How to Stop Repossession
At RepayMortgage we often get enquiries about helping to stop eviction and prevent repossession of someone’s home or property. It is not a pleasant experience when faced with the threat of repossession and eviction, so below we have listed some points to note that will at least minimise the pain and in most cases, with the services of RepayMortgage.co.uk, prevent repossession of your home. Note that the overriding advice is to communicate with your lender, do not ignore correspondence.
If you already have an eviction date then you will need to take action very quickly, read more here about our service to stop eviction
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1. Do not ignore letters regarding outstanding payments or repossession
The very first point to note is then when you receive letters from your lender or their solicitor regarding payment arrears or more seriously warnings of legal action DO NOT IGNORE THEM. You should understand that the process of repossessing a property can be very costly for the lender, and whilst they may be able to recover some or all of the costs from your property, they would much prefer to reach an agreement with you to pay off the mortgage arrears.
2. Speak with your lender.
If you are not yet at the point where court action has been instigated, e.g. you are behind with payments and the lender is threatening legal action, then request a face to face meeting. Discuss your situation with the lender, it may be that a temporary solution can be sought whilst you are finding employment or other sources of income or finance. Factors that they will consider include the type and amount of mortgage you have, how far in arrears with payments you are, and the circumstances or reasons for getting into arrears. Remember, the lender’s preferred solution is that you pay off your arrears, not to repossess your home.
3. If you can not reach agreement with the lender, seek professional advice.
If you are in receipt of a letter from the lender’s solicitor with a final demand then look for a solution that will prevent the next step, court action. If you can offer a proposal that is acceptable you should be able to prevent repossession of your home. To help with this there are many organisations that can offer advice, one such organisation is the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) – however it is much more effective to get them involved before the lender instructs a solicitor. The CAB will be able to review your situation taking account of everything from your personal financial situation through to your accommodation needs. With their advice you may be able to prevent court action for repossession.
4. Consider using the services of RepayMortgage
If after discussing options with your lender no solution can be found to stop repossession then consider companies such as RepayMortgage. Many people find that a solution to sell their home using remaining equity to clear their debts and then renting back their home provides the ideal solution, for more information on this option go to our sell and rent back section of the website
5. Dealing with a court order
If you have reached this stage the court will have written to you with a summons instructing you to attend a hearing at a given date, time and location. If you are in receipt of a court summons you should immediately seek advice from an organisation such as the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). You should also reply to the court’s letter, failure to do so may harm your case. The CAB should be able to help you construct a reply that may help in the hearing. At this late stage it may still be possible to negotiate a solution – so do not ignore the letters!
6. During the court hearing
The court will hear the case from the lender and yourself. Based on the information provided at the hearing they can make one of several decisions; adjourn the case for more information to be obtained; strike out the case; decide that you should be given time to resolve your financial situation and repay the outstanding debt; allow you time to find a buyer for your property (selling the property is usually less costly than being repossessed); reach a decision that you should be evicted from your home. If the decision is to evict you will be given a date to leave, if you do not vacate by this date then bailiffs may be instructed to evict you by force.
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Other related pages
UK Government repossession statistics
For more information on London fast house sales and UK fast house sales.