Mohammed,(posted 7888 days ago)I think you should take a look at the following info I posted earlier. If you first defaulted in Jan 1990 then it's possible the mortgage shortfall is now statute barred. It has now been established that the 12 year limitation period runs from the 2nd or 3rd missed payment on the mortgage, see below for more precise details.
-------------------------------- Just a short note to let you know that the Court of Appeal handed down a reserved judgment in Bristol & West v Bartlett (and two other conjoined cases, Paragon v Banks and Halifax v Grant) this morning.
The case involved a determination as to the limitation period facing a lender seeking to recover the shortfall in the mortgage debt after sale of the secured property.
The headline news is that the Court of Appeal has decided that s.20 of the Limitation Act 1980 is intended to provide a complete code for mortgages. Issues as regards the application of ether s.5 or s.8 do not arise. The dicta of Auld LJ in Hopkinson v Tupper are dead and buried.
Therefore, in respect of capital, the bank has 12 years to commence proceedings after the cause of action accrued, usually when the entire mortgage debt became due on the monthly instalment payment being missed for the second or third month. s.20(1) applies.
In respect of interest, it appears that the bank has 6 years from that date to recover interest. s.20(5) applies. However, rather oddly the issue as regards interest accruing after the sale has been specifically left open.
Two other short issues are dealt with An express mortgage shortfall covenant does not give rise to a fresh cause of action accruing on the sale of the property. In order to avoid any issues as to appropriation towards either interest or capital, the lender should adduce evidence of how the net proceeds of sale were applied to the mortgage account.