We are being Evicted

[Desperatelystupid]

Well as of 17th Novemeber DP, DC and I will all be homeless!
We have built up arrears on our mortgage and despite corresponding with the mortgage company, yesterday the County court issued us with an eviction notice.

I don't really know why I am posting this, I don't expect anyone to either want or be able to help me.

Our house is currently up for sale. We decided we needed to move, pay back what was owed and rent for a while. I wrote to the mortgage comapny 2 weeks ago advising this, apologising profously and begging that they please bear with us, as although it is late we are now trying to do what is best and want to give them their money ASAP.
I rang the mortgage company yesterday and apartently the only ways to stop the eviction going ahead are to put forward an amount to pay off of the arrears or if the contracts have exchanged on the house sale prior to the eviction date. Bearing in mind we have not had one viewing yet, the later isn't likely to happen. Therefore, DP and I decided we could offer to pay £5000 and ask them to bear with us whilst they house is being sold and we will ensure that all payments are made prior to the house being sold. I put this forward to the mortgage company (lady was lovely), who advised thatbecause we have £10K of arrears she doesn't think the offer of £5K would be accepted.
She suggested we think over the weekend and then call them back next week and see if we can come up with any more money to offer them.

I just don't know what else to do. I know we completely deserve it but I really am trying to resolve the problem now, all we want to do it give them their money and move on.
I just want to cry I cant believe we have been so stupid. We have got a young child and I feel like we have let them down sooooo badly.

Don't think like that - it's not what you deserve. You've got into financial difficulties but you can get out of them.

Push your local agents before you resort to the quick sale merchants but it might be worth contacting them just so that you can show the court you are serious about selling the house. Although obviously the aim is to clear the mortgage, your aim must be to do that AND end up with as much money as you can.

We brought the house for £184995, paid £30000 deposit so had a mortgage of £154995. We have £10K arrears so we now owe £164995.

have you not been there for long?

I presume you've told the estate agents you need a quick sale?

You know the local market, does £190k valuation seem like a fair valuation?

I imagine you can't pay at the moment so every month you don't pay, your equity drops. If the agents have valued between 185-195, I would seriously think about putting it on at 185 because you really need to get an offer in the next couple of weeks.

The mortgage company (i.e. your bank) just repossess and decide what they do with it (normally sell).

(quite often repossessions are auctioned)

Very true, FIS. My dad has bought several properties at auction that were repos, tarted them up, then sold them on for profit.

Even at auction, they're not necessarily rock-bottom cheap, and most who buy at auction are cash buyers.

10 months we've been there.
I told the estate agents I wanted it all done before Xmas. I will talk to DP about dropping the price to £185, but i think we should just do whatever it takes.

No we haven't been paying - we made the first 2 and have made nothing since.
Not justifying it all but we moved when DC was few months old because we thought we needed more space but we just couldn't afford it, it was way out of our range.

you don't need to justify it! - sounds like the bank should never have leant you the money in the first place (no disrespect to you). I find this sort of situation infuriating and wish I could go and bash the bank with a big stick for you.

What I was trying to point out, is that the longer you are in the house, the worse the position is for you (financially) i.e. you will end up with less money because your mortgage is increasing.

Are the mortgage company levying a big interest bill on your overdue amount (you should check this)?

But other than that, I agree with Aloha's sentiments. Completely declutter your house, pester the estate agent every day, obsessively clean and make the house look the best you can.

The house is at it's best from the photgraphs the EA took, have kept immaculate since just in case.

Thanks everyone, you have all been a great help.

I can't find the form on the internet anywhere so am going to go to the court this afternoon when i;ve finished work and collect one, get it filled in ASAP and returned - I will also send a copy of our arrangement with the Estate Agents and also any correspondence I have had with the mortgage company. Should is send DC's Birth Certificate in too to prove she is here?

Stop beating yourself up. What's done is done. You can only change the future. Get some advice, try to get a stay on the eviction and sell the house ASAP, and if that means taking 10K off the price, do it. After all, atm your interest charges will be racking up so holding out for more money could easily cost you more.

DS, sorry you are in this mess, it must be horrible.

I think you should not do much more at all until you have spoken - as urgently as possible- to the CAB.

The courts have made an order based on a plea from the mortgage co, and they are represnted by a solicitor in court. AFAICS, you have had no-one to represent your case AT ALL.

Here is the CAB website it tells you your local branch.

CAB may well look at this and suggest something much better in your interest - like get the motgage co to accpet your £5k and a plan for the rest. Do whatever you can to talk to the CAB - take time off work if you have to but don't delay it. It may well be that the mortgage co have ridden roughshod all over you because you had no legal advice.

What id DH doing? If you really can't get a moment from work, can he get on to the CAB?

The chances of EXCHANGING contracts before 17th Nov are slight, so your priorities must be contact CAB, get an extension...and then see what you can do to increse your chance of sale if you still need to sell.

Yes, getting advice has to be your priority here. The charity Shelter will also be able to advise you. But call the CAB and get there today or tomorrow.

Thanks Blu and Aloha.

DP is working out on site so has no way of contacting CAB, plus he would'nt really know what to say. I will give them a call ASAP.

This is from Brent Council's website, but most of it will also apply to your area.

Suspending A Warrant to Evict You from Your Home

If you have received an eviction date from the County Court to repossess your home it is possible to apply to the court to have the eviction suspended but you must act immediately. Take The First Step To Avoid An Eviction By Picking Up Form N244 From The Willesden County Court. This is the form you will need to complete and return to the Court to ask for the eviction to be cancelled or suspended. If you have reasonable grounds to apply for the eviction to be stopped the Court will then set a hearing date when your application will be heard. When making an application you may also have to pay a fee unless you receive certain welfare benefits such as income support or job seekers allowance.

There is now a Duty Advice and Representation Service at Willesden County Court. However the service is only available on certain days (usually those days when repossession cases are normally listed). If you apply early enough for a hearing to have your eviction suspended this service may be able to either help or represent you at the hearing. Don't leave it until it's too late since a late application to cancel an eviction may not always be accepted by the Court.

This leaflet is designed to:

explain the information which the Judge will require from you at the hearing
explain what types of orders the District Judge can make

If you would like further advice or help filling in the Form N 244 you should contact your local advice agency details of which are listed on the back of this leaflet

If you need:

Advice on the merits of your proposal.
Assistance with presenting your case to the District Judge.
Help with other related issues

Your local advice agency can then refer you to the Duty Scheme at the Willesden County Court for help and representation on the day of your hearing

How To Apply For Your Eviction Warrant To Be Cancelled Or Suspended
Since the original possession order was made your lender / landlord has now applied for a warrant to evict you from your home. However, you may still be able to stay in your home if you apply to have the warrant suspended. You must first fully complete the form N244 which you obtain from the court. Your hearing will probably take place within days of the court receiving your application and you should attend the hearing to present your proposal to the court. The claimant (that is your landlord or your mortgage lender) or their representative may also attend. If possible you should also seek advice before the day of your hearing from one of the advice agencies listed at the end of this leaflet.

What Information Will The Judge Need To Know From You At The Hearing
The Judge, when considering your application will probably need more information than you provided at the original possession hearing.

The judge will probably want information about the following issues:

Why the terms of the original possession order have been broken (The Judge is more likely to suspend a warrant if you have broken the terms of the original possession order because of a change in your circumstances which was beyond your control).
Details Of your previous payment history. (The Judge is more likely to suspend a warrant where you have only missed a few payments. The more arrangements you have broken, the more difficult it will be to argue for an eviction to be suspended).
Details of the current amount of any arrears compared with the amount of arrears at the time when the original possession order was made (The Judge may be less likely to suspend the eviction if your arrears have increased substantially since the original possession hearing. If you have missed payments which were due you will need to explain the reasons why these payments were missed. If possible you should try to catch up with any missed payments before the court hears your application).
What you can afford to pay towards reducing any arrears outstanding now (The Judge will expect you to provide evidence to prove that your new proposal is reasonable and that you can realistically afford to make the payments which you are suggesting).

The Court may ask to see :
pay slips from your present employer.
a letter from any prospective employer confirming a job offer, your starting salary and your proposed starting date.
letters from the Benefits Agency or the Council's Housing Benefit section which confirm your benefit entitlements.

If your offer depends on relatives/friends providing direct payments on your behalf, the Judge may insist on speaking to the relatives concerned, so ask them to go along to the hearing. If they cannot attend take a letter from them confirming the amount they will pay towards your arrears.

Asking The Court For Time To Sell Your Property
If you are a home owner and you are asking the Court for time to sell your home the Court may need the following evidence:-

proof that a sale will be possible and that it can be completed within the near future
evidence that the sale price is likely to be enough to pay off the mortgage and also any arrears which you may owe
It may be useful to provide the court with a letter from your solicitor / estate agent confirming:
the names of any proposed purchasers,
the value of the property or the agreed sale price,
details of the stage any sale has reached and when completion is likely to take place

What Decisions Can The Judge Make?
The Judge can:-

Suspend the warrant and cancel the eviction.
Adjourn your application either generally or for a fixed period pending receipt of further information.
Dismiss your application and let the eviction go ahead.
Even if you are successful in having the eviction cancelled, the Judge may order that the situation be reviewed again at some point in the future, perhaps after three or six months (particularly if the arrears will take a long time to clear).

What If You Have Had Previous Eviction Warrants Suspended In The Past?
It is harder to get an eviction warrant suspended in cases where you have already made previous applications in the past to cancel an eviction. In such cases before agreeing to cancel a further eviction, the Judge may expect you to pay a substantial lump sum off any arrears or, to increase your offer of payment to the mortgage lender / landlord.

Where Can I Get Advice?
It is always best to get advice before your hearing. You can contact one of the advice agencies listed below.
They will be able to advise you on:-

whether your offer is reasonable and realistic
whether there are any ways you can increase your income or reduce your expenditure
how to deal with any other debt problems which you may have.
List of Useful Advice Agencies

Residents of the London Borough of Brent
Brent Citizens Advice Bureau Tel : 0845 0505250
Private Housing Information Unit Tel : 020 8937 2772
Brent Community Law Centre Tel : 020 8451 1122

Residents Of London Borough Of Harrow
Citizens Advice Bureau Tel : 020 8427 9443
Housing Advice Tel : 020 8861 4079

Residents Of London Borough Of Ealing
Ealing Housing Advisory Service Tel : 020 8758 8002

Residents Of London Borough Of Barnet
Hendon Citizens Advice Bureau Tel : 020 8202 5177
Tel : 020 8203 5801

Residents Of London Borough Of Westminster
Paddington Citizens Advice Bureau Tel : 08701 264 040
Council Assessment/Advice Centre Tel : 020 7641 1000

Residents Of London Borough Of Camden
Kilburn Citizens Advice Bureau Tel : 0845 0505 152
Camden Housing Aid Centre Tel 020 7625 0251

Residents Of London Borough Of Hammersmith and Fulham
Housing Advice Team Tel 020 8753 1436

To Contact The Willesden County Court
Advocacy Service Coordinator

Telephone 020 8937 2772

----------------

Produced By Brent Council's Private Housing Information Unit
Lettings Team Tel : 020 8937 2777
Tenancy Protection Team Tel : 020 8937 2772
Housing Advice Service Tel : 020 8937 2787
31/01/2005

© Brent Council 2005 Legal | Privacy | Translation | Feedback | Plug-ins | Website Statistics
Document Data

BTW why did you wait so long after the letter of 5 Sept to put your house on the market etc?
The court will want to know that.

The reason the court granted the order is because, since the mortgage was taken out, you have made one payment in 10 months. You presumably did not respond to correspondence from the mortgage company and did not attend court at the original hearing. In those circumstances, the court would have had no option but to grant an order, and, tbh, the mortgage company had little option but to seek one.

However, now you are actively dealing with the situation, you may be able to retrieve something. Get an application form from the court to suspend the eviction. Issue it as soon as possible. You will not need to provide any supporting documentation at this point. Write to the mortgage company with details of your offer and keep a copy of this to produce to the court at the hearing. Refer to previous telephone conversations and offers made in the letter.

The courts do not like issuing possession orders and will probably suspend the warrant provided you come up with a reasonable offer and stick to it.

Message withdrawn

I know the reason it was taken out and thanks for that Cod, extremely helpful!

I have spoken to CAB and have arranged an appointment for tomorrow. Will collect application from court this afternoon.

The initial hearing was for 5th september and we received the letter on 5th September. And all previous correspondence from the mortgage company was not ignored, granted some of it was but not all of it.

Then you need to explain to the court that the reason you didn't attend was because you received the notice of the hearing too late. Did you keep the envelope with the date stamp on it? If so, that would help show that it was sent late.

The letter says in it blah blah blah blah (at time of dictation 3rd September 2005).

Should still have it though as i keep all correspondence in a file.

Excellent re CAB apt and picking up form. Take all the paperwork with you to the CAB. Freckle's advice sounds excellent!

Great news re the CAB, well done. And good luck, DS

hi, I myself have been through this and luckily live in Brent which have a Private Housing Advisory service which can attend court with you and write all the letters. Find out if your local council have a similar service they are really excellent . Most judges will be sympathetic and would usually allow a suspended possesion order to be granted if you have a payment proposal , I had approx 8-9k of arrears and said I was in a position to pay the normal monthly payment and £50.00 towards the arrears and the judge accepted that and there was nothing the mortgage company could do, they had wanted the whole arrears in one go or nothing. This was a couple of years ago and everything waas fine have this referred back for a new hearing asap. Also courts do have a habit of posting things out late I am sure this should have been hand delivered by an official not put in the normal post so close to the date...

You could always ask you estate agent to 'hint' that you'd take a lower price if the buyer (when you get one) can guarantee exchange before X date. Some buyers aren't having mortgages to arrange, after all. It's worth a try.

Have you thought about where you are going to live after all this? One way or the other, I would start looking now for a rented place as the local authority are not likely to have much more than a room available for you for a while.

Have sympathy as we 'lost' our house too, dh was ill and I was too pg to work when he lost his job- easy to get caught up in it isn't it? CAB helped a lot, and we managed to sell the house and clear everything. Hope you do too.