In 1994 my partner left me & house was repossessed. this was done voluntary as i seeked advice from lender who told me to hand in my keys which i did. i heard nothing then last year (2000) recv'd a letter from lender demanding £14,654.00 & an income & expenditure form to fill in. i seeked advice from the association of mortgage borrowers who in turn contacted the lender & suppossidly sorted the situation for me, however some 12 months later i have now recv'd another letter asking me to complete the income & expenditure form within a certain time period else they will take further action. the lender is chasing me for the full amount despite mortgage being in joint names, they state this is because they cannot find the other party even though i have provided them with his whereabouts. obviously my circumstances have now changed (ie 2 children) & i am worried sick we will be on the streets what do i do as i did everything the lender told me to & now they are coming on heavy towards me. please help this very desperate & frightened person. thankyou........

-- claire davies (chloejadebenj@aol.com), March 23, 2001

Answers

First of all, don't worry - you will not be out on the streets. Secondly, read through this website - you will find lots of advice.

I would recommend that you write a letter to the lender asking a copy of the "completion statement" from the sale of the property and supporting documentation, then just sit back and wait.

You say that you were first contacted in 2000, this could well be on the 6 year limitation period limit depending onthe exact date. This could be a good argument for you, although you will see from the website that the 6 year / 12 year limitation periods are a grey area.

Write that letter, and please try not to worry. Come back to the board when you've got your reply and we'll take it from there.

-- pendle (pendle@amun-ra.demon.co.uk), March 23, 2001.

Your first port of call is the Repossession section of this site. It tells you explicitly what you should do in this circumstance.

The only thing that needs to be clarified *at this stage* is that you should not only serve a SARN but should also write back asking for the documentation/evidence that is discussed (endlessly) in the Repossession section. You need to pursue both paths and then come back when you have the responses and encounter anything that you don't understand.

Good luck,

Lee

-- Lee (repossession@bigfoot.com), March 23, 2001.

Claire,

First let me say that it's OK and don't be frightened. The majority of the people who contribute to this site felt exactly the same way when we were first contacted by our ex-lenders. I was absolutely horrified! Both Lee and Pendle are good people and their advice is spot on. Read this site from top to bottom a couple of times and give yourself a couple of days to let it all sink in and make sense. After this you should start feeling a little better. Write your letter as pendle suggests and send it off. From the reply you should be able to work out the direction you need to go based upon the information here on this site. Any questions just ask as we are all in the same boat and will help where we can and give you the support and encouragement that you need.

Good Luck

Regards Tim

-- Tim Heath (tim_n_heath@hotmail.com), March 23, 2001.

Reading this thread reminded me of a passage I read recently in the latest edition of The Law Machine by Marcel Berlins and Clare Dyer (Penguin, 2000 pp 166-67).

To paraphrase:

The pressure to settle does not fall evenly on the two sides in a dispute. Very often it's a fight between David and Goliath, the individual versus the big company. It is uneven in many cases where companies sue [or threaten to sue] customers for money allegedly owing - "the individual may believe he does not owe the money...but he is often overwhelmed by the prospect of taking on the big battalions."

The passage continues:

"The individual claimant wants to get the whole case over as quickly as possible...because of the constant stress and emtional tension... A company feels no such pressures and it is often in its interests in borderline cases to string out the proceedings and wear down the other side. The personal strain is enormous. For [a company] a legal claim is a matter of business; for the individual it is something the result of which can affect his whole life."

The authors also point out that often the legal battle follows a nasty experience. In the example they give, it is an accident. In our cases, it is repossession and the often traumatic life events involved at the time (relationship breakdown and redundancy are common themes).

Thus, many indivduals succumb to the strain and settle on inadequate terms.

Knowledge is power. Know this, and try to use it to get your head round the whole experience.

And I would urge anyone who is feeling distressed to use this Q&A board for support, to read the Home Repo page for information, and to contact their MP for practical assistance. If you have no luck with your own MP (and even if you do), please contact mine who is taking and interest in this whole issue and who plans to debate it in parliament:

Mike Hancock CBE MP, 1a Albert Road, Southsea, Portsmouth PO5 2SE (tel 023 9286 1055).

-- Eleanor Scott (eleanor.scott@btinternet.com), March 27, 2001.

I can fully apreciate your shock, but as in the advise above sit down and take stock. Time is on your side if nobody would agree to hand over such a vast sum of money without a good reason. I am in the middle of such an action and it is harrowing, but remember that everyone here has gone through or is going through it. I have found this site invaluable, so I urge you to use it.

Good luck

Jon S

-- Jon Sapsford (jsapsford@talk21.com), April 12, 2001.