This I think may help many people who are getting demand from building soc some 10 years or more after repo. There is a paragraph in an appeal court judgement which states quite clearly that the cause of action begins when u go into default with your repayments not when the property was sold. The case is Bristol & West and Robert Wayne Bartlett 31 july 2002 para 28. "We consider, however, that the relevant cause of action is the cause of action for the debt and, following McHenry, that there is no fresh cause of action arising on the ascertainment of the deficiency. " http://www2.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2002/1181.html Worth looking at I think ,hope it helps someone.

-- Ian Turner (ian.turner001@ntlworld.com), February 09, 2004

Answers

They have a way with words, don't they? That makes everything so much clearer, doesn't it?

I think that the ruling underlines the opinions of Mark and others that the 12 year rule is dictated largely by the terms of the mortgage itself - whilst any default could start the clock ticking, the mortgage agreement itself usually dictates when that actually happens. Usually that is after three payments are missed.

There is a lot on this site that is of interest in this matter and this case reinforces what some have already said - but Ian's pointer is very useful should anyone need to quote a judgement.

-- Brian Mitchell (pridegreen@ntlworld.com), February 10, 2004.