Halifax 5 attempted Repossession

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Repossession : One Thread

Please help. I bought a house 4 years ago with my then partner. Following the birth of my son in 1997 we separated and I was forced to vacate the property and return to my fathers house. At this time I was a student studying at University and had no income.

The house was up for sale in October 1996 at a value of £38,950 before the separation. My ex partner then moved his mother, his sister and his mother's partner into the property against my wishes and changed the locks.

My ex refused me access to the property on numerous occasions and any For Sale boards that were erected by the estate agents and were pulled down within days.

On two occasions I tried to have the mortgage transferred into my ex's sole name but each time he stopped the application before it was complete.

Each time I tried to gain access to the property I was stopped or assaulted by my ex's mother and on one occasion the police were called to the property by my partner following an assault.

Eventually I obtained a court order for sale (12 March 1999) from this court and tried to arrange for an estate agent to view and market the property. Despite numerous attempts at entering the property the estate agents could not locate my ex or his family and was therefore not able to value the property. Any For Sale boards erected by the estate agents were again pulled down within days.

I then obtained an eviction order from court (eviction date June 2000)and my ex and his family were evicted from the property. The keys were handed back to the estate agents although he still kept a set and continued to enter the property.

I eventually managed to gained access to the house after three years and was able to see the state of the property. I was absolutely horrified to see the state of disrepair the property had been left in. The ceiling in the bathroom had collapsed, the brick garage had been dismantled brick by brick and removed, the perimeter fence had been completely destroyed and all my furniture, which was left in house when I vacated in 1997, had been removed. These items of furniture were gifts from my recently deceased father and were removed against the wishes and inventory of my solicitor.

I arranged for the property to be valued and was told that it was now worth £25,000 (£13,500 less than when I vacated the property three years prior). Although I had the property valued I was unable to market it as my ex failed to sign the sale contract.

I returned to this court to apply for a warrant for possession. This warrant was executed on 21 February 2001 where a bailiff met myself at the property to change the locks. On this day I voluntarily handed the keys back to the Halifax on the understanding that I had a warrant for possession and the house was mine to surrender. The Halifax contacted my ex who then refused to hand the property back and the keys were returned to me by the Halifax. The Halifax then informed me that I could market the property myself as I now had possession of the property.

I contacted another estate agents who put the property up for sale asking for offers over £25,000.

Now my ex's brother has demolished the fence and wall surrounding the property. I contacted the police who arrived while my ex's brother was on the property and informed them that I had not given my consent for him to demolish the wall.

The house is now up for nearly £14,000 less than the original selling price. I had no idea about the severity of the damage until I was able to obtain access to the property.

I have recently received an offer for £19,000 and would like to accept the offer as I am keen for this matter to be resolved as soon as possible. I am in no position to be able to afford the mortgage as I have raised my 4 year old son alone and have received no Child Support from my ex. At present he currently owes in excess of £6,000 Child Support to his son.

I have recently had to attend counselling due to the stress this matter has caused me and enclose copies of the letters my counsellor has written to the credit reference agencies and the Halifax. Whilst living at the property my ex's mother has applied for various credit agreements using my name and as a result has been cautioned by CID.

I am more than happy for the Halifax to take possession of the property as the current state of the property is deteriorating every day and is depreciating in value. There have been various complains from the neighbours surrounding the property regarding the damage to the property.I want this house repossessing but do not feel I should be responsible for the shortfall as his behaviour has been irrational. That is of course if the Halifax do repossess as he usually turns things around and stops the repossession. The house is empty and I have an warrant for posession so why will the Halifax not take the keys from me alone as the warrant of possession was ordered to me they claim it is a private matter between myself and my ex. Is there anything else I can do I'm desparate.



-- Karen Carr (karencarr2000@yahoo.co.uk), October 18, 2001

Answers

Your case is the kind that the CAB may beable to help with. It sounds to me as though you need carefully tailored legal advice to reduce the damage caused by this.

A note for you and other readers... it is not possible to enclose letters in posts made to this Q&A board.

Lee

-- Lee (repossession@home-repo.org), October 20, 2001.


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