Repossession DURING a sale!?!

[dreamer71]

May 22nd we put in an offer for a house - everything was going ok with the odd hitch here & there but nothing major. Now we are being told the seller has NO EQUITY & the house may go for repossession. Solicitor & estate agent have assured us we will NOT lose the house but we can't help but worry!! Does anyone know if a house can have an offer put on if it has a repossession order hanging over it & where we stand in this mess?! We are first time buyers so this is not a good experience for us & i am going out of my mind with worry about losing the house & all the money we have paid out :( Any advice would be very much appreciated :) Thanks.

[buildersmate]

You don't say that you are in England and Wales, or whether you have exchanged contracts. If you have, then there is an obligation to sell the house to you at that price or (at the worst case) a route to compensate you if they fail to complete the deal. If you haven't exchanged yet, either party are at liberty to walk away from the deal, so yes, this could happen. I imagine it has been discovered that the selling price is less than the mortgage sum plus any loans secured on the house (second legal charges). It seems rather late for the seller's mortgage company to find that out

[dreamer71]

Yes in England, & no, contracts not exchanged yet as when my solicitor contacted theirs to exchange this is when they said about the equity!

[dannydingbat]

Repossession only means that someone gets a court order to give them the house as their loan has not been repaid and it is the only way they can the money. Even if they got possession, they will have to sell it with all the expense and delay this provides. Thye will be just as likely to hang back and wait to see what happens with your sale.

[dreamer71]

We are ready to exchange & complete now - I spoke to my solicitor yesterday lunchtime & she informed me that the money has come thru from my mortgage company & she was waiting for a reply from the sellers solicitor! I am aware that the seller has remortgaged at some point AND has secured loans on the property.