Mars Capital and ill health

jacqi64

New Member
Messages
2
Hello, I know this is the Irish consumer forum , but the threads on here relate to our current issues with our mortgage .
Long story short, hubby was self employed covid caused the business to near non existence he hung on as long as possible , then in 2022 I was diagnosed with womb cancer, I already suffer mental health and receive therapy , my husband was unable to work as I couldn't be left alone with the panic and anxiety of the cancer diagnosis , I had surgery last January and I will be under the hospital for another four years ,during the time we only had £400 a month to live on so the mortgage did not get paid , Kensington passed our mortgage to Mars Capital , the arrears were building up and fast forward to June last year when we were advised to claim universal credit , I also get PIP enhanced mobility and husband gets carers , it isn't too bad and with that income we were able to start paying £400 a month to the mortgage , and in September last year we got SMI , the interest rises made the monthly payment £859 and at the time we were unable to make up the shortfall ,so the arrears were building up more , fast forward to this month , and the arrears on the account are now 17k , which the original amount of the interest only mortgage was £102.000 so now we owe £117.000 , yesterday we received a call from Mars capital and we agreed to pay the shortfall which would now pay the full contractual payment each month for six months , the problem is that during the six months the interest being added on the arrears are going to put the arrears up to 22k in six months because £880 is being added monthly .
Husband discussed capitalising the arrears ,but that would make the monthly payment impossible , it was mentioned to sell the house as we only have 12 years left so putting it onto repayment which they suggested would be impossible .
We will have to go down the route of paying the contractual payment and just let Mars force us out because there is no alternative . I guess what i am trying to say is that Mars are a vulture fund and they want our house , which they will get as we are not in a position to do a thing about it . I don't know what others think to this situation we find ourselves , but I think I just needed to share and hope that others don't have the same misfortune as we are experiencing . We have registered with the local council as advised from the housing at the council , we are advised not to hand the keys back, but to keep paying what we can , Mars will get this house and they will take it to court we realise this .
How long does it take court proceedings from start to finish ?
I assume they can take court action for non payment of arrears ?
Thank you for reading and I am sorry it is so long .
 
It was quite difficult to read - it would be better broken into shorter paragraphs and concentrate on the facts and figures -

In any case, I don't think you will get any proper advice here - you need to try a similar forum but based in the UK. I'm assuming the property is in the UK, you didn't say
 
Hi Jacqi64

As you pointed out yourself, these forums are focused on Ireland. So any advice given will be more general in nature, as posters wouldn't be familiar with specifics in the United Kingdom.

Having said that, I have anecdotally heard of repossessions in England going through in 3 months, normally when there has been zero engagement on the part of the borrower. I have also heard of repossessions taking years. It can vary depending on the lender, case volume in the courts, and the judge on the day.

At a very minimum, yourself and your husband should pay the interest on the mortgage. This appears to be £859 a month. If you can't pay this, you should follow the advice from the housing section of your council who advised that you should "keep paying what you can". This is good advice, as a judge will look more favourably on borrowers who are making efforts.

You should also keep in contact with the housing section of your council. They will be responsible for housing you in the event of a judge granting a repossession order to Mars.

It may also be worth contacting the debt charity StepChange, www.stepchange.org . They have years of experience helping UK based borrowers that are in a similar predicament to that of yourself and your husband.
 
There might be some useful/relevant info here:
 
Back
Top