People are not there to pass judgement on you as a person, things happen, there is no need to feel shame i went through the same thing when I was trying to keep my business afloat. think of all the people who have mortgages and will leave their homes this year. i don't know your circumstances but a lot of people I see do not claim all of their benefit entitlement even if you are working tax credits may be available to you

as for your court hearing if you can't find anyone to go with you i will be there in spirit and will be thinking of you so you will not be completely alone. the judge will be completely impartial and not think badly of you as a person, honest let me know!!

Thank you, yes I have been terrified of attending, and I really really don't want to go alone, but it's looking like I may have no other choice. I am now going to write an email to the HA and ask them to accept my payments of £85 per week, and also advise that I will make a lump payment before the end of the week.

I will then write a letter to the court and ask for a postponement on the grounds you have mentioned above, and will also attach the email I send to the HA, and any response if received. Will this be okay?

I think more than anything, I'm ashamed I've let it come to this, but now I'm in danger of losing my house, I dont want to let it happen again. I just don't want the Judge to think I'm only paying it off now because of the Claim.

Write a letter to the court [and to your lanlord or email] explaining just that.

Your letter should state that you have had difficulty in getting representation for some body to appear with you and that you would apply for a postponement, Its that simple. The court may not agree because of the late time but with regard to the fact that you can pay it off so quickly may decide to hear it and make a judgement.

These courts are not like you see on telly the attending officer he/she wil be in normal business wear he/she will sit at a large table you and your counsel will sit at one end and your opposition representative will sit along side you the judge will ask you questions in turn based on the information at hand and then come to a decision [ruling] there is usually nobody else in the room it is quite quiet in there there are no wigs juries or people viewing and they are not as foreboding as you might imagine. Everyone i go to court with live in terror usually from images they see on the telly and when It#s over they all say i didn't think it was going to be like that. Still try to get counsel, If you do all of this the courts will look favourably on your efforts

crocky:Email is ok quote court case no and ask them to reply to the court as well. Keep all correspondence if you can send copies to your landlord

Well I have sent the HA a couple of emails so far, so I will take these along to the court, and I am going to send another one today, again offering the £85 a week, and giving a date by which any remaining arrears will be cleared. I will request they reply to the Court also.

crocky:.shelter should have given you some specialist solicitors in your area. If you can't get someone then recontact the court for a duty solicitor contact the duty solicitor and ask do they deal in this kind of case you ideally want someone who specialises in this, if he/she doesn't then they may tell you who does make sure you know what it's going to cost you!!

I rang the court this morning, who told me they only have a man in from the CAB and he only deals with Mortgage arrears and is only in on a monday! Great. The lady at shelter gave me numbers for the council (no help), CAB (closed) Shelter Norwich (closed) and CLA (yet to check on the internet).

crocky:Do all this but still file for a postponement best thing is do a brief letter and take it in to the court as so it gets to the attending officer as soon as it can.

So how exactly do I apply for a postponement? Is there a standard letter I write, or can somebody help me with it? If I could have an extra week, I could get the total arrears settled in full, that's all. I fully accept resposibility for the situation I am in, and I want it clear asap. Its all because of bad money management and not paying priority debts first. A lesson I have since learned.

As for Cross Keys - no I live in Cambridgeshire :)

If you are in Cross keys wales I know someone close by [cardff] I'll pop in there today and see if they know someone by you

Hi

Email is ok quote court case no and ask them to reply to the court as well. Keep all correspondence if you can send copies to your landlord. this is a requirement and a courtesy shelter should have given you some specialist solicitors in your area. If you can't get someone then recontact the court for a duty solicitor contact the duty solicitor and ask do they deal in this kind of case you ideally want someone who specialises in this, if he/she doesn't then they may tell you who does make sure you know what it's going to cost you!!

Do all this but still file for a postponement best thing is do a brief letter and take it in to the court as so it gets to the attending officer as soon as it can.

If you have a problem what the court is looking for is for you to get the situation under control in a given timeframe 6 months is fine, in a recent case my client was told to pay £2 a week regardless of time because they recognised the problem as genuine and sincere and that they were serious about putting the situation right the court are loath to evict particularly if there are children involved my last 4 cases were all favourable to the tenant, in the last case the attending officer showed displeasure that the council had filed at all as the tenant had made an offer to clear the debt within a good time-frame, If you have to appear on your own try to get someone to go with you but ask them not to say anything unless asked anything

You must stick to the facts don't dispute anything thats not true, don't try and sound sincere just be sincere, don't throw yourself on the pity of anyone just admit you made a mistake because of ............

Don't panic at the moment the courts are up to their eyes in re-possesion cases and are trying to be just to all. Let me know how you get on

crocky:google yell when yell comes up put in housing advice and your area or postcode explain that you need to speak to a solicitor that at least do legal aid and who specialse in housing/posssesion disputes

Hiya, I did google "Housing Advice" and it brought nothing back. I phoned Housing Options at the Council and they couldn't help, she gave me a number for Cross Keys Floating Support though, so I'll give them a ring shortly. I have tried the CAB, but they are closed until Jan 5th, which is pushing it, I have also phoned a local Solicitor, but they are closed until the 2nd, I have tried Shelter too, who gave me some advice, but don't provide people to represent you in court unfortunately. I rang the court also, who said they don't have Duty Advisors/Solictors on :( I am worrying now, it's the wrong time of year for this, as nobody appears to be open.

I may still write a letter (although I have rescheduled work things - and am now attending), to explain. I may also contact the HA again and offer my payment arrangement - I will email this, as its quicker - should I print off all emails sent/received and take these to the court with me?

Hi

Its housing advice centres if you give one of them a ring they will tell you who specialises in these cases some do it pro bono[ they don't charge but these are not many] some will do it with legal aid but you may have to make a contribution, this is what I mean by representation, these people are used to dealing with HA, councils and other landlords and will usually try to get them to stop court proceedings but if they don't will go to court with you [representation] google yell when yell comes up put in housing advice and your area or postcode explain that you need to speak to a solicitor that at least do legal aid and who specialse in housing/posssesion disputes

All correspondence goes into the actual courthouse[if you have problems getting a solicitor] the clerk will tell you who the attending officer [judge] is you only need to quote the case/court/ file no they will stamp all the documents for you as received and pass them to the clek for the attending officers attention

You can mention the lump payment but just don't mention unknown figures, courts don't like ambiguity, explain it by stating that you will pay a large payment on the 31st that will greatly reduce the amount in arrears (by which time on 6th that may show as paid anyway), but the other payments will be rigidly adhered to in any case, until the arrears are fully settled by the .......? date.

You may be better off waiting until you've sorted the car and see what you are left with before sending the letter, in which case you can mention the exact figure as a matter of fact, preferably after you've made the payment.

Sleep tight : -- )

Thanks conman,

Ok, I will leave out the lump payment, I just wanted the arrears as low as possibly before sending the letter, if that makes sense. I am able to make the payment, I just don't know how much until tomorrow (my car is in the garage, I won't know how much I have left, until its out!).

Anyway, I'm off to bed, but i'll be back tomorrow after I've spoken to Shelter. Thanks again,

Yes leave out the lump payment offer, don't make promises to the court that you aren't able to clarify with certainty, instead stick to the facts that you will maintain paying the arrears at the rate and amount that you can show have been made so far and when the estimated clearance time of full settlement will be reached.

Keep your letter relatively simple, polite and stick to all the facts and payments made so far, as long as they can see you are being honest and reasonable they will try to help you as much as they possibly can.

Thanks again conman, I am just in the process of drafting a letter to the court, I don't really know how to write it though. So far i have apologised for not being there due to work, and have provided a breakdown of all payments I have made since the claim was issued. I have also said that I will be able to make a lump payment on the 31st (but I don't know how much this will be just yet, so should I leave this out?). I will now explain my plan to clear off the remainder, which will be on the 9th January - my next payday....Is there anything else i should write which may help my cause?

Representation in this case means your written defence by letter, as opposed to personally being present, they will take written defence just as seriously if you are not able to attend in person.

Either way, if you need a little time and want an adjournment, you would still need to write to the court if you are unable to be there on the day, stating your reasons. Only the judge can grant a postponement if they believe that the full evidence of the case is not present, if they believe all the facts are correct they can still hear the case in your abscence.....you do not really want that to happen without any form of defence, in your best interests.

Therefore submit your written representation and offer to re-pay the arrears at the same time as politely requesting the case be postponed for Two weeks, to give you the chance to attend in person, they may still decide to hear the case against you and take your written submission into account.

conmankiller:Write to the court with your representation including the date and the case reference number by Recorded delivery, offering an apology that you cannot personally attend the hearing due to your work commitments. Include all repayment details that you have been repaying to settle the arrears and the expected date by when you consider that the arrears will be settled in full.

Hi Conmankiller - thanks for your reply - when you say write to the court, with representation, what do you mean? Sorry, I am a bit of a novice. After reading a previous post, I am going to try and postpone the hearing date, as if i need to speak to Solicitors and get all documentation in order, I haven't got time to arrange everything in a week. I left it a week as I thought I would be able to settle everything prior to the hearing, but it isn't looking likely. I have about £500 left as of now. I get paid again 3 days after the court date and want to clear any outstanding amount then.

Thanks guys - for all your help so far. I think I have an awful lot of phone calls to make tomorrow morning. I don't know if the housing offices have a law practice attached, however my house isn't rented through the council, it's a HA in Bedford, so not exactly local to where I live. I will write them a letter anyway and see what I get back. I will keep all copies of emails I have sent and received to the HA, and give these to the court. How do I go about getting the date postponed do you know? If I can get it pushed back by a couple of weeks, I will be able to have the arrears cleared right down. I will definately try and get to the hearing, I hate work meetings anyway!! Thanks again for your help. How did your situation go? Sorry, not being nosey, just curious that's all.