothing to do with it , local branch mortgage consultant arranged everything, ( Halifax still have suspended repossesion on property for 6 years from origonal court date ).

sleepingdog

 

I did not realise that suspended stayed on for 6 years...

Yes I will wait for the arrears to be put onto mortgage.When you spoke to the local branch did you explain the situation you were in ? I thought you might get the brush off because of the arrears..

Also did they give you a few options to consider or was it basically ' you can only have this product ' etc...?

[sleepingdog]

Hi jj69, Yes I did explain situation to local branch and they said would pass info onto mortgage consultant and get her to phone me, they could have offered me an appointment but as I felt that they would not offer me anything I did not want to waste my time. As it turned out they could help me , I only asked for fixed rate as my worry was interest rates increasing but there was other products that was on offer , I also was able to extend term to help reduce payments. The new product also offers payment holidays which if my old product had offered then I may not have a suspended repossesion on my credit file.

sleepingdog

[jj69]

Hi jj69, Yes I did explain situation to local branch and they said would pass info onto mortgage consultant and get her to phone me, they could have offered me an appointment but as I felt that they would not offer me anything I did not want to waste my time. As it turned out they could help me , I only asked for fixed rate as my worry was interest rates increasing but there was other products that was on offer , I also was able to extend term to help reduce payments. The new product also offers payment holidays which if my old product had offered then I may not have a suspended repossesion on my credit file.

sleepingdog

 

Wow that is good news,I thought you were be treated like something they had scraped off their shoe.

Did the process take long to switch over..also what timescale was this ? Are you talking about last year ?

In terms of the other products did they include a fee to change over ?

[jj69]

They might be going for repossession - but they won't get it!! You've already offered a payment arrangement - just keep paying and see if they actually send court papers - we'll deal with that if they arrive.

 

Ell

 

Hi Ell-enn..sorry to come to you direct but something Sleepingdog mentioned got me thinking he said a suspended repo stays on your file for six years.In your experience ( if it gets to court ) can I defend to prevent the suspended order ? If it is going to complicate things I will just go with the suspended and keep paying as per normal but would much prefer not to have that on my credit file...

[sleepingdog]

Hi jj69, This all happened this year, saw the consultant and was told the change over was almost instant. The next payment due was 2 weeks after appointment and the reduced amount was taken out. The only fee payable was the fee for the product which varied depending on what product you wanted and that was put on the mortgage term.On the question that you ask Ell-enn , I would still be surprised if they go for a suspended possession order in your position and if they did I would definately defend and ask why they are doing so and the fact that you have shown that you have got over your fiancial problems yet the burden of this case is costing you unneccessary money and that it seems that you are being penilised for something that happened a while ago now.I would also argue that as the court case is not neccessary not to fix costs against you and also ask for your costs, who knows, if the judge thinks the court case a waste of time you may well get awarded costs I did recently regarding another matter.

sleepingdog

sleepingdog

[jj69]

Hi jj69, This all happened this year, saw the consultant and was told the change over was almost instant. The next payment due was 2 weeks after appointment and the reduced amount was taken out. The only fee payable was the fee for the product which varied depending on what product you wanted and that was put on the mortgage term.On the question that you ask Ell-enn , I would still be surprised if they go for a suspended possession order in your position and if they did I would definately defend and ask why they are doing so and the fact that you have shown that you have got over your fiancial problems yet the burden of this case is costing you unneccessary money and that it seems that you are being penilised for something that happened a while ago now.I would also argue that as the court case is not neccessary not to fix costs against you and also ask for your costs, who knows, if the judge thinks the court case a waste of time you may well get awarded costs I did recently regarding another matter.

sleepingdog

sleepingdog

 

So the mortgage consultant did not query your income at all ? Just your ability to pay ?

Thanks regarding the possible court case,I am also surprised as to their insistance that it must go to court still,and now I feel more in control I will push for the suspended order not to be placed and also any costs be removed.

I know your situation was slightly different but did at any point during your case did the judge have a go at Halifax or say they do not need the suspended order ?

[jj69]

They might be going for repossession - but they won't get it!! You've already offered a payment arrangement - just keep paying and see if they actually send court papers - we'll deal with that if they arrive.

 

Ell

 

Hi Ell-enn..got a standard blah letter from Walker Morris saying if I paid arrears to under two motnhs not going to court etc etc..but they have issued a summons with my local court along with a claim no ( checked it online as stated in letter but nothing showing )

They have also sent a payments list from last year up to present which to be honest apart from missed payments in Mar,Aug,Oct,Nov the other months have payments on them apart from April and Dec which show part payments of £500 and £400 instead of £890 I am shocked that this was not resolved sooner as I have been making substancial payments in the other months.

What's the procedure after this ? Await a court date ?

 

They have also sent me a list of charges which as I suspect include £35 arrears letters x 3,£100 counselling, 2xfailed promise £40 ,solicitor £125...

Do you think I can claim these back ?

[jj69]

Hi jj69, This all happened this year, saw the consultant and was told the change over was almost instant. The next payment due was 2 weeks after appointment and the reduced amount was taken out. The only fee payable was the fee for the product which varied depending on what product you wanted and that was put on the mortgage term.On the question that you ask Ell-enn , I would still be surprised if they go for a suspended possession order in your position and if they did I would definately defend and ask why they are doing so and the fact that you have shown that you have got over your fiancial problems yet the burden of this case is costing you unneccessary money and that it seems that you are being penilised for something that happened a while ago now.I would also argue that as the court case is not neccessary not to fix costs against you and also ask for your costs, who knows, if the judge thinks the court case a waste of time you may well get awarded costs I did recently regarding another matter.

sleepingdog

sleepingdog

 

Hi there...

Well see prev post..got my letter from Walker Morris..with a claim number..

I have payments on the account over last year as follows:

Feb - due £917 paid 1050

Mar - due £907 paid 0.00

April - due £907 paid £500

May - due £893 paid £903

June - due £893 paid £900

July - due £893 paid £700

Aug - due £893 paid £0.00

Sep - due £893 paid £1193

Oct - due £893 paid 0.00

Nov - due £861 paid 0.00

Dec - due £751 paid 400

 

and since Jan 09 to present £800 but paid £880 upto March...

ok some missed payments but god at least they got something..

Got a letter from solicitors saying they have issued a summons , did you get a similar document and if so how long before the court issued a date ?

[sleepingdog]

Hi jj69 , I put the timescale from when Halifax told me in a letter that they were going to start legal action to when I had court date in post 35 ( it was quick) .The judge said that Halifax were within their rights to go for possession as I had broken the agreement , but was helpful in listening to me and given me more time to remedy situation.

sleepingdog

[jj69]

Hi jj69 , I put the timescale from when Halifax told me in a letter that they were going to start legal action to when I had court date in post 35 ( it was quick) .The judge said that Halifax were within their rights to go for possession as I had broken the agreement , but was helpful in listening to me and given me more time to remedy situation.

sleepingdog

 

At least you got a sympathetic judge...were your payments as random as mine or missing more ?

[Ell-enn]

Hi JJ, it can be anything between 4 and 6 weeks away from the court hearing date. I would be surprised if it is sooner than that. Wait and see if the court papers arrive (sometimes they threaten the court date to scare you into paying up). We'll deal with them appropriately if they arrive.

 

Try not to worry too much - there's always something that can be done.