Don't leave it too late or the Courts WILL evict you!

In the course of our work we come across many different types of people, after all house repossession can happen to absolutely anyone, regardless of previous circumstances.

But the people we are usually best placed to help are those who contact us before the repossession process really gets underway, even if it's only to find out about the procedure and what their options are. If you have mortgage arrears and have your lender starting to make noises about court dates, solicitors or repossession, then the sooner you deal with the issues involved, the more likely it is that you can sort out the situation in time, and save your home from repossession.

This week I had a call from young married woman in the north of England. She was desperate because the court had given a date for their eviction. Not just the date for the hearing, or even a repossession order (that is often suspended by the judge as long as you make some payments towards your mortgage arrears) - but an actual eviction date.

This means that the couple had gone through the whole process from lender's threatening letter, to first hearing in the court and right up until the eviction date was set. But even then, they only had 3 days left before eviction. That is before the police arrive with the locksmiths and remove all their belongings into the street.

Now, it is possible in extreme circumstances for us to exchange contracts on a sale in 48 hours, thereby stopping the repossession action in its tracks. But, 3 days doesn't give anyone much room for manoeuvre. With this couple they wanted to sell and rent back, a service we offer to everyone.

But in these scenarios I usually like to meet to sellers so that a) I can see that they are genuine (most people are - very , very few are not) and more importantly so they can meet me - their future landlord. It's one thing to have to sell your home and rent it back, but it's another altogether to rent back and then find out your landlord some inhuman corporation who just see you and your property as a quick buck and a statistic.

In this case, the couple lived nearly 300 miles from our office. Not a problem in itself but time consuming to make the trip and we only had 3 days to stop their eviction!

In the end the amount of money the couple owed on their mortgage was just too high - something like 95% of the market value on a good day - and so they are facing eviction in 2 days time. And they only owed £3000.

The moral of the story is that given the 3 months or so that they had taken before contacting us we could have found other solutions to their problems, and they almost certainly would not have had to face repossession - the ultimate humiliation for any home owner who has worked hard to keep family and home together during these hard times.

Call me free on 0800 634 28 21 for a confidential chat about your options. If calling from a mobile that charges for 0800 numbers I'll be happy to call you straight back and pay for the call!