Welcome to the forum lorrainek.

Could you tell us a little more about the equity in your home?

Was an amount fixed at the start of your trust deeds or do you expect for the property to be revalued?

When are your monthly trust deed contributions due to end?

Hi,

Thank you for your reply, when we went into the trust deed we didn't have a clue what it was all about, we weren't given much help or advise, I just knew we needed to sort our debt. Our house wasn't taken onto account when we joined, but we were told we could wait until the end, but when I spoke to somebody about 2 weeks ago they said we would have the option to continue with the payments or get family to help out, well if we had family able to help we wouldn't be in a trust deed,my main cocern is that i never speak to the same person twice or more, the man I spoke today was very aburpt, i feel now that we are so far in it is not worth going to another company, again we didn't pick the company ourselves, the equity in house is about 12,000. The last thing we want is to lose our house, as we feel this doesn't solve anything. Any help advise or tips we will be grateful off, all this had affected both our health and it has out our marriage under a lot of pressure, help,

Hi LorraineK,

I just thoughtid let you know whats happening with me if my info is any good. My TD finished in July this year, I have to pay £22000 in total which is car, arrears and equity. An arrangement has been made for me to pay 6 monthly payments of £400 to clear my arrears. In February next year the Trustee will arrange to uplift my car to sell it (which I am very unhappy about, but what can I do) and he has told me I have 6 months from now to put my proposal in writing on how I intend to clear my equity of £14952, but had stated in my letter I have till July 2013 to get this cash together. Other than rob a bank, ive no chance. No lenders will lend me Ive tried everything I can. You will probs be give an extention to clear the equity, to be honest if I knew this was going to be like this I would never have entered the trust deed.

Hello again lorrainek.

Thanks for the extra information.

What information is leading you to the figure of £12000?

How much are you paying in total into the trust deeds each month?

How many trust deed contributions do you have remaining right now?

The information will be useful in being able to provide you with some further thoughts.

Hi,
This figure is from what we owe on our mortgage and the value of our house, we are paying 524 each month into the deed, we have about 10 payments left to pay. We really don't have a lot of money left after the deed and our other monthly out goings, plus our fixed rate is coming to an end so this means our mortgage payments will go up. It hasn't been the best time of our lives, I know it is all of our own doing, but we have paid our payments regulary,we are finding it very difficult to find a mortgage company to consider us for remortgage, why don't these companies look at the fact that we have not faulted with our payments.

Hi lorrainek.

There are plenty of reasons why we could argue that mortgage lending to persons who have shown great financial control during a trust deed makes sense. The fact is though that mortgage lenders are under pressure to minimise risk after their failures in the past and they view persons who have got into debt difficulty as being high risk. Sadly I don't think this situation is going to change any time soon.

Could you tell us about the valuation amount of your home? Is this a figure from an estate agent, your estimate, or a valuation arranged by the trust deed firm?

Are you sure the end of your fixed rate will result in your mortgage payment increasing? Your existing lender may offer you a replacement fixed rate. Alternatively a move to the lenders SVR from a fixed rate is currently saving many people money.

I think you should look to get something agreed and put in writing from your trustee, lorrainek. It at least gives you some protection from your case manager changing regularly.

It may well be a case of having to continue payments to your trust deed for an extra couple of years to clear the equity figure, i'm afraid.

Hi,
Thank you both for that, firstly how would I go about getting something in writing so that we stay with the same manager.We got some advise from a finical expert regarding our mortgage, he advised us to try and get into a repayment plan, but because we are with GE money they have been awful to deal with even the man who helped us agrees as he was dealing with them in the end on our behalf, so therefore there will be an increase, this man has also been very good to us and not charged for his help as he totally understands the mess we are in and is very annoyed at the wrong advise we had been given. When the deed finally ends we would like to maybe get a car back, would we get credit for this purpose, also my work collegues were talking about joining a credit union how soon could I join, nobody around us knows about our finances, so i don't discuss our problem outwith of home.
About our valuation it is from we got done ourselves probably before we went into the deed.

Hi lorrainek.

There's not really anything you can do to stop your trust deed being passed to a new case manager. I think Kevin is suggesting to try to get information provided in writing so that you have proof of the information given to you in case the case manager that told you something is no longer there for any reason.

If your mortgage payment increases during the trust deed it should result in a reduced trust deed payment (all other things being equal).

There's probably nothing to stop you joining a credit union. Most seem to require that you save for a while before offering you credit. Acceptance will just come down to the rules of the credit union so you can look into this with them directly when the time comes.

Obtaining credit for a car immediately after a trust deed finishes may be tough or expensive. Have a read of the "life after a trust deed" page on this site and you'll find a few suggestions of practical things you can do over time to restore your credit rating and mainstream credit access.

It's probably good news that the valuation of your home is a couple of years old. Property prices in most areas have been in decline so the current valuation (or at least the one that will be done at the end of the trust deed) may well be lower and therefore reduce the potential equity amount. Remember as well that valuations for the purposes of a trust deed tend to be lower than a more conventional property valuation (as it's based upon the premise of a pretty rapid sale of the property).

Hi,

Thanks for that, I am starting to feel a bit better about things now.Ok got what you are saying about our manager,prehaps I should deal with them by email, that way I have it on record, would we be expected to cover the cost of a new valvatation, when we near the end of the deed, what is best bankrupty or a trust deed,

Hi lorrainek

Your Trustee should pay for the valuation - it is an expense of the Trust Deed. Remember to ask if any equity can be disregarded, as most of us ignore the first £5k. This is because it would cost the Trustee that sum in legal fees if they were to sell the property.
With regards to your question on Bankruptcy v Trust Deed, it really is down to the individual's circumstances and preferred choice. You may want to read my answer to one of the posts earlier tonight which asked the same question.

I hope it all goes well, and for anyone reading this who is thinking of signing a Trust Deed, make sure you get the facts about your house in writing before you sign.

Hi Shona,

This 5k business is news to me. If an individual were coming
to the end of the 36 payments and then had equity to deal with, would you recommend an attempt to negotiate with the company bearing the 5 k in mind?

Ralph

Hi Ralph.

From what we've read in the forum different trust deed firms interpret this situation in slightly different ways.

As Shona writes some will allow £5000 as it would represent the cost of sale if the property had to be disposed of. Others will look to the full value of the equity.

There's nothing to stop you negotiating and it doesn't appear as though you'd have anything to lose by doing so.

Hi Ralph

As a rule, most Trustee's only started to ignore the first £5k since November last year, and the equity required should be made clear at the beginning if the Trust Deed. If you have been in yours for nearly 3 years, the Trustee maybe looking for the full amount of equity. It will depend on what you agreed at the start, but there is no harm in asking!