www.iva.co.uk

Before I start the IVA process I want to hand my house and car back.

The car is in an HP agreement with GMAC, I have paid off more than 50% and I understand its a statuatory right to be able to hand it back.

My house is currently being rented out, Its in negative equity (approx 25k) and I'm making up a shortfall of about £150 every month. I cannot sell the house as I don't have the money for solicitors fee's, estate agent fee's etc etc so need to go down the voluntary repossession route. The mortgage is with Northern Rock.

Does anyone here have any experience of doing this?

What are the timescales from letting them know to them actually taking it?

I want to give the tenants their necessary notice of 2 months, and hopefully try and time everything accordingly so that I don't have to pay the mortgage for the empty house, which I couldn't afford to do anyway.

Many Thanks in advance.

Shaunkip

There are no hard and fast rules regarding time scales. You simply need to contact them to inform them of what you are intending to do i.e. cease making payments and enter into an IVA. Inform them that you are happy to co-operate with regard to giving them access to the car/house so that they may realise them and claim any shorfall arining in the IVA.

If you are intending to effect a voluntary surrender, the mortgagee will have a process for this and probably a prescribed format. To all intents the timescale is in your hands for handing back the assets - however it could take some time for them to calculated the crystallised shortfall as the items would have to be sold first in order to mitigate the lenders losses.

Your proposed IP will be able to make sensible estimates of these sums for the purpose of presenting your IVA proposals to creditors - just make sure that you do not agree to accepting a minimum dividend provision as you may well be unable to achieve that if the eventual claims come in at a higher level - and make sure your IP removes the 10% benchmark on claims if they are using the format of the IVA protocol as the basis for your specific IVA.