The threat of repossession is enough to scare anyone into submission. However, knowing about the process, your rights and what you can do about it gives you a significant advantage over most people who all too quickly give up, give in and lose their home.
There's a comprehensive guide to repossession which covers the process, your options, what action you can take and provides lots of other useful links. It's available from www.repohelp.info - or you can e-mail me for a copy. The process is actually fairly straight forward. As soon as you've missed a payment the lender will write to you. Miss two payments and they more than likely will get their solicitor involved.
The most important thing you can do in this situation is to take action. Contact the lender and explain your situation and aim to negotiate a new payment plan. Make sure you to make notes of conversations, get their responses in writing and aim to follow up your calls with a letter and keep a copy. That way, if you go to court for a hearing you'll be much better prepared.
If you can afford to meet a full monthly payment and contribute a small amount towards catching up with arrears then normally the lender will accept, but it all depends on the lender. Some are far more helpful and understanding than others.
If you can't reach agreement with your lender the next stage will be a court hearing - this is a possession order - a claim to the curt by your lender to regain possession of the property on the grounds of breach of contract (missed payments). Here you can present your case to the judge, who in my experience are normally very helpful, friendly and sympathetic.
Again, if you can say to the judge (and ideally prove it with bank statements, payslips, benefits slips or whatever you have) that you'll pay a full months payment and contribute towards the arrears then they are very likely to give you a suspended possession order. Provided you stick to the agreed terms you will be fine.
If you fail to convince the judge that you can afford to make future payments (the judge will need some evidence - so if you have lost your job, have no other income or savings and no friends or relatives prepared to help you out and prove that they will) then the judge doesn't really have any option other than to grant possession to the lender.
There are still options at this point. You could borrow money from a friend or relative to pay the arrears, get a a further loan or remortgage the property. Care is needed with these latter options because as you are in arrears lenders will charge high interest rates as they will consider you at higher risk of defaulting on their loan.
A further option to consider is selling and renting back your property. Many companies, like mine, offer this service. Quality and prices vary, but make sure you go with someone you feel you can trust and ideally a member of a professional association.
If you find you are not in a position to meet payments then selling and renting back could be a good option. You could of course sell your home though an estate agent where you'll achieve a much better price but it's a gamble whether you'll find a buyer before the eviction happens.
If you breach the suspended possession order, or the judge has granted possession to the lender you'll get an eviction notice. Again, you can apply to the court (go there, request a hearing, pay £35 and fill out the form) to ask for further time - for example if you have found a buyer or the funds to pay off the arrears.
The court is often seen as somewhere to avoid at all costs, but I'd encourage anyone facing repossession to go to the hearing and ignore what any lender says about "it's not worth you turning up - the judge won't listen". This is a terrible tactic of the some more unhelpful lenders to get you to roll over.
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