probable repossession

[BBoo]

Re: probable repossession

I've got a formal tenancy agreement...the rent is due the day of the repo hearing so i'll be hanging onto that until i know who to pay! I can see the deposit going up in smoke

It's good you've got a formal agreement. Also good you have a rent due date the day of the hearing as if you don't have a chance to get your deposit back, you can always withold your rent in lieu of the deposit.

The rent will be due to the landlord as he is letting it unlawfully anyway. It will be for the landlord to make any payments ordered by the court. As said above, you've done absolutely nothing wrong. You're only looking to attach yourself to proceedings to protect your own interests. I have no doubt the court will be very sympathetic to your plight and will want to do everything possible to help you. It's certainly nothing to worry about.

Glad you're going out - sometimes when these things are playing on your mind it's best just to go out and try to forget about them for a while.

[PlanB]

Re: probable repossession

Just remember that DJs have enormous discretion when faced with repossession proceedings. The CPRs are owner/occupier biased on this issue. If (and I stress if) the DJ thinks that it won't disadvantage the lender he could chose to make a suspended possession order on condition that the mortgage gets paid from now on. Try to find out whether your rent would cover the mortgage payments because there could (and I stress could) be an arrangement that you pay your rent direct to the lender in future. Of course all of this relies on your LL's co-operation so don't piss him off until you've seen your solicitor for advice on Jan 4th

Finally I see no reason why your solicitor shouldn't approach the lender's solicitor now to ask for an adjournment of the hearing while you get your legal act together. They can always re-list at the click of a mouse if they've done this on the PCOL system. Got to be worth a try

[helmsman]

Re: probable repossession

Hi,
If you are going to move or be evicted just a suggestion because of the LL why not change the locks and become a squatter for a few months, no rent to pay. A few months grace to find somewhere else, I think the owners will want to sell the property asap to recoup their money.

[PlanB]

Re: probable repossession

Hi,
If you are going to move or be evicted just a suggestion because of the LL why not change the locks and become a squatter for a few months, no rent to pay. A few months grace to find somewhere else, I think the owners will want to sell the property asap to recoup their money.

That's pure genius Helmsman - I wish I had thought of that

This is how to do it legally www.squatter.org.uk

[confused76]

Re: probable repossession

I'm happy you've now got a solicitor on board. Will you get Legal Aid for this advice? Also most county courts have a Duty Solicitor hovering around on repossession days who can also help you for free. Get to court an hour early for the hearing and tell reception that you need to speak to him/her they will arrange this, and you may be able to have them represent you at the hearing for free (they are subsidised by CLS). Even if you only get an adjournment it could take another month or more to get the case re-listed which buys you more time.

The law is firmly on your side on the deposit issue. The LL will legally owe you three times the amount you paid and that is that. You can only apply to the court for this (use www.moneyclaim.gov.uk) while you are in the property so do it before you leave. If you don't pay next months' rent then you won't have lost anything unless your deposit was for 6 weeks money, but you can claim that all back on top of the 3 months' penalty

Did you take the flat through an agent because if you did they may have a duty of care towards you too. You would probably have paid an admin fee at the time which entitles you to some protection over how the deal was set up. You could have a case of breach of contract if they messed up. All agents have to get the LL to provide concrete evidence that they have permission to let a property from their lender. If the agent failed to do that then they're in big trouble. Did you pay your deposit over to the agent with the initial rent? If so then they are definitely involved! There is a Property Ombudsman Scheme www.tpos.co.uk where you can refer a complaint against the agent and seek financial compensation and the service is free just like the FOS only a lot more efficient

I would put my energy into tracking down the LL current address because once NR know where he lives they would have difficulty in ignoring that information and trying to get possession without his involvement

What date is the hearing?

yes, the solicitor said i qualified for legal aid, i've just got to take some bank statements with me (which i need to dig out and hope i haven't shredded! )

thanks for the link about the deposit. we paid a month's rent as deposit so i'm happy to just not pay next month (not that the LL knows this yet!)

No, we didn't take the flat via an agency,

i've just got the LL's address

It's good you've got a formal agreement. Also good you have a rent due date the day of the hearing as if you don't have a chance to get your deposit back, you can always withold your rent in lieu of the deposit.

The rent will be due to the landlord as he is letting it unlawfully anyway. It will be for the landlord to make any payments ordered by the court. As said above, you've done absolutely nothing wrong. You're only looking to attach yourself to proceedings to protect your own interests. I have no doubt the court will be very sympathetic to your plight and will want to do everything possible to help you. It's certainly nothing to worry about.

Glad you're going out - sometimes when these things are playing on your mind it's best just to go out and try to forget about them for a while.

thanks for your help and words of encouragement. I was quite upset earlier (still am a bit). I've had the LL on the phone and i know he's lying through his teeth now (oops, opened a letter of his by mistake ) and him and his wife are telling me two different things, so which one is the liar? I'm just finding the whole thing upsetting.

Just remember that DJs have enormous discretion when faced with repossession proceedings. The CPRs are owner/occupier biased on this issue. If (and I stress if) the DJ thinks that it won't disadvantage the lender he could chose to make a suspended possession order on condition that the mortgage gets paid from now on. Try to find out whether your rent would cover the mortgage payments because there could (and I stress could) be an arrangement that you pay your rent direct to the lender in future. Of course all of this relies on your LL's co-operation so don't piss him off until you've seen your solicitor for advice on Jan 4th

Finally I see no reason why your solicitor shouldn't approach the lender's solicitor now to ask for an adjournment of the hearing while you get your legal act together. They can always re-list at the click of a mouse if they've done this on the PCOL system. Got to be worth a try

just out of interest, why would us paying the rent directly to the mortgage provider need the LL's cooperation?

thanks for your help x

Hi,
If you are going to move or be evicted just a suggestion because of the LL why not change the locks and become a squatter for a few months, no rent to pay. A few months grace to find somewhere else, I think the owners will want to sell the property asap to recoup their money.

tempting!!

[PlanB]

Re: probable repossession

just out of interest, why would us paying the rent directly to the mortgage provider need the LL's cooperation?

Fingers crossed for your solicitor's appointment tomorrow. I raised the point of the LL's co-operation because solicitors tend to think in straight lines and not look at all the options available unless you point them out to them. Her job is to prevent you from being evicted for as long as possible by tackling the court stuff. But I can see no reason why you couldn't try (may not be possible) to come to a deal with the LL using your solicitor to safeguard any proposals.

This all depends on whether there is any equity in the property because if there isn't then the LL has no hope of getting shot of the repo sadly for you. Do your homework. If you've 'accidently' seen the court papers you should now know how much the LL owes NR overall not just the arrears. Go to www.nethouseprices.com to check out what the LL paid for the property in the first place. Just punch in your postcode and you can see what every property sold for and the date of the sale since 1999 and it's free. The info is taken directly from Land Registry so it's accurate. Use this to establish whether LL is in negative equity.

The court can't order you to pay your rent to the lender becuase you have no relationship with the lender. The lender may not want to accept your payments since this could establish your legal interest in the property and that prospect could spook them. And you can't force your LL to resist/defend the repo proceedings if he's hell bent on handing in the keys and walking away from the problem.

I wonder whether your LL is aware that if the property is in negative equity and gets repossessed and sold for less then that isn't the end of the matter. The lender can, and will, pursue him for the shortfall for up to a further six years (some case law says 12 years). Perhaps this is why he hasn't given them his current address. Well you now have that address and so will the lender soon. If I was the LL I would reconsider my position. I have no idea where this property is, but sooner or later (probably later!) it will grow out of negative equity which is why the LL may need a re-think about a voluntary repo if he can hang on to it by negotiation until he at least breaks even.

Northern Rock made a deal with the Government that it wouldn't repossess anyone unless they were at least six months in arrears so it may be too far down the line for the LL to recover. Check their website www.n-ram.co.uk for their repo policy which seems pretty relaxed. Since Richard Branson has now bought the Good Bank and paid the Government most of the millions which were lent, they may be under less pressure to repossess people.

All I'm saying is there are three people in this relationship and (another cliche) there's more than one way to skin a cat. I simply want to throw out ideas for you, not confuse you more

Good Luck tomorrow

[PlanB]

Re: probable repossession

Silly me, your solicitor's appontment is Wednesday 4th not today I think it may help if you mention any health issues to her as this could have an impact on potential eviction plans.

She may also advise you on how to claim the financial penalty for non-compliance with protection of your deposit by your LL if you give her the details.

Hope it goes well.

[Pixie]

Re: probable repossession

How did it go at the solicitor's Conf?

Remember, you need to look out for yourself and Mr C - sod the LL!

[confused76]

Re: probable repossession

Thanks for all your help and support guys n gals... We didn't see the solicitor today as the legal aid goes on mr c's earnings and we therefore didn't qualify. To be honest we didn't fancy forking out for 20 minutes when she's already helped me out loads on the phone.

We went to view a house today, the house was nice and reasonable rent but it was a different area and we've got reservations about it. One other idea we've talked about today is moving in with mr c's mum and concentrating on saving money for a few months. Obviously it's not the same as having your own place but the last 2 landlords we've had have been cowboys and liars so we're concerned about jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

The whole thing is seriously unsettling and I've felt unwell the last few days. Maybe with the escape route of mr c's mum will help?

Thanks everyone x

[MrsD]

Re: probable repossession

do what's best for you Confused, you and mr C are the priority here, the ll has made his own bed and will have to take his head out of the sand and deal. (lol he must look weird in his bed with his head in the sand........)

[BBoo]

Re: probable repossession

If you don't qualify for Legal Aid, have you thought of visiting your local Law Centre? You might even find someone who'll represent you.

Law Centres

[confused76]

Re: probable repossession

do what's best for you Confused, you and mr C are the priority here, the ll has made his own bed and will have to take his head out of the sand and deal. (lol he must look weird in his bed with his head in the sand........)

Ha ha funny image! Definite case of head in the sand. I also don't think they understand the repercussions at all.

If you don't qualify for Legal Aid, have you thought of visiting your local Law Centre? You might even find someone who'll represent you.

Law Centres

Thanks bboo xx

[PlanB]

Re: probable repossession

That sounds like a great plan. Just make sure you don't tell any of your creditors where you're moving to

[Pixie]

Re: probable repossession

do what's best for you Confused, you and mr C are the priority here, the ll has made his own bed and will have to take his head out of the sand and deal. (lol he must look weird in his bed with his head in the sand........)

Try not to let it affect your health Conf.

Have you put your name down with the local authority/housing association?

Pixie xxx

[confused76]

Re: probable repossession

Try not to let it affect your health Conf.

Have you put your name down with the local authority/housing association?

Pixie xxx

I'll try!

No we haven't, think it would take years to get a place round here, especially as we haven't got kids, but I will find out x