halifax 95

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I had a property repossessed in approx dec 95 I moved to a different area and have never heard anything. Last year I had a phone call asking for me by my maiden name . My mortgage was in my married name it was a joint mortgage. I have just recieved another phone call they did not say who they were but i think it was the halifax asking for me in my maiden name.On both occasion's I said they had a wrong number What should I do? also does this count as contact How can I protect my new home?I dont know when they sold my old property how could I find out.as they then may be out of time (6yr). Please Help Rose

-- rose brown (rbkhd@AOL.COM), February 15, 2003

Answers

Rose,

I'm afraid there are a couple of points which you don't appear to be aware of. Firstly, The CML voluntary 6 year code states:

'In addition, from 11 February 2000, lenders who are members of the Council of Mortgage Lenders have agreed voluntarily that they will begin all recovery action for the shortfall within the first six years following the sale of a property in possession. Anyone whose property was taken into possession and sold more than six years ago, and who has not been contacted by their lender about recovering any outstanding debt will not now be asked to pay the shortfall. The Association of British Insurers supports this approach on behalf of the mortgage indemnity insurers.'

It is 6 years from the date of SALE. Furthermore, they say:

'Following the sale of a property in possession, lenders often find it difficult to contact the former borrower to advise them of any surplus monies or shortfall debt. Lenders use a variety of measures to identify where the individual is now living. This might include using tracing agents. Situations can arise where a lender or its third party agent is trying to contact the individual (for example, by letter or telephone) to discuss repayment of the shortfall, but the individual simply chooses to ignore such contact. This is despite the fact that the contact is being made at the individual's new address. In these cases, lenders will consider that contact has been made for the purposes of the new six year limit. If an individual is unclear whether contact has been made within the six year period, the lender will be able to confirm the position.'

If contact has been made or considered to have been made then they will have 12 years under the Limitation Act 1980 to chase you, and if they have taken out a Money Judgment Order they can pursue you indefinitely (in theory). Make sure you read the Home Repo Site thoroughly and previous postings on this site. You may be able to find out through Land Registry when they sold your property, but I'm not sure of this, perhaps someone else can confirm this point.

Read the Council of Mortgage Lenser's site info on: 'http://www.cml.org.uk/servlet/dycon/zt- cml/cml/live/en/cml/pub_info_dept'

It's a difficult position, as far as I see it, you can either contact the lender and try and negotiate a full and final settlement, or ignore them. A number of lender's have been accepting between 5-10% of the total shortfall amount. The danger is, as I understand it, (if you have bought a new property) they could go to court and ask for a Charging Order and force the sale of your new property to recuperate their money. I'm not a professional adviser so please check this out with one. I'm sorry I can't give you better news. Good Luck.

Mark.

-- M Amos (idgroms@hotmail.com), February 15, 2003.


It may be worth taking legal advice about your partner or a trusted family member buying out your beneficial interest. This is your share of the current equity and the future equity. Without this your home may be safe from any action the Halifax take. I'm not a lawyer or professional advisor but I do know that this is how people protect their home against bankruptcy and in IVAs. Simon Wiggins at www.debtquestions.co.uk would probably be able to tell you if this would protect your new home.

-- Sue (bradfordandbingley_suck@yahoo.co.uk), February 15, 2003.

Rose

I can't say any more that the previous answers but if you feel you are being harassed or annoyed by these telephone calls you could bar them from calling you. Simply contact BT and register for "Choose to Refuse" - it is free for one month and you don't have to continue it if you don't want to. (otherwise it's £8 a month thereafter)

What they will do is give you a code and when you get one of these calls (ie they withhold their number or even if they don't) all you do is dial they number they give you, press ** to bar the call for a withheld number and to specify a particular number they will give you another 4 digit code to use to bar it!

Hope this helps and at least you won't get any more spooky calls!

Good luck! Moira

-- hanging in there! (Anderston828@aol.com), February 17, 2003.


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