Act quickly to stop Repossession

This week I've been helping a number of families and sellers with problem properties. For one of them though, the call to Cash For My House came just a bit too late. Don't leave it until your home has been taken from you before you decide to do something about it!

Mr R.B. from Kent is a retired army captain who since his divorce had lived alone in a new build 2 bed flat in a Kent coastal town. Mr R.B. was targeted by a gang of local youths who tried to get him to buy cigarettes, alchohol and other substances banned to under 18s. When he refused he was systematically targetted by the gang who threw objects at him, terrorised him at night and even urinated through his letter box. He decided to rent another flat and move away from the area, in the process leaving the mortgage on his previous flat unpaid for months. Mr R.B.s reason for this was that he felt he needed this money to pay rent in his new flat away from the problems of the old one. However, by not dealing with the situation at the time, selling the flat or renting it out, the mortgage company repossessed the apartment, and Mr R.B. didn't even know because he hadn't informed his lender about his problems, so they sent the letters to the old address.

Suddenly Mr R.B. realised he had to act. I made him an offer for the flat that he was extremely happy with, but after making the local searches, my solcitor told me that Mr R.B. wasn't actually the owner of the property!

Unfortunately for him, the flat was now the property of the mortgage lender and the sale of it was totally out of his hands. So, if the lender's agent didn't sell the flat for more than he owed the mortgage lender, he would be liable for the short fall in between the sale price and the amount he owed the lender for up to 12 years!

To avoid repossession and find out about selling your home and renting it back, click here

Mortgage Lenders Get Rapped in Kingston Upon Thames

Sub-prime mortgage lenders should be more responsible about setting lending criteria, a spokesperson for the Independent Mortgage Advice Bureau (IMAB) has said.

Lenders must take more responsibility when choosing which customers to lend to, checking what the customer will be able to afford by examining income, mortgage advisor Simon Beames stressed.

But he added that the intention to lend more responsibly is often counterbalanced by the need to compete with the opposition, which has driven the trend to "extend... affordability calculators quite considerably".

Still, Mr Beames conceded that when borrowers do go into arrears, lenders must try harder to help.

Sub-prime lenders should be "more flexible with the options when people do go into arrears", Mr Beames admitted, helping customers work through the options instead of leaping to take legal action.

Telling customers, "you're in your last chance saloon, we're closing the doors on you" will not help vulnerable individuals get back on their feet, he stressed.

According to Citizens' Advice, 70 per cent of the rise in repossession hearings between 2005 and 2006 at one county court in Kingston, Surrey, was attributable to the increased ease of sub-prime lending.

To avoid problems with sub prime lenders visit Cash For My House. Get out of debt without borrowing more money and stay in your own home!