Due to various financial and personal problems of the last few months myself and my partner have incurred arrears on our mortgage totalling £1,300. We have made an arrangement with the lender (Abbey National) but have been told by their solicitors that there will be a possession hearing on 18th June 2001. Do we both have to attend or can one of us attend? Will they re-possess for definite? We were thinking about selling up but not sure whether we can when in arrears.

How much on top of the normal monthly payment is considered reasonable? Our normal payment is £254 per month. My partner has recently got a new job and hopefully we should be better off financially after a month or two.

Please email reply. Thank you.

J Adams Miss

-- Julie Louise Adams (adams-j@orange.net), May 19, 2001

Answers

I would have chat with your local CAB. There are various rights you have, and you don't seem aware of them. But get them from someone who's qualified to give advice, just to be on the safe side.

If it it were me, I would ask the CAB adviser whether or not s/he thinks that if you show the judge you have a proper plan to pay off the five months' arrears (and that you understand that under 'Naughton rules' [or somesuch thing] you have the whole life of the mortgage to do this in), then will you be OK?

-- Eleanor Scott (eleanor.scott@btinternet.com), May 20, 2001.

Sorry, that should be 'Norgan Rules'. Go to the 'Arrears' section of this Home Repo site, and read 'A Judge's View'.

Good luck.

-- Eleanor Scott (eleanor.scott@btinternet.com), May 20, 2001.

Just one of you may attend,the judges are usually very 'fatherly' and understanding.He will have to grant the lender a suspended order and provided that you maintain future agreed payments you will be ok.The lenders agreed under the Mortgage code rules that possession will only be a last resort when all attempts to reach an alternative solution have been unsuccessful(sec8.3 the mortgage code) have a reasonable plan to put to the judge.good luck

-- roger watts (rwatts.homeloans@virgin.net), June 05, 2001.