The repossession will not have come as a complete surprise by any means. First of all the matter will have been taken to court and a possession order granted. Either that order was not on terms, or if it was on terms, then the terms have been broken and a Warrant of Possession was applied for - an appeal to stay or suspend that could have been made urgently to the judge.(posted 7226 days ago)The only time a sale is conclusive is when contracts have been signed and exchanged - even then it can fall through. Harsh though it may seem, the mortgagees are entitled to repossess despite an offer being on the table as that offer may not come to fruition.
It is always dangerous to allow an evictee back into the property as they can then claim reoccupation and the whole eviction process has to be gone through again. That is why they insist on a supervised visit. Whilst I sympathise with your friends dilemma - as I said before, this matter will have been ongoing for some time and these eviction processes do not spring out of thin air to surprise the unfortunate evictees.
It might, and I stress might, be possible for your friends to make an appointment with the judge tomorrow at the relevant court that granted the PO for a stay or suspension - but I have heard that judges do not normally give these when the eviction had been carried out prior to any emergency hearing.
This is something that perhaps might warrant an airing in "The Sun" - GMAC are a sub-prime lender - they won't like publicity like this!!!!