Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

[Hopfarm]

Hi ,Lowell portfolio made me bankrupt in April 2012 for a £7000 debt , I had a lack of knowledge about my total debt due to a house fire 2 years before when I lost everything ( all paperwork) .I offered Lowell £50 a month but heard nothing until the bankruptcy order came through . I was dreading the OR meeting and gathered bank statements , wage slips e.t.c at the meeting I was not asked to show anything . I explained that I would like to pay off my debts but due to the house fire then I was unsure of my total debt and the OR told me to look on experian , they also suggested a company that may be able to help . I did all of this and paid off the £20,000 of debt . Then out of the blue Lowell produced another debt of approx £7000 , I had no resources left . A trustee was appointed and I contacted them to explain my situation ,they seemed surprised that I had been able to pay specific debts as they said any money should have been distributed over all my debts . Anyway 2 years and 4. Months later I have been advised that the trustee is applying for an order of sale and possesion of my property , I am finding the whole situation extremely hard to understand , I have been paying the mortgage and all other bills and have no arrears , my bank account carried on as normal ,I have renewed my mobile phone contract , nothing has changed . I live in the property with my partner and 3 dependent children and as I understand it then I am about to be made homeless , can anyone offer any advice ? Please .

[Selby]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

Dont worry the fact that you have 3 dependant children will scupper them! Also does your parnter have an intrest in the property?

[Amethyst]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

Hiya,

Can you just clarify, were you made bankrupt by Lowell over a £7k debt, and then after you had been through speaking with the OR and sorting out payment of your £20k debts, Lowell came up with a further debt of £7k, and thats where the trustee came in ? ie are there two Lowell £7k debts... sorry if I'm misunderstanding.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

Once you are made bankrupt, your interest in your home is transferred to the official receiver or trustee, who can decide to sell your property there is any equity in it and is the only way to pay your debts. A restriction is automatically placed with the Land Registry when a bankruptcy order is made to establish that the bankrupt is no longer the legal owner of the property and does not have the ability to sell the property or enter into any other dealings in connection with the property.

Are you the sole owner or is it in joint names? Is there a lot of equity in it?

If the property is jointly owned, the legal interest is not transferred to the trustee and the bankrupt and joint owner can still sell the property, but the trustee must be paid the value of the bankrupt’s beneficial interest from the sale proceeds. The trustee is only entitled to your beneficial interest, i.e. the share of the property owned by yourself, usually assumed to be 50% of the equity. If this is the case, the joint owner can offer to buy your share of the equity. An offer can also be made by friends or relatives. :thumb:

If the property is jointly owned, a Form J restriction will be recorded. It is a record of the trustee's beneficial interest in the property and means that the Land Registry must notify the trustee of any dealings in connection with the property.

If your partner and children are living in the property, the sale can be delayed for 12 months to give them time to find somewhere else to live. The court will only refuse an order for sale in exceptional circumstances or if the value of your interest in the property is worth less than £1,000.

If a partner, relative or friend wants to buy your beneficial interest, they can contact the official receiver. If your beneficial interest has a value of more than £1000 they may be able to take part in a property conveyancing scheme run by The Insolvency Service and a firm of solicitors. Under this scheme, the beneficial interest can be transferred back to you, or it can be transferred to your husband, wife, partner, relative or friend. With mortgaged property, the lender may have to agree to the sale - the solicitor dealing with the transaction will be able to advise on this. However, this scheme only applies to jointly owned properties.

You may want to look at this leaflet published by the Insolvency Service: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.g...tspdf/home.pdf :thumb:

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

Dont worry the fact that you have 3 dependant children will scupper them!

Not necessarily, see my post below. It will certainly help, but it doesn't guarantee no order for sale will be made.

[Hopfarm]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

Not necessarily, see my post below. It will certainly help, but it doesn't guarantee no order for sale will be made.

hi it's a jointly owned property (with my ex) have spoken to anyone who will listen and think the order of sale and possesion is inevitable .Lowell produced another debt after bankruptcy was ordered they are evil .already been 2 years and 4 months since bankruptcy so think the 12 month grace has been long exceeded . Just feeling bitter because i have been paying everything and have no arrears but now am going to end up homeless.should I now stop paying the mortgage so I have some money stashed? There is more than enough equity in the house to pay my bankruptcy debt.

[meellis]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

If the trustee is still dealing with the bankruptcy and you have never been discharged then I cannot understand how Lowells could add any more debt on. How many times have you been bankrupt and why has the trustee taken so long to administer your estate. Your trustee should have had all the debts in front of them after the bankruptcy so they should know where the extra has come from and they should have been dealing with it along with all the debts and you should not be dealing with Lowell. Is it just the Lowell debt that they using to possess your home or is there a lot more on the bankruptcy estate. Have you shown any evidence of the payments to lowells, the £20k, to the trustee so the trustee can request it back from lowells so they can distribute it properly.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

hi it's a jointly owned property (with my ex) have spoken to anyone who will listen and think the order of sale and possesion is inevitable .

That's good news! :grin: Is there anyone you know who could offer to buy your interest in the property?

Lowell produced another debt after bankruptcy was ordered they are evil .already been 2 years and 4 months since bankruptcy so think the 12 month grace has been long exceeded.

Have you not been discharged? Normally you'd be automatically discharged after 12 months, unless there was a reason to have a restrictions undertaking (BRU) or order (BRO) against you. :noidea:

[meellis]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

I have to say I am a little confused by this. Have lowells really added another £7k or have you just mis-read a statement they have sent you. Some creditors will send statements at least until the debt has been sorted by the trustee, I still get statements from alliance and Leicester saying I owe them £14k from before my bankruptcy. I have arguments with them every time because as far as I am aware they should mark a default for six years but the actually amount should be cleared. The trustee sounds as though they should be chasing lowells but they are lazy, if you applied for mis sold ppi they would take it but they wouldn't apply for it themselves. You should have been discharged after 12 months unless there was issues but your estate would still be being dealt with until you get the final statements but the amount of time you have gone through it sounds as though there is something that isn't straight forward either with yourself or some creditors are trying it on. You really need to talk to the trustee and see if there is a deal a third party can do and really argue about how much equity you really are entitled to bearing in mind they would be going for a quick sale, you really have to sell the fact that the house wouldn't be worth full retail and by the time they have paid the mortgage off, the other half and all the admin they will only be left with x amount so will they except y as full and final settlement. Don't except it is over make a case that they aren't going to get much and they would be better off excepting an amount from a third party and start negotiating.

[Hopfarm]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

If the trustee is still dealing with the bankruptcy and you have never been discharged then I cannot understand how Lowells could add any more debt on. How many times have you been bankrupt and why has the trustee taken so long to administer your estate. Your trustee should have had all the debts in front of them after the bankruptcy so they should know where the extra has come from and they should have been dealing with it along with all the debts and you should not be dealing with Lowell. Is it just the Lowell debt that they using to possess your home or is there a lot more on the bankruptcy estate. Have you shown any evidence of the payments to lowells, the £20k, to the trustee so the trustee can request it back from lowells so they can distribute it properly.

Hi when I was originally made bankrupt ( and it has only been the once ) then it was over a Lowell debt which I paid . Because of the bankruptcy order then all my debts were declared and I paid off 75% of them .then a trustee was appointed ,when I contacted him then he seemed very confused that the official receiver had advised me to pay off any debts that I was aware of (through my credit file ) and it was only after a trustee was appointed that Lowell put in a claim for a second debt .

[meellis]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

Did the claim for the second debt go to the trustee or to you, I have to say that the worse thing about being bankrupt was that you are left to deal with it with very little knowledge. I wish I could remember the name but I was recommended a good bankruptcy advisory site, maybe somebody here knows which it is. The only thing I am wondering at the moment is whether all the issues are just getting confused. If the lowells debt was prior bankruptcy then the trustee should be dealing with it. If lowells are saying it is post bankruptcy the it is yours to deal with but it would mean that the debt would be from credit you shouldn't have been able to get. As for the length of time I am wondering if they are just trying to deal with the equity in the property to which they have a duty to deal with but haven't been able to come to any arrangement. Have you had any correspondence with them over this matter and if not then you seriously need to. Would there be a lot of equity in the property and would you be left with much after any other interests are settled. You really need to work out how much your share of the realistic equity is and then find somebody who could make an offer on it for a share of the property. You need to find somebody who can afford to and would allow you to get it back in time for a realistic amount.

[Hopfarm]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

The claim for the second debt went to the trustee ,I have had no personal notification of it and think it may be statute barred ,there is approx £ 75,000 of equity in the property (my share) which is why this is all happening . I am feeling very bitter and twisted at the moment because I spent several years as a single parent working full time to keep a roof over the kiddies head , I have always paid the mortgage,council tax and utilities and all the debt is from my previous life when our income was 4 times what it is now . Why did I bother ? I understand that I was wrong to think that things wouldn't catch up with me but I offered Lowell token payments and they never replied .

[Hopfarm]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

Sorry also forgot to add that my life didn't change when I was declared bankrupt ,still have a high level bank account , have been able to renew my mobile phone contract ,nothing has changed although Inwas advised it would.

[meellis]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

Credit is just harder to get when bankrupt and you are supposed to declare that you are/have been. On that declaration it is then up to the individual whether to offer you credit. The bank account issue is down to whether there are forms of credit attached to it like cheque books or overdraughts which again is down to whether the bank will allow you knowing you are bankrupt. This is where the bankruptcy hurts because you cannot use the equity in your home to clear your debts so it looks like you need to find a way to satisfy the trustee and keep your home. If the overall debt is an amount that somebody could take a stake in your home for then you need to find somebody willing to do that for you but you have to bear in mind that it will be a while before you could re-finance to buy back. Forget Lowells and their dirty tricks the trustee would have to deal with your home at some point, their job is to settle the debt as much as they can using up all the assets you have so they wouldn't be allowed to let you keep £75k of equity and let the creditors go without their debt being paid even if the debt is dubious. I am no expert, I have only been through it, but it sounds as though you need to find out exactly what the trustees require and find some experts who could help you achieve it and keep your home. I know how you feel when you say why did I bother but it isn't over yet just try to keep in the drivers seat and direct it and don't become a passenger.

[MissFM]

Re: Very confused - Bankrupt - trustee applying to reposess home - HELP

Hi when I was originally made bankrupt ( and it has only been the once ) then it was over a Lowell debt which I paid . Because of the bankruptcy order then all my debts were declared and I paid off 75% of them .then a trustee was appointed ,when I contacted him then he seemed very confused that the official receiver had advised me to pay off any debts that I was aware of (through my credit file ) and it was only after a trustee was appointed that Lowell put in a claim for a second debt .

Are they (Lowells) able to provide concrete proof that this second debt does exist and is enforceable? It does seem very strange that it should suddenly appear in the described circumstances.