Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

[Thalan]

My mortgage company (Egg Banking PLC) are taking me to court seeking a possession order on my house. Court hearing is on the 6th of October.

The case is being handled by Drydens Limited. They say in their letter that if I can make a reasonable offer of payment of my usual mortgage payment plus something towards the arrears, then they will ask the court for a suspended order for possession on those terms.

Can anyone give me an idea what would be a reasonable offer please ? It’s not quite as simple as working out what I can afford. I am not well at the moment and not making any money, I have zero income. (I am self employed). My doctor said I was suffering from depression and gave me antidepressants, but these made me feel much worse, so I stopped taking them.

However, my parents have agreed to make payments for me, so that I don’t lose my house. My parents are not particular well off, and I don’t want to ask them for more than I have too.

The mortgage is quite small in relation to the value of the house:

My monthly mortgage payment is £86.58
My arrears currently stand at £825
The total amount of the mortgage is £18,000
My house is worth around £100,000 to 120,000

The situation may change in the future, I may start working again and in the mean time I am looking at if there are any benefits I can claim. But for now, I need to submit an offer of a regular monthly payment. That should be £86.58 plus a contribution towards my arrears.

What would be a reasonable offer that the mortgage company or the court would be likely to accept. Help with that and any other advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Dave


Additional information:

I’ve been making payments of £100 per month for the past couple of months, via Drydens, but I missed the payment in August, and that is presumably why they have started court proceedings. I did try and make payments of £150 and £200 in March and April, but the payments where declined by Egg with no explanation. We eventually found out that it was because I was making the payments with my dad’s VISA card and EGG will not accept VISA. Drydens did not seem to be aware of this and could only tell me that the payments had been declined with no explanation. EGG would not talk to me directly and just told me to call Drydens, so it took 3 months to find out that payment via VISA was unacceptable! If someone had told me that sooner, then the arrears would be a fair bit less at this point.

[WendyB]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

Hi Dave and welcome to Beagles.

Firstly, don't worry, I'm sure that this can be sorted. You say that the hearing is on 6th October, have you submitted and defence/witness statement yet to the Court or to Dryden's?

I know you say you have zero income, however are you not getting any SSP etc? Have you checked whether you are entitled to any help with the mortgage interest?

I know when I had problems with my mortgage some years ago, the mortgage company (it was TSB at the time) agreed that the arrears could be paid back over 3 years. In your case this would work out to an extra 22.92 per month. But really, it depends how much your parents can reasonably afford to give you each month, doesn't it? Best thing to do, before you make any offer at all, is to ask your parents how much they can afford, and make sure that they are not pushing themselves to the limit.

Another thought, what is the term on the mortgage and how long is left? There could be a possibility extending the mortgage term, which would have the effect of lowering your monthly repayments, also, there have been cases whereby the arrears can be paid off over the life of the mortgage.

With regards to the possession hearing itself, don't worry too much over this, they tend to be fairly informal, so to speak, with just the Judge, the soliciitor for the mortgage company, and you, in a little room. It's not a packed out courthouse with a gallery full of friends, family and news reporters. As long as you can go in there prepared, with an income and expenditure form, explain things clearly to the Judge etc, then things should be ok.

No doubt someone else will be along soon to advise further.

[Thalan]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

Hi Wendy and thanks for your response.

No, I have not submitted my defense\witness statement yet. I need to do that asap and thought it wise to ask for a little advice on the problem before deciding what to write.

Yes, there is a possibility of SSP or help towards the mortgage, but I am not in receipt of any at the moment. I am looking into this, but want to formulate my offer and response based on my current circumstances as I don’t know for sure what help I might be entitled to, if any, and when that might start.

I have asked my parents, and they are happy with £100 a month. They could stretch to a little more, maybe £120, but I don’t want to ask them for more unless I have to as things are tight enough for them as it is and they are helping me with other expenses too, like council tax and general living expenses. But I feel that £100 might be a little low and I don’t want to make an offer that the court will reject.

There is about 15 years left on the mortgage.

Thanks and best regards
Dave.

[enaid]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

Is this a Repayment mortgage? If so could you not ask the lender to put you on an Interest only one bringing down your monthly payments.

[WendyB]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

Yes, there is a possibility of SSP or help towards the mortgage, but I am not in receipt of any at the moment. I am looking into this, but want to formulate my offer and response based on my current circumstances as I don’t know for sure what help I might be entitled to, if any, and when that might start.

Well I think, that you should get onto the benefits agency etc and make this a bit more of an urgent matter. Point out to them that you may well lose your home etc etc etc and stress that you need a decision quickly. Have you actually made a claim yet?

Also, Enaid's suggestion is a good one, if you could knock it down to interest only that would be a help.

Tbh I'm not sure that you actually want this to get as far as Court, am just thinking that they might come up with arguments about the fact that it's going to be your parents paying it, rather than you. Might be worth contacting Drydens to offer them the £100. This is quite a good offer in my opinion, its 15.62 % above your normal payment and would clear the arrears in 5 years.
See what anyone else thinks though....

[TUTTSI]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

Also if you can agree a repayment of arrears over the remaining term of your mortgage as per the Norgan case http://www.google.co.uk/url?url=http...jWiOhNHGp3-jFg this should avoid a repo.

[Thalan]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

Thanks for your replies.

WendyB, Yes, I don’t want this to get as far as court, but as the court date has been set for the 6th of October, I can’t see how I can avoid it now. Drydens said that if I make an acceptable offer, then they will seek a suspended possession order instead of repossession. They said nothing about canceling the court date.

Unfortunately, the mortgage is already interest only.

Best regards
Dave

[TUTTSI]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

Then an acceptable offer and please quote the Norgan case when putting this in writing.

The Cheltenham and Gloucester v Norgan case I mentioned allows you to spread the arrears over the remaining term of the mortgage. I understand that by offering £100 you would be repaying the arrears in 5-6 years. Because of the suspended possession order which they will get granted from the court so you would be well advised to clear thiese arrears in the quickest time possible so you do not have this suspended possession order hanging over you and your parents, if it is possible to pay the arrears quicker then you should try and do so.

A suspended possession order is ok as long as during the time of you paying back the arrears you do not fall further into arrears. This order would then give them cant blanche to repossess your home.

If your parent are going to pay the £100 per month then I suggest that they pay by Direct Debit to the lender directly to ensure that it is paid on time as any excuse for the lender to repossess they will do so.

Tuttsi

Thanks for your replies.

WendyB, Yes, I don’t want this to get as far as court, but as the court date has been set for the 6th of October, I can’t see how I can avoid it now. Drydens said that if I make an acceptable offer, then they will seek a suspended possession order instead of repossession. They said nothing about canceling the court date.

Unfortunately, the mortgage is already interest only.

Best regards
Dave

[Thalan]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

After taking with my parents, I called Drydens this morning and made an offer of £110.00 per month. They said this was acceptable and they would be seeking a suspended possession order only at the court hearing instead of immediate repossession.

I now need to fill in my defense form and then turn up at court and hopefully all will be ok.

In the mean time, I will be looking into the possibility of claiming benefits if possible to take some pressure off my parents and hopefully I will be able to get back to work in the not too distant future.

Thanks for your help
Dave

[TUTTSI]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

Please do everything in writing with Drydens by getting them to confirm your agreement to day of £110 so that they do not change the goal posts.

You then will have a confirmed document from Drydens accepting your offer and their acceptance to that offer. You can then put this before the judge to confirm just in case they pull a fast one.

I am really pleased for you that you can now move forward and start to get your life back together.

Tuttsi

After taking with my parents, I called Drydens this morning and made an offer of £110.00 per month. They said this was acceptable and they would be seeking a suspended possession order only at the court hearing instead of immediate repossession.

I now need to fill in my defense form and then turn up at court and hopefully all will be ok.

In the mean time, I will be looking into the possibility of claiming benefits if possible to take some pressure off my parents and hopefully I will be able to get back to work in the not too distant future.

Thanks for your help
Dave

[The Debt Star]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

That's good advice from Tuttsi there, Dave. Only ever write to them by Signed For post as well. That way you know they got your letters and can prove it if you have to.

If you have a mortgage with Egg I can only say how very, very sorry I feel for you. They are utter complete sheisters of the first order. Total crooks. That is such a small mortgage as well. A pity you can't pay them off and get shot of them. I can't beleieve they are putting you through all of this for arrears of £825.

[Thalan]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

OK thanks. I will be posting a letter to Drydens today confirming my offer to pay £110, I will send it recorded delivery as suggested.

I have also asked in the letter that they reply to confirm the agreement and that they will be asking the court for a suspended possession order at the court hearing. Though I guess that if they are planning on pulling a fast one, then they simply will not reply.

Best regards
Dave

[TUTTSI]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

Can you phone them back and also get an email address of the person that you spoke to yesterday who agreed to this so you can send it by post and email,

OK thanks. I will be posting a letter to Drydens today confirming my offer to pay £110, I will send it recorded delivery as suggested.

I have also asked in the letter that they reply to confirm the agreement and that they will be asking the court for a suspended possession order at the court hearing. Though I guess that if they are planning on pulling a fast one, then they simply will not reply.

Best regards
Dave

[Thalan]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

Thanks for that suggestion Tuttsi. However it don’t this is will be necessary. I received a letter this morning from Drydens that says:

“….. We confirm that your proposal is acceptable to our client , subject to legal proceedings continuing to enable us to obtain an Order for Possession of the above property suspended upon the above terms.”

They then say: “We will be seeking a Money Judgment is respect of the debt – please refer to the Particulars of claim.”

I’m not sure what that last bit means, I don’t know what a “Money Judgment” is, but now that they have confirmed in writing that they are seeking a suspended order then I assume all should be ok as long as I make the payments of £110 every month.

Best regards

Dave

[TUTTSI]

Re: Help with EGG Mortgage arrears and legal proceedings please.

I am not sure that is right and I am sure someone will be along with more knowledge who can advise better on this point. But that was not the deal yesterday when they accepted your offer of repayment.

Are you intending going to court just to make sure they do not back track as I am really not trusting these people based on what you have said what the letter states.

A money judgement will be a black mark on your name and you will find it difficult if you try and obtain credit in the future. Also on what basis are they getting a money judgement when they have accepted your offer to repay and already obtaining a suspended possession order. Did you quote them the Norgan case I mentioned on an earlier thread.

Tuttsi

Thanks for that suggestion Tuttsi. However it don’t this is will be necessary. I received a letter this morning from Drydens that says:

“….. We confirm that your proposal is acceptable to our client , subject to legal proceedings continuing to enable us to obtain an Order for Possession of the above property suspended upon the above terms.”

They then say: “We will be seeking a Money Judgment is respect of the debt – please refer to the Particulars of claim.”

I’m not sure what that last bit means, I don’t know what a “Money Judgment” is, but now that they have confirmed in writing that they are seeking a suspended order then I assume all should be ok as long as I make the payments of £110 every month.

Best regards

Dave