I have recently been submitted with a shortfall notice from a firm of solicitors called Addleshaw Booth & Co(Leeds) I presume they have been appointed by my original lender The Halifax although it doesn't make this totally clear in their letter.Should my first course of action be to clarify exactly who is demanding the shortfall i.e The lender, the solicitor or the insurance company responsible for the MIG.Having found your site both informative and encouraging, I anticipate using it quite a lot over the coming months. Yours sincerely James Sullivan

-- James Sullivan (jsullivan@clara.co.uk), June 14, 2001

Answers

I would say that you definately need to find out who that are acting for.

If it is the halifax then the Council of MOrtgage Lenders agreement and the Halifax's own statement means that they can no longer chase you for the money providing that it has been 6 years since repossession - if it is less than 6 years then this is irrelevant.

When writing to them to ask who thye are acting for - this should have been made clear in the first place - also ask for "a copy of the Money Order Judgement on which they are relying". They require this document in order to pursue the shortfall and if they do not have it thy must return to court to obtain one.

I would say that in the first instance that would be enough. See what they say and then come back to this site and let us know (e-mail me privately if you wish). If and when all the above is settled to your satisfaction thaen you should use the information on this site to ask for full documented proof of the debt and your liability. Take the time that you will have once you send your letter to read through the posting on this site - there are lots that are VERY useful - read the repossesion section as well.

Hope that helps but if you are confused do come back.

-- Matt (mattyc@ntlworld.com), June 15, 2001.

Hi James,

Can I just add to Matt's comment about the 6 years ... they will claim that this is 6 years from the date of sale of repossessed property. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen.

My advice for a good place to start is the do's and don'ts section under repossession.

Hope it goes well for you James, there is plenty of support and advice out here if you need it.

-- (_Believer14@excite.co.uk), June 15, 2001.

The letter from the solicitors should state quite clearly at the top of the letter the name of their client, and the address of the property in question. You can complain to the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors of you feel you are being misled. Personally IMHO I think they're trying hedge their bets because there's an insurance company and MIG money involved. In which case I would SARN the lender just to make sure. [This could well be coded in a screen dump. For example, Abbey/Eversheds use 'category 40.1' to denote a MIG case.] Was the sale of the house (and therefore any MIG payout) over 6 years ago, perchance?

-- Eleanor Scott (eleanor.scott@btinternet.com), June 16, 2001.

Thank you to everyone who has responded to my question. Your comments were all extremely useful. I shall be contacting the solicitors to clarify exactly who their client is. Watch this space!

-- James Sullivan (jsullivan@clara.co.uk), June 16, 2001.

I have now been informed that Addleshaw & Booth are acting on behalf of the Halifax Plc. Further to this I have requested the SARN information that the Halifax hold and await their response. Hopefully this should put me in a better position to deal with their claim.

Yours faithfully

James Sullivan

-- James Sullivan (jsullivan@clara.co.uk), July 04, 2001.