Halifax and demands

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I'm having problems with the Halifax after an investigation by the Ombudsman who did not uphold my complaint the Halifax are demanding that I accept their offer of £3000 within 21 days or they'll chase me for the full shortfall. I have no assets and have proof that before I moved out of the house it was worth £10,000 more than the mortgage. My ex stayed in a virtually destroyed the house living a shortfall of £15,000. The MIG reduced the debt to £7,000 so splitting it in half means £3,000. I have very little money I'm owed in excess of £7,000 Child support and my ex's pay slips from last year showed he earned in excess of £8000 every 6 weeks as a contract. He earns a substantial amount more than I do.

I'm thinking of declaring myself banktrupt. I was going to offer then £300 cash because I'm struggling with money. I don't even have my own house. I was thinking of asking them to take me to court as I have heard that when their is evidence of ex's bad behaviour they usually make that person pay. I've been to court to gain court orders against him to sell and eviction orders.

Can anyone help please I'm desperate.

Please......

-- KC2000 (karencarr2000@yahoo.co.uk), January 09, 2003

Answers

Karen

Have you SARN'd all parties involved? If not, do so now. (see Reposession section on this site which will give you a sample letter).

Send the letter RECORDED DELIVERY only.

Next.....

Do not fill in any I & E forms.

If you genuinely have no assets (mortgage, property, car etc) and have a low income (little money can mean different things to different people so be careful)...there is very little they can do to you.

So sit tight until you get the SARN info, and then go through it bit by bit and look for any mistakes...inaccuracies etc). Keep a note of these for your own use meantime.

Next write to them and ask them to provide evidence in support of this alleged debt. See "do's and don'ts" for the list of things to ask for.

If you feel the house was undersold, get written evidence. Contact the Land Registry for a list of properties (of the same type, size etc)sold 6 months either side of yours. You will have to give them names of streets but they only charge maybe £5/£10 for this.

This should get you going for the moment.

Don't offer them money just yet - I think.

Come back to the site for any more help you feel you need.

M

-- hanging in there! (Anderston828@aol.com), January 10, 2003.


Karen,

In the first instance I would follow the advice on the Homo Repo site under the 'Do's and Don'ts section and make Halifax proove the alleged debt. Be careful not to acknowledge it, in any communication make sure you do not acknowledge it. Also, under the rights of subrogation the insurance company who insured the lender can chase you for the amount paid to the lender, so I'm afraid, the amount won't be 'reduced'. You also need to find out whether a Money Judgment Order has been issued, this gives the lender a right to chase you indefinitely (clarified by the House of Lords in 1998). It may be that bankruptcy is the better option. First though, you could offer them 370 pounds (cost to make oneself bankrupt) on a take it or leave it basis. A number of people have settled this way. If you do settle make sure that it includes any monies paid out by an insurance company to the lender (see my earlier posting 'on the MIG question'). Furthermore, the 'Enterprise Bill' will come into force in 2004 and means that a bankrupt will be discharged somewhere between 3 to 12 months (providing it's due to 'unfortunate' circumstances and not deliberate). I think it's certainly worth considering as a last resort, especially where an MJO has been issued, and you have no assets. I'm not a legal expert though, so you may want to check this out yourself. Hope this helps. Good Luck.

Mark.

-- M Amos (idgroms@hotmail.com), January 11, 2003.


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