ROOF Blog

New research has highlighted that only half of households facing repossession orders actually attend their court hearings. There is also an indication that repossessions are not being considered the option of last resort by the courts. The research, undertaken by CIH’s consultancy arm, ConsultCIH, looked at hundreds of repossession orders made in 2008. The research found that many households are in denial about losing their homes. Conversely, others believe the loss of their home is a foregone conclusion by the time their case gets to court.

Mortgage lenders are failing to follow rules designed to help people avoid repossession, according to a damning report published today.

The joint report by AdviceUK, Citizens Advice and Shelter found that in a third of recorded cases mortgage lenders had failed to comply with new rules – known as the ‘pre-action protocol’ – requiring them to take court action as a last resort only.

Before starting legal action, lenders should offer borrowers other options for dealing with their arrears – however, judges only verified they had done so in a handful of cases.

Published on the same day as new repossession figures are expected from the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the ‘Turning the Tide?’ report is based on research into hundreds of cases seen by advisers who give last-minute advice to people at court on the day of their repossession hearings.

A subprime lender has agreed not to repossess for at least six years the home of a man who fell into arrears in what is believed to be the first legally binding deal of its kind in the UK.

Blemain Finance, an arm of the Blemain Group, reached the agreement in a High Court case with Peter Bentley, a carpenter from Bridgend who had lost wages as he cared for his sick father.

The deal is the latest victory by aggressive personal claims companies that are taking on companies responsible for a spate of lending during the credit boom to households that are now struggling to repay.

Personal insolvencies continue to rise, with almost 100,000 in the year to September.

Carl Wright, of Cartel Client Review, the Manchester-based personal claims company, which took Mr Bentley’s case, has been using a clause in the 1974 Consumer Credit Act to argue that many lenders have an ‘unfair relationship’ with uninformed consumers, who often sign up for loans they can ill-afford and which carry heavy penalty charges.