I could be in danger of losing my home

[MelanieGiles]

Sorry - I assumed that this was put into your IVA proposal by the IP rather than by creditor modification. What discussions or advice did the IP give you on the day of the creditors meeting in this regard?

And I suggest that you ask your IP what they meant by "there is nothing to worry about" which you referred to in your original post.

Could you post the current value of your property, the percentage of your ownership and the amount that you owe to your mortgage broker, together with the amount that you are currently paying for your mortgage and into the IVA. This will help us to give further advice.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To appoint me as your IP visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[Lisa2009]

What a terrible situation to be in
I hope you manage to come up with a sollution

[ray_a]

Sorry (again), with all the stress I am having trouble pressing the correct keys! Anyway, to reiterate; I have seen a solicitor and have spoken to him today, but he states that as I signed the agreement (the modification was dropped on my toes on the day of the creditors meeting - with no time for me to review the implications) he suggests that I either sell, or come up with the £20k. Sorry, but I don't agree; they have set me up to fail.

I expect others will comment here about this but I personally think the Solicitor you have seen appears to be weak especially in light of Melanie's view on alll this.

A few montyhs ago I was in the same position and through the help of this site gave me the means to sort my problem out.

Personally I found Melanie's advice very helpful!

[desperateneed]

Hi - Reply to Melanie

Value of the property (as by IPs valuer) £120,000
We owe £23,000 (approx)
Own - 50%
Monthly mortgage payments of £200.00 per month
IVA payments are £236.00 per month (although recently have been paying £250 per month)

I am not being obstructive in paying what I owe, neither do I deny what I owe, but I don't think this is fair/legal in what they are doing.

Am I right in thinking that an IVA should not leave you in financial dire-straits? That the amount of any repayment (i.e. remortgage payments) should not exceed what you are paying into the IVA?

I was told at the creditors meeting that they had changed the modification to include the property (is this legal i.e. should there not have been a 'cooling off' period? Plus I cannot find anything in writing that the modification was made at this time). I have spoken to my Housing Association who confirm that at no time have they been approached or received any correspondence from my IP whatsoever.

The IP have stated to the solicitor that because there is equity in the property that they will go for bankrupcy if I do not either give them £20k or sell the house.

All comments welcome (or failing that a tent)

[MelanieGiles]

First of all have you approached your existing lender to see if they will be prepared to make you a further advance? Your share of the property is £60k and you only have lending of £23k so they would be adequately secured on this.

Secondly, you need to reproduce for me the exact wording of the equity release provisions from your IVA proposal and Chairman's Report - so that I can try and advise further. There is no cooling off period with regard to the acceptance of creditor modifications on the day of the creditors meeting I am afraid.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To appoint me as your IP visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[james.c]

Andy

Time and time again I read things on this site and it sounds like some people have bad IPS or get wrong advice them, i am sure this is a minority in the indusrty. I think mine is OK, but i also get the impression its not easy for people to change an IP once in an IVA, but for people who think they are getting bad advice of their IP is their anything they can do

no matter how bad money gets, theirs stll alot more important things in life

[Adam Davies]

Hi James
I think it,s a case of the system failing rather than bad IPs.
Can you think of any other instance where a modification is dropped on you by way of a phone call on a day where you are upside down emotionally and it,s legally binding ???
They used to sell time share properties with a "sign today" sales pitch but this has been changed to give a cooling off period because many people did not know what they were getting into.
We need,and I sound like a parrot,a system that fully explains the equity release clause so that everyone is clear on the implications and there are no misunderstandings.
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

[MelanieGiles]

Agreed Andy - but it is down to the IP to properly advise their clients and it is clear from some forum members that this is not happening. And when it comes to very important issues like the roof over your head, it is serious.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To appoint me as your IP visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[Rainbow]

Hi there - I think you need to contact a specialist in housing law - Barrister Jan Luba QC is the top man in the UK - I have posted his link here http://www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk/ba ... uba_qc.cfm what you need to do is get a Specialist housing solicitor and ask him to get an opinion from this guy. I have worked with him many times and he is great.
I think you also need to speak to a solitor who specialises in insolvency - I'm sorry I can't recommend any of those but I am sure that Melanie or Andy could.

Here is the link for Cheshire Mortgages http://www.cheshiremortgage.co.uk/

One final thing that you maybe able to do is ask the Housing Association if they can buy back 25% of your share - its a long shot but may work?

I hate bad advice!!

Good Luck
Rainbow

[mikebdomain]

I agree RAINBOW I also hate bad advice.

In the mortgage and insurance industry we have strict proscriptive FSA regulations and rules (which are upheld with VERY large fines and sometimes imprisonment) regarding; what is explained to the client in a clear, fair and not miss-leading way. Especially on; matters that affects your home and financial matters relating to it.

I am not sure if the wording of the four year clause is governed by any of the IP regulatory authorities, but perhaps it should be…

I would suggest if you believe that you have been treated ‘unfairly’ in the first instance always make a written complain to the original IVA company and if you get no joy, complain in writing to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).


FREE ADVICE IS THE BEST ADVICE

LEYBRIDGE LIMITED
Mortgage Broker
Specialising in adverse credit.

see feedback and testimonials at:
http://www.leybridge.com/testimonial.php
Check out my blog at:
http://mikebdomain.blogs.iva.co.uk/
Please read our Initial Disclosure Document(IDD):
http://www.leybridge.com/Leybridge-IDD.pdf

[desperateneed]

The IP requested that I obtain two quotes for remortgage (nothing mentioned re not being able to obtain one at all!) therefore I approached my current mortgage provider, who refused due to the housing associations involvement; 4 other providers have been approached, one of which has refused for the same reason, and I am still waiting on the other 2 (email enquiries - gives written response and saves the embarresment of being refused). The IP has an associated financial company - they have also refused me twice (October 06 and March 07) although they now state that they have nothing in writing as they were unable to help me. The IP said they would ask them to contact me again - this was last Friday ... still waiting! I do not have the original wording of the modification as most of the paperwork is with the solicitor I had to employ to get a translation of their correspondence, and he had to admit that he did not understand and had to revert to a telephone call. My 82-year old father is approaching his building society in an effort to remortgage his home and raise the £20k - it disgusts me that I have had to involve a man of this age, not to mention burdening him with all the worry. I seriously believe there is cause to complain about this IP as: The nominee (IP) must report to the court as to whether he believes the proposal is worth considering by your creditors. In doing so, he must remain independent and consider whether the proposals are fair, feasible, provide creditors with proper information to be able to consider them, and most importantly, if implemented have a realistic prospect of being achieved. (Personal Insolvency Page 74). and I will be contacting The Insolvency Service today to enquire further - does anyone know how I make a formal complaint to the IP involved? I don't trust a word they say; how can I after this mess? On a personal note, have had to take emergency annual leave to sort this mess out, and have had to tell my line manager about my financial circumstances - I felt absolutely humiliated.

[mikebdomain]

Any written complaint is a formal complaint – just so as they are aware it is a formal complain I would suggest heading the letter

‘Please treat this correspondence as a formal complaint’

For more advice you can phone FOS on 0845 080 1800


FREE ADVICE IS THE BEST ADVICE

LEYBRIDGE LIMITED
Mortgage Broker
Specialising in adverse credit.

see feedback and testimonials at:
http://www.leybridge.com/testimonial.php
Check out my blog at:
http://mikebdomain.blogs.iva.co.uk/
Please read our Initial Disclosure Document(IDD):
http://www.leybridge.com/Leybridge-IDD.pdf

[Skippy]

Hi Desperateneed, I'm sorry that things have gone wrong for you, but please don't feel humiliated. You have done your best to sort out your problems and you have been badly advised - that is not your fault. I'm sure your line manager understands that these things happen - I told mine when I needed time off for my BR and he was fine - understanding and really supportive.

Good luck with your complaint, and please keep posting to let us know how you are getting on.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[desperateneed]

Thanks for the advice; have called the FOS but they are unable to help me as bodies such as IPs only became compulsary members of this scheme since 6 April 2007, so anything before that pre-dates this they are unable to investigate. They suggest that the only possible route is legal - well I tried that one and failed miserably. Feel like the only option I have is to give-up; although this does stick in my throat - I need to complain about this, but in some way am scared in case the IP just fails the arrangement and files for bankrupcy; this would leave me in an even worse state of affairs (if that were possible). Nevertheless, this info from the FOS might be useful to someone else, so some good has come from it.

[mikebdomain]

desperateneed

Sorry to hear that, but as you say, very useful information.

If it's any help at all, I have no problem in supplying you with a quote saying that it is not possible to remortgage you based on our panel of lenders and your circumstances.

FREE ADVICE IS THE BEST ADVICE

LEYBRIDGE LIMITED
Mortgage Broker
Specialising in adverse credit.

see feedback and testimonials at:
http://www.leybridge.com/testimonial.php
Check out my blog at:
http://mikebdomain.blogs.iva.co.uk/
Please read our Initial Disclosure Document(IDD):
http://www.leybridge.com/Leybridge-IDD.pdf