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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:51 pm
by stt
Hi,
We are currently considering an IVA as we are no longer able to make our minimum monthly payments. We owe in the region of £54000 but I just wanted to ask a couple of questions. Firstly, should we wait to take out the IVA until we are able to remortgage in Feb 2008 in case we are not able to get a mortgage once on the IVA ? Secondly, our debts are in both our names so would the IVA be joint or would it be 2 seperate ones for us each ? We would appreciate any info or advice you may have on what should be our first steps. Many thanks

Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:59 pm
by Lisa2009
It would help the experts if you could post a little more info
Are you a home owner?
Is there any equity?
Who are your creditors?
What is your disposable income after utilities, food and living expenses?

Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:00 pm
by aguise
Hi there
I cant help on the mortgage side. There is no joint iva as such, but there is an iva where two iva's are interlocking with one proposal, one income and expenditure and one monthly payment, but voting is done seperately for each person.
As said above it would help if you could post if you have any equity in your home. If you do there is the possibility of a full and final offer to creditors by way of remortgaging and offering a lump sum to pay the debts. As said if you dont mind posting your income and what you have left after paying your ordinary living costs then more advice can be given.

ang

Please visit my blog at http://aguise.blogs.iva.co.uk/

Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:33 pm
by jim_h
i have a joint iva with my wife we pay one payment on our joinet income

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 11:26 am
by stt
Oh, i didn't know that you coudl use equity to pay off ? I think we have about 20k equity so don't know if that would be enough ?

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 11:27 am
by stt
Does anyone know if Accuma are any good ?

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 11:46 am
by Andrew Graveson
Hi stt - in common with another thread going on at the moment planning ahead on your mortgage is vital.
Speaking to a mortgage broker now might be advantageous in terms of affordability issues today versus IVA mortgage issues later.
They'll also be able to advise on whether you can release equity.
You might even find out that with some restructuring there's no need for a serious procedure like an IVA at all.

Andrew Graveson
Independent Mortgage Broker & MD Bright Oak Debt Management
andrew@brightoak.co.uk
www.brightoak.co.uk

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:33 pm
by mikebdomain
Hi stt

You would be better off talking to an IP now.

If you are struggling to meet unsecured borrowing commitments, I’ll assume that you have not actually missed any payments and are borrowing to meet your commitments. If this is the case you will have a problem with affordability issues when you talk to your mortgage provider.

You know you are having a problem, talk to an IP / IVA company now and PLAN in your IVA proposal to remortgage in February. This will reduce the affordability issue and enable you to remortgage to another fixed rate in Feb.


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

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:06 pm
by stt
That sound sensible ! I have spoken to our mortgage Broker and he is not too keen on IVA's but we feel that its the best option for us. We really just need to get out of this situation and keep the roof over opur children's heads. we are going to sit down tonight and go through our debts thoroughly and hope to see an IP next week. Didn't know if its best to speak to someone local or a big company like Accuma ? On the mortgage side of things I am worried about what will happen if come Feb we are not able to get another mortgage - our current interest rate is a killer and don't know what salary figure our broker put through because they sure didn't add up to us ? Thought he was doing us a favour at the time but look at the mess we are in now. Anyway, appreciate your advice and already don't feel so helpless x

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:19 pm
by mikebdomain
Please change your broker immediately, if he exaggerated your income to fit a mortgage products criteria, he is without a doubt; an absolute idiot, and should NOT be trading!

Also, if he has done so, he has encouraged you to commit mortgage fraud and has done you absolutely no favours at all. This is why you find yourself in the predicament you are in now.

- Did he ask you to self cert your income?
- Where you employed at the time?
- Did you sign a self declaration?

As a mortgage advisor, he is legally responsible for the advice he has given. If he has miss-sold you a product and miss-advised you about self certifying your income and you find you are suffering a financial loss because of it, he could be liable for your mortgage payments.

This sort of thing makes me so angry, and is what gives our industry such a bad name.

PLEASE, talk to another (reputable, authorised) mortgage broker ASAP – doesn’t have to be my firm, there are other mortgage brokers who post on this forum and if you think you have been miss-advised put in an immediate complaint in writing to your current broker quoting FOS and their time scales.

P.S Some one else will be able to answer your IVA questions


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

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:52 pm
by Soulgrowth
Hello stt ... I am not an expert here, just someone who has recently been in the same predicament as you. I can only advise on the basis of my own experience. My personal advice would be against worrying too much about a re-mortgage at this stage as if you eneter in IVA it is highly likely that you will be required to release a percentage of the equity in your property in the fourth year. This means that your IVA would be based on your current income and expenditure which would take into account you current mortgage payments. You can only be better off a month because in an IVA you will only be paying a proportion of your credit bills and your finances will be under much tighter control.

The next thing to do would be to talk to at least three different experts who will look into your case re the possibility of an IVA. There are a number here, namely Melanie who is on holiday at the moment but will be back very soon. I went through, for want of a better term, an 'introduction agency' Spencer Hayes xxxxxxxx This approach suited me because they WERE ON MY SIDE ... whereas IPs by the very nature of their most appropriate professional role are neutral, i.e they are on the side of both the debtor AND the creditor ... one might argue, even tending to favour the creditor as they have to maintain good working relations with them (apologies to the experts on here but I think a number of us mere mortals who have gone through the process seem to have arrived at this kind of conclusion). And what you need at a time like this stt, is a good professional friend on your side to guide you through the process. I found Spencer Hayes to be at all times sensitive, sympathetic and sensitive to my predicament ... and they introduced me to the insolvency firm McCambridge Duffy who made a very good job indeed of tying up my IVA so that it went through on the first proposal with little modification ... and more importantly maneged to set the fourth year equity release at a set value rather than a market value.

My advice would be to take control by investiagting the possibility of an IVA ... and worry about re-motgaging on the four year clause ... a lot can happen in four years, you life might have changed considerably .. the most important thing at the moment is to remain positive and gain the upper hand of your debt situation by keeping one step ahead of developments, and taking it one step at a time ... and keep posting here for you are amongst frinds and people who have 'been there'.

Hope this helps form a non-expert[:)]

Debbie

www.babynamings.co.uk

www.soulgrowth.co.uk

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 3:03 pm
by stt
Hi Debbie,

thank you so much for your help and support - I feel pretty rubbish at the moment and you have helpe me to remain positive ! i am planning to try to see an IP next week if possible and actually take the first step to getting things back on track........

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 3:08 pm
by stt
Thank you for your advice - We were advised by a Financial advisor to go Self Cert as out current saklaries would not have got us the mortgage we needed but we had the necessary deposit to enable us to go Self Cert. Seemed a good answer at the time but now we are worried that we will not be able to get the mortgage we need in Feb ( will be 172000 against joint income of approx 30000) and will lose our home. Perhaps there are companies out there that will still lend to us ?

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 3:18 pm
by BECKY
hi Im with Accuma my ip is called Andrew Wilkinson. I am really happy with the service I am provided and find he replies to my queries in a timely manner. My case was transferred to them after my iva was closed , so I dont know what happens in regard to the beginnin of the iva process , but barrin a few problems with the transferring of files I have found them to be 100% better than my original company.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 3:24 pm
by Soulgrowth
You are very welcome stt ... that's what we are here for ... to help one another.

I am just a normal parent the same as many others here, who struggled to bring my children up as a single mum ... feel good about yourself stt ... for you are addressing your debt issues ... and for that you have to be admired [:)]

Debbie

www.babynamings.co.uk

www.soulgrowth.co.uk