Mortgage Arrears Question

[IanM]

How many months in arrears does someone have to be before a mortgage company can take you to court? i.e. 1,2,3...months.

[Bill-K]

Re: Mortgage Arrears Question

I would guess that this is to be found somewhere in the T&C's of the Mortgage Deed itself. If not, then I would expect it to be - technically - from the moment a mortgagee misses a payment. At that point the terms of the Mortgage have been breached and they are in default, IMO.

However, mortgage providers will be aware that they are expected to show a degree of tolerance. The more tolerance they show, then the more favour they will curry with the courts. This also then allows for dialogue between the mortgagor and mortgagee to take place and be brought into the equation.

So - my VERY unlearned opinion, FWIW, is that the short answer to the question is "Less than a microsecond" - but the "long" answer is.... "a piece of string" !!!

[TUTTSI]

Re: Mortgage Arrears Question

Ian, from our experience with Rooftop it was 3 months it may well be different with other lenders. Even though we had an arrangement in place with them at that time they changed the goal posts and tried to do it anyway.

Courts these days have to be more sympathetic with the Mortgagee and now especially where there is an arrangement in place and they normally give a suspended possession order. Which means if you default during the agreed repayment then they can go back for possession of the property.

[Crispybacon]

Re: Mortgage Arrears Question

Hi IanM

We are with Northern Rock and officially fell one month in arrears a couple of years ago. To be fair to NR they were (mostly) very helpful, as with most things it depended on the individual you spoke to and what mood they were in. On one of my review periods, despite the fact we had been on the same arrangement for 12 months it was rejected by the individual I spoke to. When I queried what had changed, I was informed that they could not agree a payment arrangement that ran longer than 24 months.

When I calculated how much of the arrears I would have paid off after 24 months, the balance meant that increasing the payment by 3 pounds a month would bring the repayment under the 24 months cap. Yes THREE pounds! So I suggested that I could afford an extra 3 pounds a month and the NR person was happy!

Don't necessarily expect common sense to apply!

When it comes to your mortgage I would advise that this is the only exception that you break rule number 1 (that is never contact a creditor by telephone). Speak to your mortgage provider. As already stated, they are expected now to be sympathetic and work with their customers to sort things out. Always ensure you get any agreement put in writing should things ever get to court.

I'm sure you don't need telling this, but mortgage takes priority over ANY other debt (with exception of council tax, utilities, or court fines).

Best
Crispy

[alham]

Re: Mortgage Arrears Question

At three months they can take their gloves off - but DO speak to them, they should try to be accommodating.

[messimoo]

Re: Mortgage Arrears Question

we had problems when we had a mortgage and they should be accomodating ours did try it on but got a short sharp shock when we were put on DWP who paid ther interest they kept sending letters with threats, are you on benefits as after claiming for 13 weeks you can apply for mortgage releif and they cant go for repo, also check with them to see what they are charging for bounced DD's and extra charges you may be able to claim back