Out of the country

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Hi , I had problems with my mortgage about 4 years ago, but I left the country with out resolving this problem , I have since returned,where can I get independent information regarding the property and whether I have a court case outstanding, thanks

-- Deji (dejibaba@hotmail.com), April 04, 2003

Answers

Deji

If you apply for a copy of your credit file, from Equifaxand Experian (£2 cost for each) this should show up any county court judgements I believe.

In addition contact Land Registry (you can do this on line and ask for details of registration for the address you lived at. This should show how much the house was bought for by the new owners). This will cost about £4.

Maybe when you have this info you ca then decide what to do next because bearing in mind they have to contact you within 6 years of the house being reposessed/resold to chase you for any shortfall.

So if the house was sold and there was no shortfall you might be in the clear if you can avoid them for another 2 years or so.

I am not an expert and if I've got this wrong I'm sure someone else on the site will put you and me right.

All the best!

M

-- hanging in there! (Anderston828@aol.com), April 05, 2003.


Deji,

As you went abroad without leaving a contact address the CML voluntary six year limit will not apply see the following taken from their website:

Following the sale of a property in possession, lenders often find it difficult to contact the former borrower to advise them of any surplus monies or shortfall debt. Lenders use a variety of measures to identify where the individual is now living. This might include using tracing agents. Situations can arise where a lender or its third party agent is trying to contact the individual (for example, by letter or telephone) to discuss repayment of the shortfall, but the individual simply chooses to ignore such contact. This is despite the fact that the contact is being made at the individual's new address. In these cases, lenders will consider that contact has been made for the purposes of the new six year limit. If an individual is unclear whether contact has been made within the six year period, the lender will be able to confirm the position.

CML website page address is:http://www.cml.org.uk/servlet/dycon/zt- cml/cml/live/en/cml/pub_info_dept

They will then have 12 years to pursue you from the date of the 2nd or 3rd missed mortgage payment (subject to what is written in the terms & conditions of your mortgage) under the 1980 Limitation Act. If a Money Judgment Order was issued they can (in theory) chase you indefinitely. I would follow the advice on this site, read it thoroughly, especially the Do's and Don'ts. Free advice is available from the CAB and NAMV amongst others. Always make it clear in any communication with the lender/debt collector that you deny liability and dispute any claim on you as otherwise you may restart the limitation period. I have noticed that any request for a credit rating often leads to the individual concerned mysteriously receiving a letter from a debt collector soon afterwards!! Good Luck.

Mark.

-- M Amos (idgroms@hotmail.com), April 05, 2003.


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