Suspended Repossession

All About Suspended Repossession Orders

A suspended repossession order is a legal arrangement made between you and your lender following a repossession court hearing. This means that a repossession order on the property has been suspended (you are not ordered to leave your house – yet). This suspension will usually have some strict conditions attached to it. The two most common conditions are:

• You agree to pay in full your monthly mortgage payments, plus an additional amount to pay towards the arrears you have incurred. Be careful not to over-commit yourself to any unmanageable repayments.
• You agree to sell the property within a certain time scale and replay the mortgage in full. This will only usually be accepted if you can show you have already found a buyer for the property and are just waiting for the sale to ‘complete’.

A judge will give you a suspended repossession, instead of a normal repossession order if they believe the mortgage arrears issue can be resolved. If you have a suspended repossession order on your property it is important to stick to the terms of the order as failure to do so may result in you being evicted from your home without your lender requiring another repossession court hearing.

Suspended Repossession – The Terms & Conditions

If a judge has made a suspended possession order you are permitted to stay in your property for as long as you keep to the conditions detailed. The conditions will be explained in the court order, but if they are not clear you should seek professional advice.

Typically the order will say you have to pay a certain amount off your arrears and your usual mortgage payment. Most mortgage lenders will ask for the arrears to be paid off within a certain time frame, eg 3 years – but the time scale will ultimately be decided by the judge based on your financial circumstances, and in some cases the arrears may be spread across the remaining mortgage term (but this is unusual).

If you think you are likely to have problems sticking to the conditions of a suspended possession order, you should contact your lender and/or get advice immediately. Don’t put off dealing with the situation, as your lender (or other creditor) may be able to evict you very quickly if you either fail to keep to your original agreement or failing to agree to an alternative.

Further / On-Going Financial Difficulties

Following a suspended repossession some people find a way to solve their mortgage problems, but unfortunately this is not the case for everyone. As the majority of people that receive a suspended repossession order are already struggling to keep up with their current mortgage and other financial debts. When they are required to pay even more to their mortgage lender to ‘catch up’ on their mortgage arrears this often results in even more strain on their budget.

This is not helped by the treat of eviction if you miss just one mortgage payment. If you do receive a letter from the bailiffs, get advice immediately. There may still be time to stop the eviction. We understand that at this highly stressful time you may feel you have no way out, but if you contact us we may be able to help you. You can sell your house quickly for cash so you can pay off your mortgage in full and any other secured debts and the remaining cash will go straight to you. We can even arrange for you to rent your house from us either in the short term whilst you find your feet, or the long term if you would prefer not to move.

Suspended Repossession – What Next?

If you have been issued with a suspended repossession order, then now is the time to act in order to save your home from being repossessed. Even if the situation seems hopeless, we may be able to help you find a solution. For example, if you have lost your job it may be possible to get the conditions of the order changed to make the repayments more manageable. If you want to change the conditions of an order, you will need to apply to the court and may have to pay a fee. However, if you are claiming benefits or have a low income you may be able to get help with these costs.

If you would like to have the suspended repossession canceled and start again from fresh then the simplest solution we offer is a quick cash sale. This involves us making you an offer typically in less than 24 hours, and we can transfer the cash as soon as the sale completes. It is a fast, reliable, and hassle free way to sell your house and we don’t even need to come and view your property, we simply base our offer in the trade value of your house. What’s more we will pay all your legal fees, and because the sale is direct you don’t have any estate agents fees, which in total will save the average home mover about five thousand pounds.

Best Wishes, John.

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