If you are having difficulty paying and your Lender does not agree with your repayment schedule, and you do not contact them or if you cannot afford to pay them back and you have missed two payments, then your Lender is entitled to start a repossession process.
So what is involved once this starts:
The Process of Repossession
The process officially begins when your Lender sends you a letter from their solicitor. The letter will advise you that if you do not pay the arrears within the next 7 days, or if you have not responded with a suitable proposal on how to pay off the arrears, then their solicitor will begin court proceedings.
Possession Order
When the Lender gets no response from you regarding the payment of arrears, they will then go to court seeking a possession order. This is the official start of the repossession process. The Judge will then set a hearing date, and it’s imperative you attend.
At the first hearing, the Judge will decide whether you can genuinely repay the Mortgage, on what repayment terms and over what period of time. Under most circumstances the Judge will give you a chance to repay the arrears. The court’s view is that "a Repossession is the last resort" and it will explore all realistic options open to you.
The most likely outcome at this first meeting is to cancel to a later date. This will allow for the collection of more detailed information. And a new hearing date will then be set.
If you can then come up with an agreed arrears repayment schedule, the Judge may then issue what’s known as a suspension order which is a repossession order that is temporarily placed on hold. However, if you fail to keep up with the agreed payment schedule, then the lender can legally obtain the dreaded eviction order without further court hearings.
At the second hearing, the sitting judge will only suspend the eviction order if there is a change of circumstances e.g. change in your employment status, your house has a potential buyer, etc. The buyer is normally required to pay off the arrears as quickly as possible and the house sold within four weeks.
The Eviction Order
If in the Judge’s opinion you can’t repay any arrears and/or you won’t be able to afford the mortgage payments, then the Judge will decide a later date when you will have to vacate your property. When this eviction order is enforced, the bailiffs will turn up at your home at the designated time, along with a local estate agent to put your house up for sale.
If you remain in the property, they will give you a short amount of time to collect your essential belongings, and escort you from your home. A locksmith may then replace all the locks on your house.
If you believe that not being in the property will stop the process, then you are sadly mistaken. The bailiff is legally entitled to break into your property and claim ownership on behalf of the lender.
You will then be entitled to a supervised visit a few weeks later to remove all of your possessions. It won’t be possible to negotiate with the bailiffs as they are only doing the job they have been instructed to do.
Author
Paul Hockney is an online mortgage expert who provides repossession rescue advice and help.