was elderly relative evicted unlawfully? lost house and all contents

[mechanicalpencil]

An elderly relative who owned her own home and was still paying off her mortgage was evicted last year, making her homeless. She was placed in temporary sheltered accommodation and has since been moved to a small property.

Her house, including all her belongings, furniture, personal effects was put on the market and she was told to sign a form to say that it would now belong to the council. It appears to have been sold on right move. I think she was offered the chance to go back and retrieve anything just after she was evicted but she was in shock and could't face it, probably hoping that the problem would get solved and she could go back.

I am the only person she is in contact with but she won't tell me her address so I can;t go and visit her.

Her mental health wasn't great to begin with but it has deteriorated rapidly and she seems to be depressed and perhaps suffering from PTSD. She is terrified of opening the door, answering the phone, going out. She is having nightmares and panic attacks. She has various health issues which are not getting seen to as she has lost trust in people.

This is all I know.

I feel heartbroken for her. This is a woman who has lost her house and entire life belongings and has nothing left but the clothes she was wearing. I realise that there must have been financial problems but still, I can't get over the fact that her whole life's memories have gone and she has lost her house.

I don't know how I can help her but does this sound lawful? If anyone has any advice, I'd be very grateful.

Thank you for reading.

Is that the case? I always presumed people buying under right to buy got mortgages via the usual lenders! If that’s not the case, I’ve learnt something new

@YourWildAmberSloth no, she doesn't even know it has sold. I only know because I was tracking it on right move.

Who evicted her? Would a mortgage lender really sell personal possessions like that? And how has it now ended up with the council owning it. As pp said it's possible that your relative isn't telling everything. But you can only help if they want help and with accurate info

Have you searched the local court rolls?

The council isn’t the lender for RTB. They’re the seller

I’d agree with others thst you don’t have the full story here. I suspect she has gotten into trouble with the mortgage and has adopted an ostrich approach of ignoring communication and eventually bank has repossessed the house.

I think a judge may havd looked kindly on her situation but it is possible that she failed to attend court and so repossession order given in absentia.

I think this is one of the dangers of becoming elderly without a familial safety net. I think lots of older people manage with supportive scaffolding but would struggle without it and end up in difficult situations.

“Paying the mortgage” is different to “paying the full mortgage payment each month and having no arrears”

I would hedge that this is all perfectly legal and a vague story from an elderly person with mental health issues is the part lacking detail.

@MrsDanversGlidesAgain this is eye-opening, it never crossed my mind. I will explore all avenues so thank you for sharing.

Why does she not want you to know where she is?

Were you previously on good terms ?
Could there be some dementia ?
Do you think she might have been placed in some sort of supported living and doesn't want you to know this as she doesn't see herself as vulnerable?
Or something. Maybe.

Sorry I wrote that wrong,they can also be the lender if she bought the home using a local council or government backed scheme, like shared ownership or a council provided mortgage.

they're not the lender for shared ownership either. I haven’t seen a council backed mortgage in 20 years of housing experience so they must be uncommon.

That’s highly unlikely I’m sorry

Is it possible to find out from the listing who sold the property? Who would even buy a house like that. Of course we don't know the facts but I would worry she has been conned in some way as this is such a bizarre situation.

? Land Registry search?

It might be that she had an interest only mortgage and could not repay the capital at the end of the term. Unfortunately “paying the mortgage” may not have actually been enough, but she would have had plenty of notice of a shortfall and offers of support from the lender in anticipation. Not sure where the council fits into this though. Clearly there is more to the story than she has let on. If she refused to engage there is not much more anyone could do. Is the sheltered accommodation social housing? How is she funding that?

As much as it’s feasible this was some elaborate and rare scam , it is more likely she couldn’t service the mortgage or her council tax debt, and ignored the warnings and was evicted, and they rehoused her,

I think she’s not telling you the full story,maybe didn’t read the letters or answer the phone. Limiting her own knowledge,

@alexdgr8
I don't fully understand why she doesn't want me to know where she is, but as you mentioned, it crossed my mind that she feels utterly humiliated and doesn't want me to see where she is. I don't know. I haven;t been able to send birthday/Christmas gifts etc for example.

She broke contact with all members of her family except me. I won't go into the details as it could be too outing.

Have a listen to the BBC Sounds podcast series “The Willpower Detectives” which is part of the Shadow World Series.

Could something like this have happened?

A mortgage lender eould of asked that she clear the property. Even after repossession they hsve to store goods for a time period and will allow access for goods to be collected. The problem is she has failed to do it and eventually they can just sell it as seen, in all honesty it probably makes it worth less as buyers automatically adding on cost / time of clearing the property.

OP if sale was recent have you considered writing a letter to new owner? If local I’d hand deliver but through post also fine and just explain very elderly relative/ Mental health issues and would it be possible to grab asome personal effects before they are binned.

At their convenience and include your mobile number snd if they say yes do it asap.

@alexdgr8
I also didn't know about this, this gives me some hope of finding out more. Thank you.

@Secretseverywhere
No, I didn't think of this!
Another excellent idea.

I have been trying to sort it all out in my head and getting nowhere. I can't talk about it to anyone in my family due to the family breakdown. I am so grateful for all your support.

@pinkdyno
I don't know what they are, I will check now.

Whatever has happened, it makes very sad reading. Feeling for you and your relative OP.

Unfortunately it sounds like she's not engaged with the lender at the end of the mortgage term for an IO mortgage or similar. Although there could possibly be fraud at work here. I listened to the Willpower Detectives podcast and there are some similarities, so that's also a possibility.

But if she's been made bankrupt due to non payment of a mortgage, you might be able to find her details possibly including a current address, on the Official Receiver's website although that will be a lot easier if you know her DoB and she has a less common name than if she's called Jane Smith and you're not sure of her age.