Hi,

I had a suspended repossession order last year but fell behind with the payments in February this year. I'm currently paying my mortgage payment plus £100 arrears per month. (Total arrears approx £2000).

JP Morgan Chase wanted me to pay £1000 by yesterday to stop further court proceeding for an eviction date. I have offered to pay £150 per week to clear this amount in writing. They say they haven't recd this letter and now they want the whole amount which I am unable to do. What can I do? Am I going to have to take a secured loan to clear this up?

Thanks,

Maryanne

Hi Maryanne --- Do not be pressurised into taking out further debt you can't afford to appease your existing creditors, it is neither beneficial to you or in your interests to incur further debt to service an existing debt, assuming you would even be offered it. !

At the very least if you have contacted them with a reasonable offer then should this end in the courts at a later date, you will at least be seen to have acted reasonably and responsibly, in offering to pay what you could afford at the time.

You need to re-submit your offer of £150 per week in writing with a full expenditure sheet, showing your income and expenses and send them by recorded delivery this time. Should they still refuse to accept your offer at least you can prove to a court that you sent an offer and did try everything possible within your control to re-pay the arrears.

Thank you for taking the time to reply CMK - I'll get onto it now and hopefully get some peace of mind at last.

Best wishes,

Maryanne

Maryanne,

I have just read your post and wondered how you had got on?

Hi Mortgage Guru,

Sent letter again again and rang up yesterday to say I'd paid £150. They said they had received my letter but they couldn't accept the offer as I had fallen behind again and they were going for an eviction date. I said I would continue to pay weekly in any case until they took their action. She again said they wouldn't accept but I maintained that it was a debt that had to be repaid so I would continue paying. After that she said they would look at the situation again in a couple of weeks once more payments have been made!

Can't wait to get the whole thing paid off - all this was because of maternity leave!! (Think carefully girls ;) !)

Maryanne

The big question really is , can you afford what you offerred the court to get the PO suspended? If yes and you have simply fell behimd for some bona fide reason, explain this to the sols or go back to court and ask for a variation on the SPO.

I doubt if the court would grant a PO in ay event. As a rule of thumb, most courts will allow repayments over 5 years if thats all you can afford rather than the 20months you agreed.

Think carefully what you really can afford !! and stick to it. The quicker these arrears are cleared the better but in most cases the court will work with you to find a suitable solution.

Thanks to all that offered advice and guidance. I've finally managed to settle this debt so the threat of repossession is now gone...

Best wishes,

Maryanne