How To Save Your Home From Repossession

Published July 11th, 2008

by James Bailey

Your account with your lender is “in arrears” when you have missed some mortgage payments for whatever reason. Once you are in arrears, having missed payments for a couple of months or more, your lender is likely to seek court action in order to take steps to regain ownership or “repossess” your property. If you fail to contact your lender and try to reach agreement, the lenders only option to get their money back is to take control of your property and sell it. They must do this through the courts.

Just because you have gone into arrears and your lender is threatening court action doesn’t mean you will lose your home. Often a solution can be found that is acceptable to the lender and you. Selling your property, refinancing it with the existing or another lender, or finding the money to pay off the arrears are just some of the possibilities.

Before you decide any drastic measures, the most important thing to do is to talk with your lender. Some lenders are more helpful than others, but help may include extending the term of the mortgage, switching to interest only from a repayment mortgage, or rescheduling the debt in another way. This may prevent the need to go to court. However, even if you can’t agree a suitable solution with the lender, the judge at court is more likely to sympathise if you can show you have tried to solve the situation and not hide from it.

Going to court, if matters reach that stage, may not be as daunting as you might think. Hearings about possession are held in private rooms in the county court with a judge. A legal clerk will be there to represent the lender and the hearing generally takes about ten minutes. There are no black gowns, wigs, public galleries, witnesses or a jury. Its your opportunity to explain what has caused your account to go into arrears and try to reach an agreement so that you can keep your home and continue to meet any revised payment obligations.

Generally speaking, a judge will grant you a suspended order if you can meet future monthly payments plus a small contribution towards the arrears, or you could offer to clear the arrears if you can gather the funds together to do that. A suspended order means you can keep your home provided you meet the agreed commitment. Paying off the arrears means your account is back up to date so the lender cannot repossess it. Other options such as refinancing or selling your home are only likely to gain extra time to get them through if the judge is satisfied that one of these options is sufficiently progressed and will be finalised within say four weeks.

Selling your home is an option, though judges will want to see the transaction has progressed and an offer accepted before considering suspending your repossession. A good estate agent will realistically price your property, market it well and check out potentials buyers financial situation to help you achieve a fast sale. Refinancing is an option, though bear in mind this will depend on the speed with which a broker can process your application and find a suitable product. There will be few lenders available to you and the cost may be high over the long term.

At the court hearing the judge may allow you to keep your home via a suspended possession order. For example, if the judge thinks you are able to meet future monthly payments in full, plus a contribution towards arrears. This will mean you must follow this plan and failure to do so will allow the lender to gain possession without the further need for a court hearing (though in practice you could request one). If you present options such as selling your home or refinancing it, then the judge will want to see evidence that this is happening and that things are progressing and that the lender will get the money due to them within 28 days.

Repossession is a worrying time, but the key is to get as much information and advice as possible. There are a variety of voluntary and charitable organisations available to you free of charge to guide you through the process, answer your questions and discuss your options with you. Such organisations include your local Citizens Advice Bureau, Shelter and National Debtline.

About the Author:

Author James Bailey has an excellent working knowledge of the repossession process and has helped a number of people save their home in the UK. See more information, articles and obtain a full report on the repossession process at www.repossessionhelp.info