Essential Repossession Advice
An Essential Guide to The House Repossession Process
Firstly, there has to be a legal reason for your home to be repossessed. Secondly, Your home can not be repossessed before a court hearing. Only a judge can decide to repossess your house, not your mortgage lender. What you do now may affect the judges decision.
Are you in Mortgage Arrears With Your Lender?
The most common reason is if you have mortgage arrears. If you get into arrears with your mortgage lender, that means – the moment you miss a payment on your mortgage. The lender can send you a letter asking how the arrears will be repaid.
If you fall further behind on your mortgage payments, and have not come to an agreement on how to repay the arrears, then the lender can start repossession action to claim your property.
Our Repossession Advice Specialists have reported that Repossessions have increased year on year since 2004, with figures set to rise again for 2010 as the number of people in mortgage arrears rises by 8.6%.
“Our evidence shows that lenders are not always doing everything they can to help borrowers in trouble, all too often piling on extra charges and being too quick to take court action rather than being prepared to negotiate affordable repayment arrangements.” – Sue Edwards, Citizens Advice on House Repossession
Essential Advice On The Repossession Legal Process
Repossessing a property involves a set number of stages, each taking between a few weeks and a few months. You can try to stop the process at any stage, but the earlier you take action the more options you will have and the less likely it will be that you have to pay legal costs.
You should note that no-one can evict you from the property unless the court says that they can and the court will not make a decision before the hearing date. What you do may affect the court’s decision. You should therefore take action immediately. The repossession process must by law follow a certain process – if it’s not done correctly, you may be able to stop or delay the eviction. For full details of the repossession process and your rights click here.
You may also find these pages useful on voluntary repossession advice, suspended repossession and the repossession laws and legal terms used.
I hope you find this information useful, if you are in need of any help or you are facing repossession proceedings then please feel free to get in touch to see how we can help.