House Repossesion

Just wondering if anybody can give me any advice?

I am in the unfortunate position of a repossesion order been put on our house at the end of this month and just wondering if anybody out there has any experience of this.

This decision is irreversible and although sad about it it is the end of a very bad time in the life.

Just a couple of question!
1. How soon after the order has been issued do I have to get out of the house?
2. Do they have the right to take the contents of the house? There would be some equity on the house and we have been trying to sell it for the last year and a half?
3. I assume the bank will proceed to sell it themselves - Do they have to sell it at market value?
3. Do they have to pass on any excess over and above what they are owed to me?

Any advice or information would be appreciated.

Jack
I am sorry to hear about your troubles.
I don't know much about this, but on trawling through sites on the internet, it appears that if a house is repossessed and sold on, any money left over after the mortgage is paid off and all reasonable costs of sale deducted are repaid to the original owner of the house.
Nicola

This can be very complicated and I would advise you to get legal advice immediately if you have not done so already.

There is a difference between an order for possession and an order for sale. Usually, the court will make an order for sale but put a stay (hold) on it for a few months. This can focus the mind of the homeowner into dealing with the arrears. It also gives them an opportunity (if they have not done so already) to try and sell the house themselves.

In my opinion, this is what you should be trying to do. A forced bank sale will still have to go through a court supervised process which is extremely time consuming and becomes very expensive. These costs will come out of the proceeds of the house sale if there is any excess after the bank has been paid. I cannot recommend enough trying to sell the house yourself first. Explain to the bank that you want to do this - it will suit them as well as they don't want to go down the court supervised route.

If worst comes to worst, the Examiner's Office deals with court sales. Take a look at the Courts website. Under the Examiner's Office section, it sets out how the whole process operates.

There is an obligation on the person appointed to sell the house to get a fair market price for the house. But obviously that could be difficult to estimate in today's climate.

Hope some of that helps.

bolle

Are you a solicitor? Are you sure about this complicated process?

I have seen a few and they did not seem that complicated. The lender got an order for repossession with a stay for 6 months. I don't remember the lender having to apply for an order for sale as well. The lender repossessed the home and sold it.

If you have been genuinely trying to sell it, and if you have kept the lender informed, they may well let you continue to try to sell it. If you have avoided dealing with the lender or if you have misled them along the way, they will want you out so that they can sell it.

Brendan

Get proper advice. It's a complicated enough area, so it would be hard to give you advice without reading going into depth about your situation. It's also too serious not to get advice - the amount of money involved is huge.

Do not rely on the internet for this one.

Unless the repossession order states that it includes the contents which I've never heard of then you can remove the contents. As previously stated I hope you have been getting proper legal advice. The reason it's better if you sell yourself is that you are more likely to make sure a greater effort is made in getting a higher price, even though the bank should get you a fair price all they are interested in is getting enough to cover their costs. I'm very sorry for the situation you're in but maybe you can start with a clean plate. Best of luck.

Depending on the facts, it can be an extremely complicated process. For example, the bank may not be the only person who has a security on the property. Another person may have registered a judgment mortgage. Consequently, they would be entitled to some of the proceeds ahead of the individual. As a result, the sale needs to be advertised, other parties can get involved etc. That's why the Examiner's Office gets involved to make sure everything is done above board.
Here's another good article that explains the processs:


Many of the media reports about these types of court cases rarely scratch the surface of the real legal process behind them preferring to focus on the headline of the number of "sale/possession orders" granted.

In any event, please follow my earlier post and seek legal advice.

Firstly I`m sorry for your situation Jack2008.
Personally if it has come this far I would be trying very hard to sell the house myself using whatever means possible.The present climate is not favourable to be holding out for top dollar so I would advertise the house as `circumstances forces sale` just to get some interest in it and please God you will come out of it with some cash in your pocket. I`m sure the repo man will not be too interested in getting you the best deal possible if he has to sell it.
As other posters have advised you I would get legal opinion asap though.....best of luck.

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice.
We have got legal advice and I guess the questions where just to mayb get some independent advice ahead of a meeting next week with my solicitor. Just to put me a little in the know!!!!!

We have actively been trying to sell the house for the last 8mths and after xmas this year dropped the price by €100,000 but just no interest. We have it on three internet site, with 2 estate agents and a big billboard at the front of the house, we have also ran a feature in the local paper and paid advertising on two occasions. I don't see what else we can do and I certainly don't see how they will have any more luck selling it than we have. Keeping the house or negotitiating a new payment scheme is just not an option - We could'nt afford it. They payment on the house is far larger than the rental of a house in the area.

Anyway, thanks for the help and the advice.

Estate agents tend to have a hand full of investors they know of who prey on situations like this as well as obituary columns for possible real estate purchasing opportunities amongst other things. I would have thought the key to this is equity. If you are mortgaged up to 70% then its probably not going to work, but if only 50% then I would have thought you are better off selling in auction / deal with investor and pocketing the balance than hoping that the Banks get you a good sale price. Lets face it, they are not thinking about lining your pockets when it comes to auctioning the property off...just recovering their money.