Reader's comments on how to prepare for a repossession hearing.
1. Examine the summons thoroughly for mistakes by the lender or their solicitors. If any are found WRITE to the court and let them know beforehand (Don't include this in the reply to the summons - write separately). The judge sees both the original and amended copies and is also made aware of who brought the errors to the court's attention. In my case the address of the property to be repossessed had the wrong house number on it. This would have meant that if it had only been found at the hearing then the hearing would have had to have been cancelled and another arranged. The judge was quite sarcastic about the solicitor's error and quite complimentary to me for bringing it to the court's attention well before the hearing. (Of course if someone is fighting the possession then it would be best to keep quiet about any errors found until the hearing and then raise them)
2. In the reply to the summons, question any or all figures, calculations etc stated by the lender in the summons. If the lender's solicitors employ agents (other solicitor's in the area of the court's town) they are unlikely to have the full brief and may not have the answers (The judge does give you a chance to raise questions). When they are unable to provide these it can later be cited as a negligent action, as in my case.
3. ALWAYS attend the hearing. I could see big smiles on the faces of lender' s solicitors in the waiting room when their cases were called when it was apparent that the repossessees had not turned up!
4. If the repossession is wanted by the repossessee then the period of notice comes into play. So if the judge states that it will be a possession with 28 days notice and asks is that OK then say NO as it will mean another month's payment, he will then usually change it to forthwith. If he does change it, then in front of the judge, you should ask the solicitor's to deliver their request for the warrant of execution to the bailiff's office (normally nearby) immediately after the hearing. If they say their client has not briefed them to do so then ask for a firm date when they will be doing so. Also MOST important, ask them in front of the judge to mark the request "Expedite", this will mean that if possible, the warrant will be progressed faster. (This is a process I had confirmed in writing by the court). The lack of this action I cited as negligence in my case. Interestingly enough I received a letter two days ago from the solicitor's asking how much I estimated the extra costs I believed I had incurred because of this, amounted to. Food for thought?
5. If you don't receive a statutory notice of the date of execution of the warrant for possession then write to the court asking for a copy of the solicitor's request and a copy of the warrant. The court was most obliging in this respect. In my case the lenders solicitors had supplied the court with my old address so I never received the notice. They were negligent in support of my statutory rights.
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