re-posession

[michael007]

Hello my brother in law is looking for money owed to him from my late mother. And since i was her executor, i was left to pick up the bill.I was left the house, the reason for all of this. It was a legal charge loan taken from my brother in law, in ,1992. And now hes looking for money plus interest, on the legal charge loan. He,s talking about having to issue proceedings for a possession order in respect of the property. At the moment iam employed under a council scheme, but sadly iam unemployed as of the 22nd june 2007. when the job finishes, it was 3 month course. What are my rights concerning the proceedings for a possession order.

[Ethel]

The legal charge meant that your brother in law became entitled to the money owed plus interest on either the sale of the house or on your mother's death.

It would be exactly the same whoever lent the money.

The law is on his side - it was a decision of your mother's, and as you are the executor you have to pay him.

Your mother could not leave you the house free of this debt.

If the debt plus interest is large, and you cannot raise a mortgage on the property, you will probably have to sell the house.

[michael007]

Thank you for replying, and if iam unemployed and can,t pay where are my rights??

[Ethel]

You don't have any 'rights' in this case.

If a third party had been made executor, you would not have got the house free of debt. If your mother's estate could not pay your brother in law off from other assets, the house would have been sold and you would have received the money left after your brother in law had been paid.

Were you living in the house at the time of your mother's death? If so, how long had you lived there?

[michael007]

Yes i was my mothers carer for over 10 years i did,nt know this legal charge was still over the house. My brother in law says he had verbal agreement with my late mother, that the money plus interest would be repaided up on her death. So 2 months after her death i get letter from solicitor saying my brother in law looking for money plus interest, which he says was allowed to accrue while my mother still alive. I even done lots of work for him cash in hand, and he never once mentioned this legal charge, with its stealth interests accruing. This was never bought up in conversation with my late mother.

[Ethel]

Have you checked the title deeds to the house to make sure there is a charge on the property?

A legal charge is not a verbal agreement - the charge is evidence in itself.

The interest accrual is standard practice - and the interest will continue to grow until the debt is settled. It is not 'stealth' interest.

There was no need for him to discuss it with you - it was a private agreement between him and your mother.

Is this man married to your sister? Was she excluded from the will?

How large is the debt?

Sorry for all the questions, but it is difficult to answer without the full picture.

[michael007]

I understand everything you say in your replies, i do have the legal charge document which was for �8000, and now with interest is �23600. This was first started in 1992. My mother passed away in 2005, and this document came with the house which i knew nothing about. My sister is married to him, and was not included in the will. Hes going to repossess on 30th june 2007. Do i have any legal rights over this repossession??. I will be unemployed soon if i can,t find another job. My niece who lives at same address is a is also out of work in july, because she filling in for maternity leave. She has tried to get a loan and mortgage but been told she can,t due to fact she will be unemployed soon, like me.

[Ethel]

Michael - you are in an awful position, I can see.

You need to get legal advice as soon as possible. Make an appointment with your solicitor or go the the Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Before the appointment - make a note of everything that has happened, including dates. Just a simple timeline to help make things simple.

Take all relevant documents - the title deeds, the charge, the will, and everything else you can think of.

On the face of it, your brother in law has the law on his side, so you do need all the help you can get.

There may still be a way of releasing equity in the house to pay this debt off. �23000 is a lot of money, but not compared to the value of the house. It is a 'safe' loan. I don't know too much about reversion schemes and so on, but CAB may be able to help with that too.
This is an example:
http://www.learnmoney.co.uk/equity-release/rev ision-1.html

If you are old enough there may be equity release schemes suitable:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3040663.st m

Both of these are 'last resort' things that need a lot of thought and advice.

Repossession is the very worst thing though - if you have no other option you should sell the house yourself. You will get much more money for it that way - but time is not on your side.

I can only stress how important it is for you to get proper legal advice as soon as possible.