Hopefully this lady next week will becable to answer all my questions.
No doubt when I leave her office I will think of a thousand more, but if she is the one who will be at court on the day, then great.

I will keep you posted.
Thanks for the support xx

MissMink:

do I have the option to make it weekly.

Weekly or monthly, it's not that important. The important issues are firstly that it will pay the mortgage and the arrears and secondly that your record shows that you will be able to do it.

Good luck :)

Wild horses couldnt keep me out of that courtroom on the day.
Just thought I would let you know I have spoken to a very nice lady at my local housing office. She will be one of the people at court on the day giving advice to people going into these hearings. She basically says the same as you guys on here. I have to prove I can repay the arrears before the end of the mortgage. She will come into court with us, unsure if it just to help or speak on our behalf.
I have a meeting with her next Tuesday where she will go through the income and expenditure with me. She says she can then calculate an offer of payment that is reasonable.
There is no fixed amount they can insist on so they probably made up the 60% figure last time.
With regard to the charges -that is a seperate issue she cant deal with and advises me to write to the mortgage company to request a refund. Going to have a rummage around this site this weekend to see if i can find a suitable template to use.
I have also spoke to my Mum who hasnt got a lot of money, but has agreed to help with my December mortgage. This will enable me to pay my mortgage on the 1st December, therefore reducing the amount of the arrears. They will add my mortgage payment (due on the 1st) onto their figures. I will reduce it by the same amount. I know its just a fiddle of figures, but the lower the better. I can pay it back whenever I can. I do feel a bit guilty as I have brought somebody else into my dilema and she is sorry she doesnt have the full amount to give me. It also means payments from January can be made on the due date.
If an arrangement is made, do I have the option to make it weekly. Going forward, I think that maybe a better option for me.
Again - thanks for all your help

MissMink:

Will I have a chance to speak at the hearing?

Yes. How much you will be able to say will depend on the judge. It is likely that you will be asked questions about some or all of the issues that you mention. It's certainly worth, for example, calculating the total late payment charges (both the total of all these charges and the total where a charge was made in a month with a payment) so that, if you get the chance, you can state the figures, mention that you are unhappy about these charges and say whether you feel that they are excessive. If the judge doesn't give you the chance to raise this particular issue, then you will have lost nothing more than a little preparation time by working out the figures.

Some issues may not have legal significance so you should not be put off if the judge isn't interested in something that you feel is important. I suspect that the issue about the dates may have been the lender wanting an extra payment but I also suspect that, because it didn't happen, it may not be relevant to the court unless the "badgering" was unreasonable.

It is not unknown for a legal representative of organisations taking court action to discuss matters immediately before the hearing and then to tell you that, because of this discussion/agreement, you do not need to go into the court. If this happens, you should still go into the court and be prepared to put your case to the judge as otherwise the judge will consider that you have not attended and are not contesting the case.

Shelter took my name, address, date of birth and income. That's about as far as I get with any of them. Once I have given that info I get the 'you don't qualify for legal aid so we can't help you' speech.
They offer nothing beyond that.
Will I have a chance to speak at the hearing? Does this have to be a brief offer of payment or can I prepare a long one telling them how we got into the mess, what we have done to reduce arrears so far and then pitch the offer of payment. Throwing in the struggle I have had finding legal assistance with this matter.
There are also charges on my mortgage statement labelled 'late payment charges' which according to my terms and conditions can only be applied when no payment has been received in the month. These have been applied when payments have been made in full. Yet never applied when a payment has been missed. Obviously I have never thoroughly checked my mortgage statement but the one they sent from their solicitor is pages long.
I have also in the past been badgered by them to bring my mortgage payment to the first of the month and not the 20th as currently paid. Obviously to do that, I would have to miss a payment and I am not willing to do that.
Do I mention all these things as well if I can speak.
Again, thanks so much for your help. I have got more off here than anywhere else I've been to.
Would recommend it to anyone.

As a late after-thought, did Shelter enquire about your personal circumstances or look into the possibility of signing you up onto the Government's 'Mortgage Rescue Scheme' which has been further extended into 2014? The qualifying conditions are contained within the below link.

Application or acceptance could postpone, adjourn or remove the need for court proceedings.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/debt_and_arrears/mortgage_arrears/government_mortgage_rescue_scheme

Unfortunately walking away now wont help. The worst case is that you have to walk away in a few weeks.

Whether borrowing the money is worthwhile will depend on the interest that you'll pay. The rate will be higher than your mortgage interest.

Assuming that you can put together a plan to repay the arrears in the next few years, you should put that plan to the mortgage lender and, if necessary, the court. Yes, it is possible that the court will reject the plan but it is also possible that they will accept the plan and/or defer the repossession order. The decision will depend to some degree on your history. While you may feel that you are not doing well, my feeling is that to have reduced the arrears from £5½k to under £2k in three years is strong evidence to show that you will be able to reduce arrears from £2k to zero in the next few years. You may not have given the lender everything that they "demanded" but that is probably because they were asking you for too much.

If going to court, you should spend time organising your paperwork into a file. You should take as much information and relevant documents as you can find - including evidence that you have already reduced the arrears significantly. It may be worthwhile writing another letter to the lender now to record your repayment offer, your history of reducing the arrears and your wish that court action can be avoided. You should obtain a posting receipt for the letter (or use recorded delivery) which you should take to court with a copy of the letter in your file. Remember though, that it is the judge and not the lender or the lender's solicitors who will make the decision on the repossession.

If you do not attend court then the judge is likely to grant whatever order the lender asks for.

If the repossession order is deferred, it may mean that you can only stay in the property while you make the "agreed" payments so you should try to be as certain as possible that any plan is achievable.

Well i have tried 'shelter' and guess what - they cant help me as I do not qualify for Legal Aid.
I am now at the end of the line. I just dont know what to do next. They have advised me to give their helpline a ring for simple advice but they do not have anybody who could act on my behalf and sugest I employ a solicitor!!!!

I am going to send a letter of complaint to my local court regarding the 'help' information on their leaflets as they are no help at all.
I am going to send a letter to my mortgage company informing them of this situation.

I cant afford the services of a solicitor so I see there are only 3 options now open to me.

Borrow the money to pay off the arrears and worry about paying it back when I have to - take my chance in court against a solicitor who has all the legal knowledge I dont or employ a solicitor knowing I cant pay him (then there wont be anything to give the mortgage company so they will take the house anyway).
Which ever option I pick - I lose dont I?

I may as well admit defeat now and walk away x

If you can make the interest payments and clear the arrears in the next 5 years, you should tell that to the mortgage lender and the judge. If the judge believes you, you will probably be able to stay in the property. It's worth putting any such plans in writing to the lender and you should obtain posting receipts (free at any post offfice) so that you can show the court that you have made a sensible, affordable offer to the lender.

Thank you maxsteam At least you have given me another route to find advice.

I had a quick look at your link last night. Two of the 3 contacts on there I have already tried (CAB and the Law Centre).

I cannot believe how many people have turned us away as we are not eligible for legal aid. One even asked us if we had any PPI on our loans because they could help us with that.

I don't intend to do nothing, but I want to be fully armed if I have to speak in front of a judge. I have made my mortgage payment this month and paid £167.00 of the arrears as well. I think I need to use that in our defense. We have not missed a payment since Feb 2011 so that is nearly 2 years.

We have received a letter from our local Housing Office stating that if we turn up a Court 30 minutes before our case is due to be heard, they will give us some help. I am not willing to leave it to chance though. What if there are other people besides us, we could end up going in without any advice at all.

If I make any further payments towards the arrears, should I keep a record or send a letter to court advising them another payment has been made.

Again, thank you for your help

The Shelter web site has a lot of relevant information as well as an advice number and directory.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repossession/top_ten_tips_to_avoid_repossession

1. The amount that you offer should be more than the interest only and less that the maximum that you can afford. If they will accept 60% of your surplus income, then why not offer that?

2. You should communicate with all creditors but you should not be bullied into paying more than you can afford for non-priority debts. If a creditor wants to add penalty charges, you can and should dispute these.

3. It's important that you go to court. If you can arrange legal aid for a solicitor, you should do so.

4. No. Not unless it is from friends or family and interest-free. Only if you are certain that you could repay the borrowing, should you take on extra commercial debt as borrowing now may make your situation much worse six months from now.

5. If you do nothing, you will lose your home. If you can put a plan in place that you can achieve and that will repay the arrears within a reasonable period of time, it is possible that you will not lose your home.

Please take further advice on this and, particularly, have a look at the Shelter web site. The above are no more than my opinions.

I am posting here in absolute desperation that somebody may be able to point me in the right direction to find the help I desperately need.

We have been served a repossession notice on our house and have to attend our local court on the 3rd December to go before a judge with all of our details. I have been to the CAB for help, but they are understaffed. They sent me to a local legal clinic who wont help me as I am not entitled to legal aid. I phoned a local solicitor who gave me the phone number for Community Legal Advice - again cant help me as I don't qualify for legal aid. They gave me the telephone number for Payplan who gave me no help at all. they did say they would sent me information by email, but it must be coming by donkey as it still hasn't arrived.

Background.

Mortgage been in arrears since 2009 when my husband was made redundant. Arrears were up to £5500 at the highest point. Made several payment arrangements over the phone with the mortgage company. needless to say they have failed for one reason or another.

I couldn't afford to pay the full amount in August so just paid my mortgage payment and nothing off the arrears. Same situation in September. Ignored the letters they sent me (and yes I could really kick myself now). Didn't realize it would come to this.

Mortgage payment is £335.64 and the last arrangement was for an additional £164 per month to clear the arrears. Mortgage company said they were entitled to 60 % of my surplus income.

The current arrears are £1994.00. Arrangement has been in place since June 2011. Mortgage payment has never been missed since February 2011.

I have listed every single penny I spend over the week/month/year and gauge I have £270.00 per month left if I freeze our credit cards, catalogue and gym membership. but I need to know what to do next. I have sent the forms back to the court as they had to be returned within 14 days.

1. What amount do I offer the mortgage company - the full £270.00?

2. If the non-priority debts don't accept my proposal for a lower payment, do I just carry on and let them go into default?

3. Do I go to the court alone - or do I need to get myself a solicitor to attend?

4. Would I be better to try and borrow the money to stop all this action against me?

5. Silliest question of all - what are the chances I could lose my home?

I am perfectly aware I have got myself into this mess and I am now trying to keep my head above the water and not lose my home. But I have to admit the stress is killing me. I am not sleeping. Cant concentrate at work. All because I have no legal knowledge at all and have never been inside a Court in my life.

I know you may not be able to answer all my questions as I have a thousand spinning round inside my head. But if anyone can help me with the ones above, I may start to go in the right direction.

Thanks in anticipation of any assistance you can give me