I have a secured loan with Blemain Finance for £60,000 which is costing me £645 pm over 300 months. They started repossession proceedings when I was just one month in arrears and I am now two monts behind and the court hearing is on Tuesday 9 September 2003. Are there any guidelines for lenders about how many months arrears there should be before proceedings are commenced? Thanks

-- Helen Taylor (helen@westpoint-devonshow.co.uk), September 04, 2003

Answers

Helen,

What you need to look at are the terms & conditions of your mortgage in respect to how many months arrears there should be before thay can commence proceedings.

I would also look at the postings re repo procedures under "Reposession process" dated April 9.

I'll email you a few more snippets on the above.

Good Luck.

Mark.

-- M Amos (idgroms@hotmail.com), September 04, 2003.

Rule Number 1 - GO TO THE HEARING - this takes precedence over everything, life death and marriage. Going to the hearing is the only way you will end up with a suspended possession order. So cancel all appointments, go sick that day off work - do whatever it takes - BE THERE!

You aim when it get to the hearing is to achieve a suspended possession order and a suspended judgment for the whole of the mortgage debt the latter figure will be in the summons. Taking possession proceedings at one months arrears might on the whole seem justified as you are now a further month in arrears and you might not get away with saying it is unreasonable for the proceedings to have been commenced when you owed 1 months arrears as they could say, with justification, you have increased the arrears as they "thought you might"

The judge is bound by the Norgan rules in that you must be allowed the full term of the mortgage to pay any arrears off. It is sensible if you take with you a proposal on a spreadsheet showing your income and outgoings and that you can afford to pay the ongoing monthly payment plus £x off the arrears each month. You will be in the court (private room with you and judge and opponent there) less than 5 minutes as these things are more or less rubber stamped through.

Good idea to sek out the rep for your BS at the court and have a chat with him/her and show your spreadsheet etc., as clearly if you can agree what you both want before you go into the room, it helps the judge and also will relieve your tension as you then know what the outcome will be before you go into the room.

You will then get a suspended PO and a suspended judgment (which does not appear on your credit files) and these are only made "unsuspended" if you fall into further arrears at which point also you are likely to lose your home through eviction.

Make sure that you are claiming any benefits you can including any child or working tax credits and that any person living with you is doing the same. Run a check with the local CAB or Welfare Rights office if not sure.

Let us know how you got on.

-- David J. Button (davidjohnbutton@supanet.com), September 04, 2003.

Excellent advice from David.

A judge (well 99.9% of them the other 0.01% are barking mad!) would suspend a possession when a payment plan to repay the arrears (even at £5 per month) is agreed whilst maintaining the regular monthly commitments.

Good luck

-- fairer financial world (fairerfinancialworld@hotmail.com), September 04, 2003.

In addition to the above info......... You should also check your Terms and Conditions and any other information from the lender concerning late payment charges/fees/fines. This is a subprime lender which means that they are more than likely to be adding further charges just because of your arrears. These charges will also attract interest throughout the term of the loan and will have a snowball effect if not paid - make sure that this is addressed as a matter of urgency. Good Luck Lexie

-- Lexie (lexie.fabriane@ntlworld.com), September 04, 2003.

So how did you get on then Helen?

-- David J. Button (davidjohnbutton@supanet.com), September 10, 2003.

Further Information On Blemain. They charge £70 per month for EVERY month you are in arrears. Its added to the loan at redemption. They also charge £150 to transfer your account to their "in house" collections company Monarch. It would be interesting to see if this is challengable as fair and reasonable in a court. If you have a repayment of £140 per month then this equates to an additional 100% per month. However, as it is added to the loan at settlement, it is not included in their loan costs. Any comments would be most welcome.

-- Tony (tony@usefulpages.com), November 22, 2003.

Further Information On Blemain. They charge £70 per month for EVERY month you are in arrears. Its added to the loan at redemption. They also charge £150 to transfer your account to their "in house" collections company Monarch. It would be interesting to see if this is challengable as fair and reasonable in a court. If you have a repayment of £140 per month then this equates to an additional 50% per month. However, as it is added to the loan at settlement, it is not included in their loan costs. Any comments would be most welcome.

-- Tony (tony@usefulpages.com), November 22, 2003.