Jim,(posted 7708 days ago)I think your suggestion about 'giving ex-borrowers the opportunity to have a say as to whether or not the sale should proceed at a particular price or wait a bit longer' is well made. It's something I'd like to push with the Treasury Minister. The CAB in their Long Shadow Report stated: 7.3 The CAB Service believes that reforms should require lenders to: • give borrowers in negative equity and facing possession action the right to sell the property themselves.
This would avoid crazy situations like the following (taken from the Long Shadow Report):
"A CAB in Somerset reported a couple who had sought to sell their home at a slight loss when they found themselves in financial difficulties in the early nineties. The building society refused them permission to sell and instead repossessed the property when the arrears rose to £1,000. It was subsequently sold at a much lower figure and now, six years later, the couple are being asked to repay a debt of £17,000. Had they been allowed to sell at the time, their debt would have been far less. Whilst they realised they would have had to make up the difference if they had sold at a loss, they were not aware that they were still liable after repossession."
And of course after six years the borrower can't counterclaim for selling at an undervalue, very clever.
Mark.