Is My property being marketed correctly

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Repossession : One Thread

I’m concerned that my repossessed property is not being marketed correctly and that any potential money coming back to me will be lost or worst still that a shortfall may occur. Basically myself and my ex-partner lived in this property. We split and I moved on. However I was left paying the mortgage as I felt obliged at the time as we have two children together. I was then made redundant and could not afford to pay for this anyway. I explained this to my ex but she stuck her head in the sand and it has now been repossessed. Repossession took place on the 24/4/03.

The house has been put on the market for 140,000. This will amply cover the remaining money owed on the mortgage (80,000 approx) and pay any fees on the dealings. My concerns are :-

a. There is no for sale sign up and no internet advertisement. Their best effort of advertising this property seems to be an A4 piece of paper saying this property has been reposed and the name of the estate agents company name. b. My old next door neighbour knows the situation. It just so happened that a friend of hers was extremely interested in buying this. So much so that she rang the estate agents involved and said I’d like to offer the asking price. They asked if she was in a chain herself as they have to have a completion in 28 days. She is and so they refused to accept her offer. Can they do this? What happens if they don’t sell in the allotted 28 days? Does it then go to auction? Incidentally, my partner tried to get details on the house and was told it wasn’t worth it because of the same reason.

c. In the same conversation that this lady had they said this property is going ‘so cheap’ because it is repossession. Surely this indicates that they are not selling this at its best possible price!

I haven’t contacted the mortgage company at this point. Should I air my views now? Is e-mail a reasonable media to write to them asking these questions or should I really stick with normal mail. Where do I go from here?

Any advice will be welcomed as soon as possible due to the 28 day sell by date.

Many thanks

-- Steven Hyne (stevehyne@hotmail.com), May 07, 2003

Answers

Steven,

Which mortgage company are you with ? Are they members of the Council of Mortgage Lenders ? The CML state " When selling properties which have been taken into possession lenders are under a duty to obtain the best price reasonably obtainable." Exactly what this duty is nobody has been able to answer satisfactorily, the legal duty/obligation was repealed (Building Society Act 1986 schedule 4) when the Building Society Act 1997 was brought in, surprise surprise.

Anyway, the CML also state " A lender is not bound to postpone the sale in the hope of obtaining a better price at some future date; however, the lender should allow sufficient time to permit, for example, proper advertising so that the best price obtainable may be achieved. "

" Agents may advertise properties in the local press, with such advertisements being repeated as and when necessary. Mailshots and national advertising may also be carried out in some cases. In general, lenders do not market these properties as "repossessed properties"; in many cases estate agents are specifically instructed not to do so." ha ha ha.

" Estate agents are usually required to report on activity every four to six weeks if a property remains unsold." 28 days??

There is more, have a look on their web page entitled "Handling of Arrears and Possessions" : http://www.cml.org.uk/servlet/dycon/zt- cml/cml/live/en/cml/pub_info_arrears

It might be worth ringing the CML Compliance Board if your lenders are members, they have been known to act, well, at least once. I think it would also be a good idea to get your local MP to monitor this, if he's not helpful try one who signed Mike Hancock's EDM62 (MP for Portsmouth South). Please let us know the name of your Mortgage Company and let's see if they really do try and get the best possible price.

Good Luck

Mark.

-- M Amos (idgroms@hotmail.com), May 07, 2003.


Further to the CML web page "Handling of Arrears and Possessions - CML Statement of Practice" mentioned above, the CML state in the Mortgage Code under 8.3 (see also 10.1) "We will follow the general principles of the CML's Statement of Practice on Handling Arrears and Possessions..." See: http://www.cml.org.uk/pdf/mcode.pdf

Hope this is of some use.

Mark

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


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