Mortgage / House Repossession

[RJH]

Hi,

Just a quick message for now. Is there anyone on here who could help with a mortgaged house that is in the process of being repossessed?

Long story short, it’s my ex who lives in the house, I’ve not been in the properly for 9.5 years and there is no communication. Second charge has been called for and unpaid so house been repossessed as soon as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted. Both names on mortgage.

wondering if anyone can help with advice on whether the fact I’ve not been there for so long and the fact I’ve Not been kept informed may help when it comes to apportioning costs.

happy to answer any questions to help someone help me out as it’s blowing my mind at the minute and I can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks

[Crazy council]

Hi, was there much asset in the property when you left.
Did you have kids and who looked after them.
Did the second charge get fixed after you left.
Did you make any formal agreements when you left
Is ther currently any asset

[RJH]

Crazy council thanks for coming back to me. I’ll answer properly when I’m home from work but for now:

Unsure about asset in the property when I left (presuming you mean value)

Yes, we have 1 daughter together and her mother looks after her. She is now married and has 3 other kids too.

Second charge was arranged at the start as part of the mortgage.

No formal agreements in place.

Unsure on any asset in the property at the moment (again presuming you mean value)

Just to add, I was declared bankrupt in 2013 and as part of that I have a separate charge against me that needs to be paid off when house is eventually sold

[Crazy council]

Hi

Asset is value of property minus registered charges and costs ( mortgage and any secondary charge and fees ), that makes a big difference due to the the bankruptcy.
At the time of your admin for the bankruptcy, was your value in the property fixed ( ie did she get an offer to buy you out at a fixed costs, was any part of it valued as you estate )

If the asset was low ( few k ) the administrator can write it off due too low value after charges.

Under most curcs, any increase in asset of the property would be for her ( unless admin is still ongoing ) but any value at the time of the administration will be due to the estate ( administrator ), like you share

Also, the age of the children might have an effect if there under 18, they will go for possession but not eviction. and the cost can mount against you estate.

was a charge levied against the property by the administrator .

A word of caution if you have any asset/value. The administrator will charge you loads for any interaction with them, do what you can yourself and only interact with them when needed.

Also, you can challenge the fees charged by the administrator when the estate is in the process of being finalised.

A key bit of info would be how the administrator valued you share in property at your bankruptcy and how they acted.

[RJH]

Crazy council thank you again for replying.

i was 23 when I was made bankrupt so other than understanding the basics I didn’t really understand the rest of it such as the questions you have asked / points you’ve raised.

i obviously need to find out this information so could you perhaps advise who I would need to contact or what ways I can find the information out for:

- Asset when I left
- How the administrator valued my share in the property at my bankruptcy and how they acted

in regards to your other points:

- Our daughter is now 12 years old; she has 3 other children who are younger with the man she married and lives in that house with.
- I’m led to believe that the builders (who the second charge was due to be paid back to) have been granted repossession of the property in court (have papers pertaining to this) and before Covid-19 my ex was told she had to be out the house by the end of March 20 (obviously now extended).
- I’m of the belief that my ex was never offered the opportunity to buy me out at a fixed cost. And if she was then surely I’d know about it?

Just doing a bit of other reading about the charge against the property against me personally, I believe that would be a Section 313 order under the Insolvency Act 1986. I can try and find out what the current cost of that is at the moment if needed?

Finally, Halifax is the mortgage lender and they are now going to take it down the legal route (which is the way I would prefer given my relationship with the ex and her refusal to cooperate with them). I spoke to them the other day to find out that my ex hasn’t paid the mortgage since November 28th, 2019 and won’t speak to them. Therefore there are now arrears of just short of £5k and I believe there is still £111k on the loan from them to pay back.

That’s all I can think of at the moment, but again happy to answer any/all questions to aid anyone able to help out.

[Crazy council]

Hi, I had to fight a trustee myself ( 2007-2012 ) over my property, i won, but the curcs were unusual to say the least, but becuase i had to fight, i learnt a lot about the rules around the processes they have to follow.

If the builder ( second charge ) has gone for the possession/eviction, they will get it, i presumed it was the trustee and they would have had to wait till the kids were 18.

For you, the most important thing is how the trustee dealt with your value in teh property at the time of the bankruptcy . It should be on any paperwork he sent you at the time of the administration, and there would be a charge registerd against the property if he did

If theres any asset in it for you, you need to keep an eye on the costs any admins charge and you can act to protect it. i will write up later.

if there is asset for you, you might be able to force the sale and save a lot in charges

[RJH]

Crazy council

The builder has gone for the possession and eviction and this was granted so as you say will happen.

I cannot locate my bankruptcy paperwork at the moment but would it be worth me sending a letter to the Offical Receiver's office to ask them for copies and ask about things such as what they did with the value in the property at that time? In terms of the charge registered against the property, will that be the Section 313 I mentioned, or something different?

[RJH]

Sorry, I also forgot to ask what would be the best way of finding out what asset was in the property when I left and then what asset is in the property as of now?

[Crazy council]

Hi

When your bankruptcy was with teh official receivers, they would have iether made the determination themselves on your value of the property, or passed it to a firm to do it. In the charging documents that relate to your estate at the time of bankruptcy, they would have guessed your share and the value of the property then, It depend on how the administrator classed it at the time, will indicate if any increase in value is due to them or you.

So its important to find out how they classed it. Sometime the OR can help on this, or at least indicate whos dealing with it.

[RJH]

Crazy council I will get onto this now, OR is only contactable by email at the minute so I'll let you know as soon as I've heard back.

In the meantime is it worth me contacting Halifax about the mortgage again and asking them to send me full details of the whole mortgage and history of payments etc? I ask this as I have no paperwork at all for it and the ex doesn't communicate at all with me or them.

[Crazy council]

I would wait untill you know how the OR dealt with your value in the property, It may be in your interest not to rattle the cage of anyone if you know what i mean, especially if there is a chance of some asset still in the property.

One you know what it is, then you might want the other bits from halifax, but ther might be a time/distance ( 7 years ) thing thats in your favour but the legislation is complex and you need to know how the OR classed it first before you act or push anyone else to act

I just dont want to set you off on the worng path becuasehow the OR dealt with your value in teh prperty at the time is important

[RJH]

Crazy council OK thanks, just waiting on the response from the OR. I have asked for copies of my paperwork from the County Court too about my bankruptcy.

[RJH]

Crazy council just an update to say I haven't heard a thing back, and the online site tells me that they are all working from home and not available by phoine. I guess it's just a waiting game, or is there another way to find out the information I require?

[RJH]

Crazy council I've re-emailed them todat, over a month on from the original message. I've had nothing back from them whatsoever so I was wondering how else I might be able to find this information out? I'm not even able to call the OR as they aren't taking calls or receiving physical mail!

[RJH]

Crazy council finally a reply from them. One officer has sent me all of the paperwoirk I filed to become bankrupt, the other has contacted me to ask me for my contact number as he would like to clarify what exactly I would like to know. I presume this is alright to go ahead with?