About to be evicted - any advice welcome

[neonised]

Hi Everybody

Ok, it's a long story, but I'll try and keep it short.

Married, two kids (8 and 13), 2 mortgages, some equity in house. Mortgage 1 in perfect order. Mortgage 2 is a different story. For reasons not relevant, some time ago got into trouble with it - the mortgage is with GE Money.

At some point they were awarded a suspended possession order. I kept up with the terms of this. However, recently, I was late by a couple of days with two payments, and missed one. The total arrears are £2700. The missed payment is £500. I've made a payment since the missed one and before any action started.

Thanks to this they've applied for an eviction appointment which has been granted and set for 14th November. Speaking to them, they are only going to accept full payment of the arrears, which is beyond me at the moment.

Is there anything I can do?

[strong123]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

Hi Everybody

Ok, it's a long story, but I'll try and keep it short.

Married, two kids (8 and 13), 2 mortgages, some equity in house. Mortgage 1 in perfect order. Mortgage 2 is a different story. For reasons not relevant, some time ago got into trouble with it - the mortgage is with GE Money.

At some point they were awarded a suspended possession order. I kept up with the terms of this. However, recently, I was late by a couple of days with two payments, and missed one. The total arrears are £2700. The missed payment is £500. I've made a payment since the missed one and before any action started.

Thanks to this they've applied for an eviction appointment which has been granted and set for 14th November. Speaking to them, they are only going to accept full payment of the arrears, which is beyond me at the moment.

Is there anything I can do?

Hello and welcome...

I am very sorry to hear what you are going through, but don't worry somebody on here will be along to help.

i went through a similar thing a long time ago and I know how scary it is.

[PlanB]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

Mortgage 2 is a different story. For reasons not relevant, some time ago got into trouble with it - the mortgage is with GE Money.

At some point they were awarded a suspended possession order. I kept up with the terms of this. However, recently, I was late by a couple of days with two payments, and missed one. The total arrears are £2700. The missed payment is £500. I've made a payment since the missed one and before any action started.

Thanks to this they've applied for an eviction appointment which has been granted and set for 14th November. Speaking to them, they are only going to accept full payment of the arrears, which is beyond me at the moment.

I'll be back in the morning to help you with this

In the meantime can you give me a little more information. When you say "an eviction appointment has been granted and set for 14th November" do you mean that's the date of the Bailiffs' visit or is that the date of a hearing following an application for an Eviction Warrant? You have the right to Defend an application for an Eviction Warrant so let me know the situation asap.

Can you also tell me how much is owed on the second mortgage and how long is left to run on the mortgage term (when will the loan expire?). Did you go to the possession hearing which resulted in the SPO which you refer to as having been awarded "at some point" which suggests you may not have been present?

If your monthly payment is £500 (is that towards the arrears or does that include your contractual payment?) and you only have £2,700 arrears that sounds like a very high monthly payment to clear those arrears in a very short space of time (less than six months) so you can apply to the court to vary that suspended possession order to an amount you can afford.

Is this mortgage in joint names and is the property in joint names?

[PlanB]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

In case we don't get to chat tomorrow here's some helpful information. Please ring the Shelter Free Helpline on 0808 800 4444 where you'll get advice on how to get the eviction warrant suspended or set-aside, and how to make an application to the court to vary that original suspended possession order at the same time. Let me help you gather together the information they'll need. You have children so it's time to move heaven and earth to prevent this eviction


http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad..._or_delayed%3F

[Celestine]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

Hi Neonised :doggieyes:

Glad to see you took my advice and started this thread and I'm delighted to see the lady I recommended has popped up to assist. I've just acted for Neonised on a statutory demand and I'm gutted he has now been hit with this problem. Here's hoping the Beagles can help you tackle this new battle xxx Kate

[neonised]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

Hi Plan b - as Celestine mentioned, I was hoping you'd spot me here :-)

I'll be back in the morning to help you with this

In the meantime can you give me a little more information. When you say "an eviction appointment has been granted and set for 14th November" do you mean that's the date of the Bailiffs' visit or is that the date of a hearing following an application for an Eviction Warrant? You have the right to Defend an application for an Eviction Warrant so let me know the situation asap.

That's the date of the Bailiff's visit to actually carry out the eviction. I wasn't aware that you could defend an application or a Bailiff's appointment.

Can you also tell me how much is owed on the second mortgage and how long is left to run on the mortgage term (when will the loan expire?). Did you go to the possession hearing which resulted in the SPO which you refer to as having been awarded "at some point" which suggests you may not have been present?

The loan balance is £49,000 with 15 years (and maybe 2/3 months) left to run.

The SPO was awarded years ago - that's why I say, 'at some time' - I'm really not sure how long ago it was - but the fact that it hangs over you forever means that they can apply for an eviction at any time if you slip up by a couple of days. It seems so unfair. Is remortgaging with someone else the only way to get out from under the SPO?

If your monthly payment is £500 (is that towards the arrears or does that include your contractual payment?) and you only have £2,700 arrears that sounds like a very high monthly payment to clear those arrears in a very short space of time (less than six months) so you can apply to the court to vary that suspended possession order to an amount you can afford.

No - the £500 includes the contractual payment. But here's the clever part - they keep adding fees. By adding fees, the contractual payment goes up. So you continually make less and less headway with the arrears, and never get them paid off. The contractual payment (currently £409, interest only) appears to be a rate of around 10%! I just can't work out how to extract myself from this.

Is this mortgage in joint names and is the property in joint names?

Yes, the mortgage is in joint names with my wife, and the property is also in joint names.

Thanks for any help you can offer

Neonised

[PlanB]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

That's the date of the Bailiff's visit to actually carry out the eviction. I wasn't aware that you could defend an application or a Bailiff's appointment.

Of course you have the right to ask the court not to send in the bailiffs! You need to make an application using the N244 form but it would be best if you could get your local CAB (or Shelter over the phone) to help you to complete it.

Download it here:

http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.u...t_forms_id=484

You will then be given a hearing date (which will be fast tracked) which you must attend and give the DJ reasons why the Eviction Warrant should be suspended or set-aside, and at the same time why the original Suspended Possession Order should be varied. You can usually do this all in one hit

[PlanB]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

The loan balance is £49,000 with 15 years (and maybe 2/3 months) left to run.

So you've got 15 years (i.e 180 months) to clear a modest £2,700 of arrears. My maths is rubbish but not allowing for further interest added (which there will be) that would take only £15 a month to clear by the time the loan expires.

There's a legal precedent which says a Judge must consider spreading the arrears over the remaining term of the mortgage. It's Cheltenham & Gloucester vs Norgan.

Here: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/1995/11.html

You say have equity in the property so what's their problem? Their asset isn't decreasing.

[PlanB]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

The SPO was awarded years ago - that's why I say, 'at some time' - I'm really not sure how long ago it was - but the fact that it hangs over you forever means that they can apply for an eviction at any time if you slip up by a couple of days.

You need to dig out that original SPO or get a copy from the court urgently. Was there ever a time when you had cleared all the arrears identified on that original SPO even though you may have run up new arrears subsequently? If you cleared the arrears spelt out in that original SPO (this will depend on the wording of the order) then that SPO should be cancelled and no eviction warrants granted in relation to it.

If the lender wants to seek possession after that then they will have to start all over again. The shelf-life of a court order is only until you comply with that court order. It's not a life sentence!

[neonised]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

There's roughly £100K of equity in the house.

I rang them this morning expecting that they'd just put the £500 plan back in place, but they completely refused to think about it.

The SPO was granted years ago, during a different arrears situation, long since cleared. With this batch of arrears, we haven't been to court, they are just using the previously granted SPO to just call in the Bailiff without a hearing. My understanding is that once an SPO is granted, it stays on the mortgage forever? You can;t get rid if it?

They told me today not to bother talking to a solicitor as it wouldn't make any difference, my only option was to pay in full. I get the impression that the 'litigation department' are in reality no such thing - they appear to be debt collectors who are probably targeted to collect a certain amount and therefore won't really negotiate.

[neonised]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

Actually, I'd need to check when the SPO was granted - looking on credit expert at when the account was last in order, I'm not absolutely sure any more.

How would I go about getting a copy of the SPO from the court?

[PlanB]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

They told me today not to bother talking to a solicitor as it wouldn't make any difference

[neonised]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

Thats' the problem though isn't it - aren't the reasons to set aside fairly limited? Like 'I never had the paperwork?' or 'the Lender didn't follow procedure'?

Is - 'can we roll the arrears onto the mortgage' a good enough argument?

[PlanB]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

I'd need to check when the SPO was granted - looking on credit expert at when the account was last in order, I'm not absolutely sure any more. How would I go about getting a copy of the SPO from the court?

Ring the court for a copy of your order. Explain that it's an emergency since you have an eviction scheduled.

[PlanB]

Re: About to be evicted - any advice welcome

Is - 'can we roll the arrears onto the mortgage' a good enough argument?

A court does have the discretion to order the lender to capitalize the arrears. In fact with repossession and eviction cases the court has a lot of discretion. But they can't put the words into your mouth. You need to ask the court for what you want and back it up with facts/evidence (Income & Expenditure etc) to demonstrate why your option is viable. Alas sympathy is not enough.

No more talking to G E Money. Everything now goes in writing and preferably by fax since time is of the essence.

First thing tomorrow make a formal complaint to G E Money that they have not treated you fairly. The FSA fined G E Money £1.2 million a few years ago for not TCF. Call the FOS tomorrow and register your complaint. They will tell you to write to G E Money first and give them 8 weeks to respond. Tell them you haven't got 8 weeks because you are due to be evicted in a little over two weeks. Once the FOS send you a letter acknowledging your complaint with a complaint reference number you may be able to get G E Money to put things on hold with the FOS's co-operation while your complaint is investigated.

This will run parallel to your application to the court to stop that eviction.

Don't underestimate the power G E Money have over you right now. They are holding all the cards. You need to fight this with all the energy you can muster. I will help you.