The bailiffs were due tomorrow morning
A widower facing repossession called me just hours before bailiffs were due to arrive.
Petercase at a glance:
Bailiffs were due at 10am the following morning
Had lost his wife, then his job six months later
Depression and gambling had led to mortgage arrears
Had stopped opening his post and missed court hearings
Needed an urgent solution to avoid repossession
Let's call him Peter.
Peter phoned me at around 7pm.
The bailiffs were due at his home at 10 o'clock the following morning.
His wife had passed away two years earlier and, after struggling with depression, he'd lost his job. Gambling had made the situation even worse and before long he'd fallen behind with the mortgage.
Like so many people in this position, he'd become completely overwhelmed.
He stopped opening his post.
He missed court hearings.
The letters piled up while he buried his head in the sand because he simply didn't know where to turn.
I drove to see him that evening.
By then we already had a buyer for the property, but that alone wasn't enough to stop possession.
Simply telling a judge you'll be able to pay the mortgage isn't usually enough if the arrears have built up over a long period.
That night I prepared everything we could.
The following morning, before court started, I submitted an emergency application asking the court to hear the matter.
I also provided evidence, including bank statements, to demonstrate that there was a genuine buyer and that selling the property would clear the situation properly.
The judge agreed to suspend the possession for 60 days.
That gave Peter's solicitor the time needed to provide proper legal advice and allowed the sale to complete just a few days later. Because it was such a rush, and to ensure that he didn’t end up in a worse scenario without a property to go to, Peter took 2 weeks more in the house after I had purchased the property, allowing him to make onward arrangements and get packed up in a more dignified way than the bailiffs would have.
He sold for below market value. Would it have been better for him to let the repossession go through?
Repossession vs a fast house sale
The reality is that once a property is repossessed, the lender appoints asset managers to look after it. They secure the property, carry out inspections, instruct solicitors and recover all of those costs from the eventual sale proceeds.
Although lenders have a duty to achieve the best price reasonably obtainable, repossessed properties are frequently sold below normal market value because buyers know the lender is selling under possession. Meanwhile, interest, legal costs and asset management fees continue to build.
I've seen those additional charges reach £30,000 to £40,000.
Repossessions can also take many months to complete, leaving people waiting a long time before they know whether they'll receive anything back at all.
In many cases, my offer ends up being very similar to what the homeowner would eventually receive after all of those deductions, but without the stress or the wait.
Before completing the purchase, I also wanted to make sure Peter had somewhere safe to go afterwards.
He moved in with a friend, giving him the breathing space he needed to start rebuilding his life.
Sometimes the biggest difference isn't simply saving a property.
It's helping someone find a way forward before the situation becomes even harder to recover from.