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dianeb
Starting Member
12 Posts |
 Posted - 20 March 2009 : 21:03:16
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hi there,one of my creditiors is taking me to court monday for a bankruptcy petition,am i likely to lose my home? my debt is £5075.00. im so worried.
diane |
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John
New Member
United Kingdom
73 Posts |
Posted - 20 March 2009 : 22:56:32
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Hi
if you are in a mortgaged property your home is at risk but it is not definite that you will lose it.
More details needed to advise you of your particular position in bankruptcy.
If you do own the property is it in negative equity and if not how much equity would you estimate there is?
Do you own it solely or jointly?
John White
England Jackman & Spacey |
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dianeb
Starting Member
12 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 01:39:50
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hi john thankyou for your quick reply i really appreciate it. in answer to your questions yes i jointly own the property with my husband and it currently has positive equity of approx £46.000.
i have negotiated with my creditors since oct last year but obviously not to their satisfaction as just when i think weve reached a solution they push the boundaries out even more and ask for me to pay more than i can afford in the space of 18 months. i feel as though were damned whichever way we go and thought if it went to court that at least my side would be heard. we did send payments with an income and expenditure which was accepted by connaught then when we sent another they returned it to me saying it was now passed to solicitors,i then sent payment to solicitors whom also returned it. they wanted me and my husband to agree to a charging order on the property and pay £401 per month which we couldnt realistically afford. whats my best route?
diane
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John
New Member
United Kingdom
73 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 12:38:34
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Hi diane
I'm assuming that your husband is not in a potentially bankrupt position.
If you are declared bankrupt at Monday's hearing then your personal interest in the property will automatically vest in the Official Receiver and a restriction will be filed at Land Registry which prevents the property from being remortgaged or sold without the OR's knowledge and authorisation.
From that point potentially your half of the equity which you estimate to be worth approx £23K (50% of £46K) will belong to the OR. I say potentially as it should not, in law, be automatically assumed that as joint owners you each own 50%. Other factors can, in law, dictate that your share may be more or less than the assumed 50% such as who supplied the deposit capital when the property was purchased, who contributes what level of income into the household, or has done, throughout the term of ownership, has the property ever, since first purchased, been remortgaged and what were the funds used for.
If the answers to these questions reflect that one joint owner has contributed more than the other then it can be argued that the interest in the property is not a 50/50 split.
Assuming for the moment equal contribution and therefore your interest is in fact worth £23K then you or a 3rd party close to you will, technically, need to raise that sum during the bankruptcy to pass to the OR who will distribute this money pro rata amongst all of your creditors.
Whatever your level of interest in the property is determined to be unless this sum can be raised then the OR acting as trustee, or a private sector trustee if one is appointed by the OR, will eventually force the sale of your property.
This particular debt is approx £5K, do you have any other unsecured debts such as personal loans and or credit cards?
If this were your only debt then you would not lose the £23K. You would have to raise the £5K owed plus the OR's fees.
John White
England Jackman & Spacey |
Edited by - John on 21 March 2009 12:41:24 |
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John
New Member
United Kingdom
73 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 12:43:24
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Hi
it is too late to halt Monday's proceedings but you can still influence how much this will cost you and whether or not you get to keep the property even after bankruptcy but you will need advice, professional or otherwise, to establish your legal position in this respect.
John White
England Jackman & Spacey |
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dianeb
Starting Member
12 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 20:15:05
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hi john thanks again for replying so soon.
in answer to your questions,no my hubby is not in a bankrupt position and he supplied the capital for the deposit.
im on incapacity benefit and have been for 8 years due to a chronic illness.my hubby contributes 1750 each month and i contribute 400 incap ben.we remortgaged once for debt consolidation,and have no other unsecured debts at all,the only debt we have is a car on finance which is due to be paid off next year.
we are very capable of paying this 5k debt off just not at the rate the creditors wish,surely judges look at both sides?
diane
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dianeb
Starting Member
12 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 20:31:58
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would or could an IVA be put in place by the courts? im trying to guage the outcome of monday.
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John
New Member
United Kingdom
73 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 22:01:40
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Hi
the court will not place you in an IVA as they are voluntary in that you decide to apply for it so you approach an IP who will determine whether one is affordable or not. The IP will then propose the IVA to creditors whilst you are bankrupt. If the creditors agree then the court will sanction the IVA and remove the bankruptcy.
The problem is you don't qualify as there are an insufficient number of creditors.
How much, in cash terms, by way of deposit was made at the time of purchase? And is there no way of raising the £5K against the remaining equity in the property?
John White
England Jackman & Spacey |
Edited by - John on 21 March 2009 22:03:02 |
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John
New Member
United Kingdom
73 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 22:11:52
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Hi
probably a silly question but I will ask anyway, have you received a statutory demand at any time from the claimant and what evidence do you have that the hearing will actually take place?
(I'm just trying to establish if procedure has been followed or if the claimant is bluffing - clutching at straws I know).
John White
England Jackman & Spacey |
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dianeb
Starting Member
12 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 23:42:36
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hi john
yes i recieved a statutory demand on the 9th of january and the creditors petition on the 2nd march which states the hearing date.
i could try and raise the 5k by remortgaging again which we tried to do with our current lender,but unfortunately they are not doing remortgages due to the financial climate.
i could try elsewhere but in the time it would take to sort out im not sure if my creditors would accept waiting,and wouldnt it be too late anyway as the hearing is monday?
im sure they have followed procedure,although i have not recieved anything official from the courts to back this up other than a stamp on the petitiion.
i am expecting to recieve just over 1k in the next 6 weeks for back dated child benefit which will be going straight to my creditors.
diane
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dianeb
Starting Member
12 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 23:44:57
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what can the courts place me in other than bankruptcy as i really dont want to lose my home.im absolutely terrified im going to end up homeless.
diane
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dianeb
Starting Member
12 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 23:59:53
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ive just gone through all the paperwork again and noticed a "notice of funding of case or claim" please could you explain what this is as i dont understand all the forms etc. i have noticed on it that where the claim number should be entered it has been left blank and i have no other documentation with a case number on,just a reference number on the petition.
diane
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John
New Member
United Kingdom
73 Posts |
Posted - 22 March 2009 : 06:29:18
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Hi diane
I will keep my eye on this thread today as you need as much info as possible as the hearing is tomorrow.
Regarding the car-
Is it on an HP agreement or purchased via a personal loan?
Whose name is that agreement / loan in, yours or your husband's or joint? (It's irrelevant whose name the car is registered in with DVLA what's important is who has borrowed the money).
Regarding the paperwork you have received I'm not sure what it is but as you will need to attend court tomorrow don't trouble yourself with it now.
When you are in court the fact that the money is owed is not in dispute. The judge will allow the petition if he thinks bankruptcy is appropriate.
You should definitely take with you, if you do in fact have it in writing, evidence that you made an offer to Connaught plus the written acceptance plus all other subsequent letters that you have both sent and received.
If the judge believes the claimant has been less than reasonable he may decide not to allow the petition but make an arrangement through the court for an affordable payment over a period. For this reason anything that damns the claimant and might gain sympathy for you is worth having with you and placing before the judge before he makes his decision.
Tell the judge also that with your husband having paid the mortgage since day one, and all of the deposit monies, you do not believe that you have a financial interest in the property anyway.
Every little piece of info will help.
Incidentally which court will you be attending?
Anyway let me know about the car and we'll go from there and hopefully get you in as good a position as we can before tomorrow's hearing.
John White
England Jackman & Spacey |
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dianeb
Starting Member
12 Posts |
Posted - 22 March 2009 : 10:13:57
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hi john,
the car is in joint names as this was the requirement at the time of purchase,it is on hp.
the hearing is in middlesbrough county court.
would you reccomend i take with me the returned postal order which i sent to my creditors and as another payment was planned to be paid friday take that too?
regards
diane
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dianeb
Starting Member
12 Posts |
Posted - 22 March 2009 : 10:20:30
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incidentally john,when we cleared other debts with the same company in 2007 it has taken them almost 2 years to contact me about this one.when we were clearing our debts this one was genuinely overlooked.dont know if that counts for anything but thought id tell you anyway.
regards
diane
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John
New Member
United Kingdom
73 Posts |
Posted - 22 March 2009 : 11:58:36
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Hi
the car being on HP is not included in bankruptcy so is safe from the OR. However, most HP agreements have a bankruptcy clause (check your paperwork) which states that the lender withholds the right to repossess the car even if payments are up to date if bankruptcy is declared. Hopefully as your husband is not declaring the lender will be fine.
As far as all the other info you have to hand including proof of your attempts to pay and the payment for Friday by all means take it along, and any other correspondence.
The truth is that all you can do is explain to the judge in as much detail as possible and provide all the evidence you can. The judge will of course decide.
What you must do is hold onto the belief that a way will be found to keep your home even if you are declared bankrupt.
John White
England Jackman & Spacey |
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Topic |
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am i likely to lose my home?
